pet porte catflap

loudwatercat

We've got a wall-mounted PetPorte, bought about a year ago. It was just a question of replacing an old catflap in the same space and, despite my limited DIY skills, I didn't find it too hard to get it working.

We have one self-confident cat and one nervous one. Mr Self-Confidence mastered the new catflap without difficulty; Mrs Nervous took a very, very long time to get used to it, despite all manner of inducements, and still sometimes prefers to howl at the patio door so that a human will come and let her in through the door. But she can do it if she has to.

Someone in the thread said that you can vary the time allowed after the door is opened by the tag, so that hesitant cats have more time to find their way in before it shuts again. I could find no mention of this in the instructions. How do you do it?

More worryingly, I have strong evidence that stray cats CAN get in when it is supposedly shut. One did so today. I heard a bit of scrabbling at the flap (which I can see from the lounge window). I couldn't see a cat there but, when I entered the kitchen (where the catflap is), I heard the familiar sound of a rapid exit. Through the kitchen window, I could see the stray cat making his escape - the same monster who has plagued us for many years.

I suppose he could have gained entry on the heels of one of our own cats but I'm pretty sure this did not happen. My feeling is that he had found a way of pulling the flap back towards himself (and then squeezing underneath it). As far as I can see, there is nothing to stop a resourceful moggie from doing this. And this particular stray is very resourceful indeed. Let's face it, strays have to be a lot cleverer than our moggies!

What do others think?

JoeyEmma

We have noticed that the flap doesn't always flip properly closed, meaning any cats can get in to the house. It doesn't happen all the time, just the odd time and I think it might be something to do with how it is fitted. The Pet Porte has signficantly reduced the number of unwelcome visitors into our house though.

shelly

loudwatercat wrote: »

Someone in the thread said that you can vary the time allowed after the door is opened by the tag, so that hesitant cats have more time to find their way in before it shuts again. I could find no mention of this in the instructions. How do you do it?

When we first got our PetPorte flap I had to get in touch with them to change the timer (why on earth they don't just tell you in the instruction booklet, I don't know)

This is a copy of what was sent to me by e-mail....

***To increase the timeout:-

1) Switch off the flap
2) Press and hold the green button
3) Whilst pressing the green button switch the power back on
4) After a few seconds release the green button
5) The unit will now beep a number of times indicating the number of seconds the the timer is set to (The first time you do it, it will beep 5 times to say 5 seconds)

Repeat the above procedure to get the number of seconds you want, 26 seconds is the maximum.

To reduce the timer use the red button instead of the green button and repeat ***


HTH

tux900

Note that those instructions are for the original (larger) Pet Porte. The newer Smart Flap uses a different method/sequence, details of which can be found in the user guide.

I must say, the Pet Porte is a superb product but the user input and configuration procedures are about as far from intuitive as you could ever imagine. Granted, once up-and-running you may well never need to touch the buttons again.

Mathew

shelly

MJNewton wrote: »

Note that those instructions are for the original (larger) Pet Porte. The newer Smart Flap uses a different method/sequence, details of which can be found in the user guide.

I must say, the Pet Porte is a superb product but the user input and configuration procedures are about as far from intuitive as you could ever imagine. Granted, once up-and-running you may well never need to touch the buttons again.

Mathew

Thanks for pointing that out. I keep forgetting that there is a new version out now and just assume everyone has the same version as me

loudwatercat

Thanks to the last few posters for their help.

After posting my question about extending the delay after triggering the flap opening, I found the instructions on the FAQ of the PetPorte website. They worked like a treat. A four-second delay was not nearly enough for our little princess to make her stately progress through the wall-mounted flap so I increased it to a suitably regal 15 seconds. She had no trouble with that and came in looking very pleased with her self. Problem solved!

The other problem - a stray managing to get in - may be because of what JoeyEmma said. When fitting the catflap, it is important that the inside frame is not skewed in any way otherwise the flap may not fall back to the perpendicular. Mine may not be fitted ideally as the surface on the inside is a bit uneven.

misscooldude

I'd like to thank everyone for their contribution to this thread, it has been really helpful in getting more information on the PetPorte. When I first went onto the PetPorte website the cheesy american voice drove me mad, along with the way it wants to prove to you how good it is and how you have to scroll 10 million times to get to the link to purchase! BUT, having read this it sounds like it really might be quite a good product! We had a stray in one night and now it keeps on trying to get in and scaring our cats to the point that they start fighting at the door (even though it isn't in). I wonder if we can get this installed then at least we won't have to worry that there is a stray in the house in the night or even in the day when I get home from work (i do wonder sometimes). I also like the fact that it can autolock and unlock dependent on light levels. I think that could be very useful as I hate getting home in the winter and then having to go out searching for our cats.

