It's going amazingly well! Thank you for the update, I couldn't have hoped for anything better.
Oh Lord! The lengths us cat people go to! I'm glad to hear all your hard work has paid off. Hope Palmer can be persuaded to stay away from the door now.The MacGyvering worked! The wire gate (made from white coated wire shelving panels from Home Depot) is now bungee-corded to a door knob on one side and to the pressure-mounted gate on the other side. It is stable and working very well and Palmer can't mess with it