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Old 10-17-2016, 10:51 AM   #1
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Name: Jennifer
Trailer: Randy Bishop's 1978 Trillium 4500
California
Posts: 134
changing doorknob or adding a bolt

Hi all,

My cat can open the door handle in my 73 Trillium 4500. I suspected it was inevitable and now that he goes for leash walks he opens the door from the inside. Not good because he let himself out and was gone for 4.5 days here in the Mojave before I found him. Edit to add: he is really a scaredy cat though and not the sort that I trust as an outdoor cat.

I'm trying to figure out how to fix this. From the outside I just wedge a 2xf against the door so it doesn't open but, that won't work when I am inside.

My neighbor things we can install a bolt an we are going to the home depot today to see what we can do.

Duct tape and monster tape doesn't work. Smart kitty just jumps up and rips it off.

Any ideas?

Another neighbor suggested a plastic cover to go over the door handle to keep him from opening it.

Jen
p.s. with Mr. Marco the Tuxedo cat.
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Old 10-18-2016, 10:20 AM   #2
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Name: sharon
Trailer: Scamp
Virginia
Posts: 201
what a talented cat! can you get him to open my pill bottles for me? lol!

I don't know about trilliums, but my scamp door occasionally pops open while going down the road. so before hitting the road, I bungee the inside of the door to the cooler chest handle. maybe try a bungee to see if Houdini is strong enough to push out? cheap, easy fix that works from inside or out.
good luck!
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Old 10-18-2016, 01:46 PM   #3
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Trailer: 92 16 ft Scamp
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Sorry have no answer to your problem other than suggest you try and find a different type of handle he can not open. But I can relate to the problem.

I raised a service dog and once he started advance training one of the first things they taught him was to open levered doors. When home with me on week-ends from advance training he had NEVER tried to open a door without first being asked..... that was until I took him to pick up my new trailer. On arriving at the first campground the first night out I left him in the trailer while I hooked up power and water. When I went to go back into the trailer I was locked out with all the keys inside the trailer! What happened next to get the trailer unlocked was not a lot of fun, time wise or financially. The only good news was I had my phone in my pocket so I could call for help and it was not in my purse inside the trailer!

I at the time thought I had somehow locked the door and closed it. It was not until a few days later the dog showed me it was he who had locked me out. He decided he wanted to go out to see what the party traveling with me was doing outside so he tried to open the door by pawing at the door handle but in doing so he also hit a sliding button that locked the door that was right under the handle. I and his trainers at the organization he belonged to had to do lots more training so that no matter what he was never to try opening it if not asked to do so.

Got to love traveling with animals!
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Old 10-18-2016, 02:02 PM   #4
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Name: Lee
Trailer: Casita
California
Posts: 79
Dead bolt

My husband installed a dead bolt for my safety. I have to pull the door toward me to turn the knob, no kitty would be able to do that. I lock it outside with a key. Better than just relying on the original door lock.
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Old 10-18-2016, 02:10 PM   #5
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Trailer: Scamp 16 ft Side Dinette
Posts: 1,279
Tricky door handle.

Two things you can do.
One, reverse the outside door handle so you have to lift it to open the door.
Perhaps the inside onee can be reversed too. Be sure you have enough room so your hand does not get pinched at the frame.

Two, add a dead bolt lock. with key lock on outside and lever inside.
It takes a couple of wood blocks to provide the thickness needed.
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Old 10-18-2016, 03:50 PM   #6
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Name: Peter
Trailer: G30 Elite Class C
British Columbia
Posts: 1,509
yes just child proof your door latch or use a round knob, do not

cut any more holes or drill if u can get out of doing so.
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Old 10-18-2016, 07:42 PM   #7
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Name: Michael
Trailer: Trail Cruiser
Alberta
Posts: 825
Smart cat, Siamese maybe? Any of these solutions should work but a dead bolt would be the most secure.
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Old 10-22-2016, 05:34 PM   #8
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Name: Jann
Trailer: Casita
Colorado
Posts: 1,307
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gennaver View Post
Hi all,

My cat can open the door handle in my 73 Trillium 4500. I suspected it was inevitable and now that he goes for leash walks he opens the door from the inside. Not good because he let himself out and was gone for 4.5 days here in the Mojave before I found him. Edit to add: he is really a scaredy cat though and not the sort that I trust as an outdoor cat.

I'm trying to figure out how to fix this. From the outside I just wedge a 2xf against the door so it doesn't open but, that won't work when I am inside.

My neighbor things we can install a bolt an we are going to the home depot today to see what we can do.

Duct tape and monster tape doesn't work. Smart kitty just jumps up and rips it off.

Any ideas?

Another neighbor suggested a plastic cover to go over the door handle to keep him from opening it.

Jen
p.s. with Mr. Marco the Tuxedo cat.
I have a cat that probably could open my door but I put a small screen door hook on the door facing and put the eye on the door. Some hooks have a spring that locks in place so kitty could not open it. I can keep my heavy door open and just latch the screen door. I latch the screen door from the outside even by opening the slide and reaching in. Just don't close the heavy door while the screen is latched because then it is going to ruin your screen door handle to get it open. To prevent this I put a metal spring paper clip inside the hole where the door latches while you are outside and this also holds the screen door closed. If kitty can open the slide on the screen door then put a tiny bungee cord hooked to the slide and the other end to the hole the screen door hook is on. We keep our door open at night so if someone tried to come in the screen would not open. For more safety we took some plastic off of an old child safety gate because it is the perfect size of the screen and screwed it to the top and bottom of the screen door. This keeps kitty from going through the screen and people and critters out. I'm a woman and did all this so most anyone could do these. It was cheap and easy.
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