interior cat door

it rained all day last saturday so i stayed inside and installed a cat door through the wall between benji's room at the back of the house and the large room in the center of the house that encompasses the wood stove/dining/kitchen area.  it wasn't a big job but it was a lot of futzing and fitting and figuring so it took a while.

went something like this...

the wall in benji's room (formerly jack and billy's room) was originally an exterior wall that got closed in at some point before we bought the place so i had to remove some stucco on that side.

drilled some holes around the perimeter with a masonry bit for starters

played connect the dots with hammer and chisel

snipped out the wire

removed tar paper and shoved insulation out of the way

a dusty, cruddy job calls for the respirator...there were also safety glasses involved as needed

 

the drywall near the wood stove was much easier/faster to remove

benji found it all very curious

inspector benji

inspector zane

very blurry shot of the framing for the pass through

trim on the interior wall for cat door to attach to

looking through from benji's room before trim

looking through from benji's room after trim

added a hinged door on benji's side so he can still be contained in his room if necessary (to the right is his little nest under a ceramic heat lamp)

needs a ramp (currently using a cardboard box as a step up) and maybe a little paint

this gives benji access from the main interior of the house to his room and from his room out to the catio.  when he figured out he can now get himself in and out without having to rely on a human to open doors for him he seemed pretty excited and spent a full half hour one afternoon racing from the far end of the house, through the new cat door into his room, out the exterior cat door into the catio, and back again, over and over.
just a little thing but it makes life nicer for all of us.