Microchip Operated Cat Flap?

Mrs_P_Pincher

I would appreciate anyone’s experiences or recommendations.

Our vet advises that we get a cat flap operated by microchip to keep out the local bully who is causing severe stress to one of my cats.

We have tried other ways to get rid of him, without success – even the water pistol treatment only worked for two days! His owners are sympathetic (nay embarrassed) but obviously cannot control what he does when he is out and about.

I have no experience of these, but it looks as if there are two on the market, the Pet Porte and the Sureflap.

They are not exactly MSE in the first instance, but I’m thinking of the savings in vet bills and food being eaten by the bully.

Anyone got one and would like to share opinions or experiences?

Mrs P P

bulchy

I didnt even know you could get these, thanks, sorry I cant make any comments, but its certainly something I would consider for my 2.
Sue

cyberbob

The best one out there is Pet porte. Not cheap but seems the best. They have got some new developments towards the back of the year so you will be able to exclude certain cats from going out (useful if like us you have certain cats who don't go out) This will be available as an add on

http://www.petporte.com/

painted

Would a magnetic cat flap not work in your situation?

picklepick

Mrs P P, huuuge thread on this here for you to read through...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=845281&highlight=petporte

Im going to be getting one for my two when we've moved into new house. As a one off cost i can justify getting one. Magnetic ones arent cat specific, any cat with a magnet on can get in. Also had one of mine lose a magnet once and the poor thing was headbutting the flap trying to get in.....

paddypaws101

I think magnetic cat flaps cost £30-40 anyway.....and although you do get 3 magnets with the flap, cats seem to lose them all the time and they cost another £5-10 to replace.
Sooooo, the petporte starts to look slightly more reasonable in terms of cost.

shelly

This site sells the 3 different types of microchip cat flap ( 2 petportes and 1 sureflap) though I would advise shopping around for the best price.
http://www.thevetpetshop.co.uk/petporte-flap-c-169.html

We have the old version of the petporte and it was the best £100 spent just to see Lily back to her old self and not stressed out by the local fat tom coming in the old flap.

Also be aware you do need to know if the chip in your cat will work with the flap, older chips might not work. Here is the page to check chip compatibility http://www.petporte.com/chip3.htm

HTH

pusscat

I have the new version of the Pet Porte - the Smartflap, this is because we have a "Staywell" shaped hole in the front door where we got rid of the magnetic cat flap.

The magnetic cat flap was a total waste of space, it ended up being used just as a normal flap. The magnets were £10 odd each to replace, my 4 cats were loosing one a month each at some points, the magnets are huge and dangle off teh collar at the front and he cat has to stand in exactly the right place to get in. Our very old cat struggled to get the position and the timing right so often just sat on the step and howled!
We also had the flap locked on vet mode and the smallest did a parachute roll through it and smashed the door into small pieces.

One of our neighbours also had 4 cats and they had a magnetic cat flap -all of our cats used both houses, which was not so bad as we got on, but if you did not then I can see it being an issue!

The Smart flap is brilliant - I have a post on the thread that Picklepick has posted. It works first time, every time and the cats have no problems with it at all. I have had 2 small issues with it in almost a year now. One was sorted out straight away, the other was my electrics at fault. Pet porte customer service was brilliant and I have been really impressed all round.

Puss
xx

Mrs_P_Pincher

Sorry not to respond sooner - have been on leave.

Thanks everyone for your responses - I will read the thread I've been signposted to over the weekend and see where we go from there.

Things we do for our furbabies...

Mrs P P

dibs88_2

Really determined cats can still break in through the chip type. If this happens, it's worth persuading the owners to see a behaviourist.

xMonsoonx

I have just bought a sureflap as we have been having a visitor who keeps terrorising our kitty and spraying in the house :mad:

As she a ex stay - didn't find a home with us until she was 4 - she will not wear a collar but was micro chipped, so was a no brainer choice for us, they seem expensive, but not having to clear up cat pee will be worth every penny!