Microchip cat flaps

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Comments

  • birduk
    birduk Posts: 466 Forumite
    I asked for this for a Christmas present (thank you mum). Only trouble is.... one of my cats has lost her microchip. Can't find it anywhere on her. So make sure your cat still has hers/his. Also my boy cat gets frustrated and just rips the dial off. Cheeky!
  • RupertTheCat
    RupertTheCat Posts: 113 Forumite
    I have a sureflap cat flap, bought in an attempt to stop the neighbourhood bolshy ginger tom breaking in and terrorising my collection of big girl birmans. My birmans are fairly large cats and have no problem with the cat flap on the whole (apart from my girl cat who hates cat flaps and thinks we should employ extra staff to stand by the back door opening and closing it for her all day but that's another story)

    The only issue I have had is that there is a tiny delay before the catch goes down as the microchip is read. This is normally OK, apart from when my completely stupid big seal point gets scared by something and tries to come screaming through the catflap at about 90 miles an hour. The microchip reader doesn't have a hope in hell of opening the catch before he hits the flap. The result: he's knocked the catflap completely off the wall twice now with an almighty crash at 3am. We've gone running downstairs in a panic and found flap and cat in a heap on the floor. Considering he has to do a sharp right turn to get through the flap, I'm amazed he hits it at such speed.

    Fortunately he has no brain so there's no concerns about brain damage. I have had to fully nail the flap to the wall though - the vet assures me cats have very hard heads so if he hits it at speed now he will just bounce off it. Or break the plastic.

    Occasionally the wind can stop the flap from coming down before the catch goes back up as well, which leaves the flap open for all and sundry to swan in.
  • Bogof_Babe
    Bogof_Babe Posts: 10,803 Forumite
    We had to take ours back for a refund as Charlie wouldn't fit through it :(.

    We had a new back door recently, and got it made with a "small dog" flap for his nibs, which fits him fine! :rotfl:

    We asked the vet whether he needed to go on a diet, but he said no he's just a big cat and in good health. Just our luck, he was tiny when he arrived as a stray.
    :D I haven't bogged off yet, and I ain't no babe :D

  • ab48uk
    ab48uk Posts: 48 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    We have a SureFlap - not cheap but worth every penny. It keeps out local strays who were coming in and eating our cat's food. Now - to paraphrase the song - I hear them knocking, but they can't come in!

    A useful side effect of such flaps is getting more cats chipped. Something I think every cat or dog owner should do.
  • 20vt-rs
    20vt-rs Posts: 685 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Mortgage-free Glee! Name Dropper
    Another vote here for Sureflap, the only small gripe I have, is that when it rains hard against my back door, some water somehow creeps in and drips under the base of the surround indoors. I have sealed the unit in so a bit lost as to how it is leaking! Thinking of getting a back door canopy in to keep the rain off :)

    Other than that its great and does what it needs to do. I see they have released a larger "pet door", so large carts and dogs can use it.
    Mortgage Free Wannabe Light Bulb Moment (Early 2012, started May 2012)
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