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About two months ago we installed a pet door. Two of our downstairs doors are the large sliding type, and for a long time they kept us busy constantly getting up and letting squawling felines and barking dogs in or out, as the spirit moved them, and none of them ever seemed to want to traverse the threshold at the same time as the rest of them. So you can imagine how pleased we were to find a pet door especially made for patio doors. It's an aluminum frame a little wider than the pet flap that fits in between the door and the frame from top to bottom. So far so good.
The problem is that Samantha has not yet figured all this out. She flat refuses to use the flap, often sitting right next it for hours, watching the other little hairy varmint critters enjoying the sun and grass and so forth. We pretty much ignored her, figuring if she wanted out badly enough she'd figure it out for herself. Cherokee wanders in and out at will, hardly breaking stride for the soft plastic flap, and Pussy just sits on the mantle and watches.
This morning it all came to a head when they all, except Sam, got involved playing chase in the sun. She meowed pitifully from inside the door, not twelve inches from the pet flap, obviously just dying to get out and join the fun. So I picked her up and attempted the thrust her outside. Nope. You would have thought I was trying to cram her into a running sausage mill. She started screeching and flailing her paws about, then bit me on the hand. It would have been easier to put a tarantula into a Coke bottle.
Finally I gave it up and opened the big sliding door. Joy! She ran outside and joined the fun.
That lasted about five minutes. The other critters decided to come inside, and don't you know it, she squatted on her haunches outside the sliding door not twelve inches from the pet flap and meowed piteously to be let back in.
I think I'll borrow an idea from cartoons I've seen over the years; put a boot on a wooden frame and a rope over to my chair at the computer, so whenever somebody stands there and squalls I can just pull on the rope and kick them through the pet door.
Editor's note:
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