All of us who have cats know how much they like to mess with us. One of the things that makes our lives easier is a cat door latch. To start with, in our apartment, it all began with the balcony door.
The cat wants to go out on the balcony. You open the door. The cat doesn’t want to go out on the balcony. You close the door. The cat wants to go out on the balcony again. The cat steps halfway onto the balcony and just stands there.
Okay, there is an option to leave the door wide open, but then you also get a bunch of annoying insects, especially mosquitoes, which in our house love to eat only me.
This problem with the cat and the door was solved very simply—with a basic latch. The door is open just enough for the cat to squeeze through, while at least some of the insects stay outside (unfortunately, not 100%).
Installing cat door latch
Installing a regular metal latch requires a little bit of skill. In our case, it was the balcony door, or rather the wooden insect screen doors, so all it took was drilling fex holes with a smaller diameter than the latch threads to make screwing it into the door easier. Also, make sure that when the door is latched, the cat has enough space to squeeze through.
This also turned out to be very useful when Ozzy, our French Bulldog, moved into the apartment. If the door is secured with the latch, he can’t get through, so the cat gets peace and privacy on the balcony.
You can read more about Ozzy and his royal life in our family on the blog: https://funtimesofleahlibra.blogspot.com/2026/08/mister-ozzy-dog-begining.html
If you don’t like going to the local hardware store to buy a latch, Amazon offers a wide selection of latches that allow you to easily create unobstructed access for your cat.
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