All in all, thanks everyone, looks like Petplanet wins for price too...

pusscat

I have the new smart flap for my 4 cats as I previously had a Staywell infra red one (totally pointless - avoid at all costs!!!) and wanted something that would fit in the hole in my front door!

I bought mine direct and it arrived within a few days. It has now been installed about 7 months.

Overall I have been very pleased with the flap. I don't use they daylight settings or any of the fancy bits as my cats have free roaming during the day and night (we live in the country) and I do not need to download their movements to my laptop - they make enough noise coming in for me to know what is going on!

The only problems I have had were:

Becuase the flap is installed in a heavy front door, if the door is slammed hard the sensor is inclined to fall out of the canopy - but Petporte sent me some extra plastic rings - free of charge and next day delivery so that has cured the problem.

I had a dodgy power supply - but it turned out to be my plug socket, not the pet porte. Again, pet porte sent a new power supply foc on a next day delivery. Great service.

We have a local "nasty tom" who will try and get in - if the struggle is violent enough then on 2 occasions the little green or red paddles have become stuck in the down position and he has got in - but he is VERY VERY violent. I suspect that this is part of the design as if he was any more violent then the door would probably snap - so this works in my favour. Resetting them is a 2 minute job with a screwdriver.

The flap works well with all of the microchips - but my lot are all used to cat flaps so they are fine. One of them is inclined to sleep under the porch outside - so we had to turn the bleep off as it was driving us mad.

The vet mode is great - really easy to use and has even held Masie in (Masie is tiny but with the heart of a lion - she destroyed the Staywell flap on vet mode - she just nose dived straight through it and smashed the door to bits)

The power supply is a little unsightly - I currently have the wire taped along the skirting board, I have also run the cable the opposite way inside the casing so that the cable is ont he same side as the plug - but I am now looking at a permanent hole through the wall to a more direct plug. I wanted to be sure it was worth it first.

The flap is a bit draughty - but less so than the others I have had - all cat flaps are draughty no matter what they say about it!!!

We have saved a fortune on cat food as we are not feeding the whole street - and I have not woken up with next doors cat on the bed for 7 months - but next doors cat is not a fan of the pet porte - he sits on the step peering through the flap.....

In general I am very happy with my pet porte - I have never touched the buttons again - the memory seems to stay even if the re is a short power interruption (we often get the trip switches blowing).

The only improvement I could suggest would be a "mouse sensor" that would not let ANY cats carrying live or dead prey into the house - but I guess that is a long way off :-)

Puss
xx

Jonesy_McJones

pusscat wrote: »

The only improvement I could suggest would be a "mouse sensor" that would not let ANY cats carrying live or dead prey into the house - but I guess that is a long way off :-)

Now that would be brilliant!!

We've had ours working for about a week now, and so far so good :-)

Initially we had problems - we scanned the cats to register their microchips with the cat flap fine, but it didn't seem to be picking the microchip up when one of the two cats tried to come in, so she'd be stuck outside. I phoned Pet Porte and even though I'd bought the cat flap from Pet Planet, they sent me a new chip thingy (technical term there) which was easy to put in but didn't solve the problem.

One trip to the vets later we found out that her microchip had gone down her leg (common problem I gather) so we got her chipped again and, because her legs are shorter than her sister's, we've put a makeshift step under the cat flap porch. All works fine now!

Fingers crossed it carries on working ok, and if it does then it's definitely money well spent - we're saving money on cat food (only feeding our two cat now) and our cats seem less stressed in just a week (no more unwelcome visitors and no more spraying etc by these other cats).

MrsE_2

pusscat wrote: »

The flap is a bit draughty - but less so than the others I have had - all cat flaps are draughty no matter what they say about it!!!

This is what puts me off.
I need to site it in my living room, as I want them going directly into the back garden.
If it was drafty that would be awful:(