Cat escaping out of locked catflap

Lillys_mum

Can anyone help out.

I have a 5 yr old cat and a 5mth old kitten and have a 4 way lockable staywell cat flap. Problem is that even when the flap is locked the cats can open it and get out, has anyone else ever experienced this and if so what did you do about it.

I am tearing my hair out here as I have not let my kitten out yet as he is not neutered but he went out the flap last night following the older one - the flap was switched at lock for both in and out.

I have watched him open it before but didn't think that they should be able to do this.

Thanks

LM

xx

Emmacw

Not much help I know but we have the same cat flap and have had the same problem a couple of times!

Problem then we had was it only unlocked the 'out' side so our young cats (9 months) got out but couldn't get back in again. We were woken at 3am by the yowling of one of them desperate to get back in as he likes to graze his food.

His brother got into a fight last weekend and got bitten at the base of his back by his tail which has so far meant 4 trips to the vets and £240! :eek: Another trip looming on Monday.

To stop them opening the cat flap we now put something very heavy on the outside of the cat flap (could do it from inside) so even if the clip gets moved across to open they can't force their way out of the flap.

A bucket full of water (very heavy) seems effective enough at the moment.

Hope this helps!


Emma

Nomad25

Yes, we have this 4-way version too and our oldest - a big bruiser seems to
be able to get out even when it is quadrupled locked. We do the same as Emma.....flat wooden tray against the inside, wedged with a very heavy buddah ornament. These felines are very cunning!

Lillys_mum

I am so glad I am not the only one!!!

At present we have a heavy box and a 24 pack of John Smiths blocking it!!! But last night they managed to move that and get out.

I like the idea of something on the outside of it though, I will give that a try today - the door opens inwards so it won't be a problem for us getting in and out of the back door.

Thanks

LM

eira

Our cats have broken innumerable ones of these-the lock just isn't 'high' enough to keep it locked. I've just given up. Some suggestions I've had are
1)Buy a small dog door apparently they are more robust
2) The cheaper Staywell has a flap that slots in to a holder so that you can block off the access.Until the kitten is older you could then maybe open a small cat size gap in a window accessible only to the older cat.

In my humble opinion the Staywell lock needs a radical redesign-it just isn't cat proof. Mine have pushed it open and even managed to turn the lock with a paw. the last one broke completely so my cats are currently going in and out of a hole where the cat flap used to be

daisykinn1

Hah I thought it was just me!! Our neighbours huge white cat was asleep on our bed with the dog when we got home from work last week! At the time we thought he must have got through the window in the morning but I heard him break his way in couple of days ago. I don't mind him coming in but I've blocked the flap incase the neighbour sees and thinks we're trying to tempt him away.

idlecat

Our cat can easily hook open any cat door including the magnetic ones - which let in the local bruiser as he had the same magnet!.
The answer has been the remarkable (but expensive) remedy from Petporte in Guernsey http://www.microchipcatflaps.co.uk/
It uses the cats own microchip to open the door and can be programmed for loads of different cats, will sense when it's got dark and lock the allowing your cat to enter but not get out again, does of course have in only too. These vendors are vets and have an excellent help line if you encounter problems. You have a 14 day trial too.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

We had this very same cat flap and it worked for four of our cats,but our big tabby Thomas had his own ideas and we got up after a lot of strange noises one night to find the cat flap being totally wrecked.He wanted out and he was going as far as he was concerned.He had it hanging off the door.
I also found that they would lock themselves in/out as they would knock the latch bits as they went in and out.
I once had a brilliant cat flap that had a bit you would slide over the flap(only way I can describe it is like a guillotine)it was great till Thomas came along and showed the other cats they only had to nudge it up with their noses and get out,only trouble is they could'nt get back in.I always think that if they want out they will and the only way to keep them in for sure is to not have a flap.

Lillys_mum

MRSTITTLEMOUSE wrote: »

We had this very same cat flap and it worked for four of our cats,but our big tabby Thomas had his own ideas and we got up after a lot of strange noises one night to find the cat flap being totally wrecked.He wanted out and he was going as far as he was concerned.He had it hanging off the door.
I also found that they would lock themselves in/out as they would knock the latch bits as they went in and out.
I once had a brilliant cat flap that had a bit you would slide over the flap(only way I can describe it is like a guillotine)it was great till Thomas came along and showed the other cats they only had to nudge it up with their noses and get out,only trouble is they could'nt get back in.I always think that if they want out they will and the only way to keep them in for sure is to not have a flap.

are you referring to the one I have or to the Pet Porte one?

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

Lillys_mum wrote: »

are you referring to the one I have or to the Pet Porte one?

The four way lockable is the one they used to open themselves,I found it pretty useless to be honest.The one with the lift off cover was also a Staywell,but I had had it for years before I bought the 4 way lockable one.I don't know if you can still get the lift off type one now.I did try with no success.

MrsTinks

I've had two catflaps invarious houses I've lived in over the years... one was very cheap but you could lock it very effectively - no fancy in only etc... lock or don't lock But I can't for the life of me remember the make! It WAS weimeraner puppy proof too lol
The second one is even longer ago and it had the gilloutine style flap you could slide infront of the door. This seemed very effective in keeping next doors cat out despite his best efforts... but it was on the inside so no chance of him lifting it I guess