Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This door can be a bit confusing as to what exactly it does when you read the description or the reviews. So hopefully this review will help someone. Please note that I am NOT using this door the way it is intended to be used. So I do not recommend using it the same way I'm using it. This said, it works the way I'm using it and I'm delighted with it. How this door works: The most important thing to understand is that this door is meant to restrict which pet can come *in*. With this door, all pets can get out (but read on!). The default setting is that only allowed pets can come in and everyone can go out. The way it works is that there is a 'tunnel' facing the outside. When a pet sticks her head in the tunnel, sensors in the tunnel attempts to read the pet's chip or pendant. If it can, it unlocks the door so that the pet can come in. There are other modes for this door (like locking it completely or putting it on a timer), but none of these modes change the basic behavior of the door. The controls for the door are meant to be on the inside (and the tunnel on the outside). If you are looking for a door to not let some of your pets go out, then this is not your door OR you will need to use the door in a way it was not intended to be used (like I'm doing). Concretely, that means that you will have to install the door the 'wrong' way'. That is with the tunnel facing inside and the controls on the outside. To be as clear as I can be: regardless of how you install it, the door can filter only one way through, it cannot filter both ways. You can lock one way completely (or both ways completely) but you can filter only one way. How I am using it: I have a cat enclosure in my backyard. All of my cats are allowed in the enclosure (through an non-restrictive pet door in my house). Now some of my cats are senior cats and they are allowed outside of the enclosure. So I wanted a cat door that would let only my senior cats out. So I am using this door completely outside of its intended use. I installed it in the frame of the enclosure (so the whole door is outside) with the tunnel facing inside the enclosure and the controls on the outside of the enclosure (see picture). This way, only allowed cats can get out of the enclosure. I was really worried about rain messing up the electronics so I protected the control side of the door with a little roof (see picture). I also taped over the battery compartments on each side as well as tape some heavy duty plastic over the controls. It has rained a lot this winter and the door still works great. But the enclosure is somewhat protected as it stands partly under an upper deck. I'm not sure how well the door would work if it was fully exposed to the elements. How it performs: I'm really impressed with it. Setting it up is a breeze. It does a great job at recognizing my pets' chips. It also comes with one pendant that I use to make sure the door still works. It looks to be really sturdy too. I've been using it for 3 months and it has been working flawlessly. My senior cats love it and the kittens can't get out. Even my 'Houdini' kitten has not figured out how to defeat it to get out. And if the kittens ever make it out then I have the peace of mind that they can come back in easily. This door was worth every penny! ————— 5 year update: Quick update after 5 years. The door finally started acting a little funky. I only changed the batteries once in 5 years but lately it has started acting like the batteries are low even when i put new ones in. I have not tried yet to call the manufacturer about it but i will and will post an update afterwards. I had another one of these doors on an inside door (to stop an overweight cat from getting into my other cats’ food) but i was not using it anymore. So i swapped the 2 doors and the working one is now outside in the enclosure. A few interesting facts: * the door that has been outside for 5 yearS and went through hurricane Harvey and kept on ticking for over 2 years after that * the protection that i describe in my originally review was pretty much useless and i got rid of the tape and the little roof after a year or so * the door i was using inside is also about 5 years old but seems to be working great * it is easy to reset the memory but you will have to reprogram the pendant that came with the door if you do that.