Automatic Pet Doors

America's Pet Store offers a wide variety of automatic pet doors that are designed for interior and exterior doors and walls, and some models designed to be used as pet doors for sliding glass doors. Power sources used can be electricity, batteries, or both.

There are differences among automatic pet doors. Plexidor makes a line of fantastic automatic pet doors, many believe they are the best on the market today. These are fully automatic pet doors that are secure and reliable. Their automatic pet doors use Radio Frequency Infrared Device (RFID) technology. They feature a programmable, waterproof key that hangs on your dog or cat’s collar and activates the door only when your pet is standing very close - within inches - of the door. When it comes to researching automatic pet doors, Plexidor products are well worth a look.

High Tech Power Pet Doors are another line of automatic pet doors carried at America's Pet Store. High Tech automatic pet doors operate using ultra-sonic technology. They offer models that can be installed as patio pet doors, or through a wall or door.

High Techs automatic pet doors, including their line of pet doors for sliders, provides a few power source options: battery power, electric power, and electric power with a battery back-up. If you live in an area where the power goes out frequently these may be the perfect automatic pet doors for you. That’s because in the event of a power outage, the battery automatically kicks in.If you are away from home during a power failure, you won’t have to think twice about High Tech’s automatic pet doors if you choose the optional back-up battery.

If you live in an area where heavy winds are prevalent, both the Plexidor and High Tech automatic pet door lines are completely windproof. These collar activated pet doors will open only if a signal is received from the transmitter on your dog or cat's collar. This also means that animals that don't belong inside your home won't be able to get in.

If you deal with weather that goes beyond high winds such as extreme high temperatures or frigid temperatures you may want to consider one of our energy-efficient pet doors designed for extreme weather.

Ideal Pet Products also makes automatic pet doors for sliders. Their models are battery operated with no other power source options. The battery is included with their automatic pet doors and is easy to find a replacement when you need one at most any store that sells batteries. Ideal specifies that their automatic pet doors are made for cats. But if you are researching small pet doors because you have a small dog, the flap/entrance is 7 x 9 on Ideal's patio pet door and your small dog might be just fine with it. But we strongly recommend that you measure your dog before purchasing this model, or any other.

The most accurate way to measure to find out if a pet door is big enough for your pet is to cut out a hole in a piece of cardboard that is the exact size of the flap and/or entrance. If your pet can walk through the cut-out, then you know the size will accommodate your pet.

Staywell Pet Doors makes automatic pet doors using infrared technology. The entrances on these doors are small (6 x 6) and are usually used as pet doors for cats, or for very tiny dogs. These models can also be installed as window pet doors, but Staywell notes the following: If a flap is to be fitted into double glazed, toughened or tempered glass then this can ONLY be done at the time the glass panel is manufactured.

Stopping racoons and other unauthorized critters from entering the home is why a lot of people turn to automatic pet doors, even though they come with a higher price tag than do manual pet doors. Manual pet doors aren’t "smart" so they can't stop other animals, either domestic or wild, from entering a home. To many people, a higher price tag is worth the peace-of-mind that comes from knowing that raccoons and the like can't enter their home.

Other people who really like what automatic pet doors have to offer are those who have pets that they want to keep safely indoors, while letting other pets free to come in and out at will. Some indoor pets, if they really put their mind to it, might be able to sneak out through automatic pet doors when they open. We think the chances are remote, but possible.

In the final analysis, automatic pet doors are a good solution if you want to keep some pets indoors for their safety while letting others go out. Automatic pet doors that feature 4-way access control also appeal to parents of infants to prevent their little one from crawling outdoors.

Many (but not all, so please check before you make a purchase) automatic pet doors feature 4-way access control:

• Locked: No access in or out
• Unlocked: Can go out & can come back in
• Partial Access: Can come in but can’t go out
• Partial Access: Can go out but can’t come in

There is also a much higher demand than ever before for pet doors that offer superior insulation and are energy-efficient. Automatic pet doors can be more efficient than a manual flap door because they won’t blow open, not even in heavy wind.

To promote optimum energy efficiency, most brands of pet doors carried by America's Pet Store (not just our automatic pet doors) come with weather-stripping to help insulate the pet door after installation.

Please contact us toll-free at 1-800-870-1941 or at customerservice@americas-pet-store.com if you have any questions or require assistance in selecting or comparing our products.

America's Pet Store carries other varieties of pet doors for dogs and cats, including traditional flap-style pet doors for patio doors. You'll find all sizes including large pet doors and even XL pet doors. However, we no longer carry storm doors with pet doors.