Is a microchip catflap the answer to my growing problem?

[makingmiracles]

Never knowingly had a problem with other cats coming into our house, that's not to say they haven't been in but I've never caught them coming in/smelt any spraying.

In the last six months it's become a massive problem, I come home and hear cats racing out my catflap, I've caught them sitting on my sofa and the other night I slung my leg out of bed to go to the loo and almost trod on a visiting cat who then had the cheek to growl at me before scarpering!!!
I've obviously got a Tom coming in too as I can smell cat spray which I've never experienced before either, that is what has prompted needing to find a solution. With another baby on the way and a cat that is so passive he won't chase other cats out I need a solution!

Are microchip cat flaps the solution? Do they work well and totally stop other cats bullying their way in? Is it possible the other cats may still be able to push their way in with force and break the cat flap?

Are there brands/ types that are better than others?

[MrsPnut]

We have a microchip catflap because we used to have a ginger tom that thought our house was also his. We have a Petporte one store.intl.petsafe.net/en-gb/microchip-petporte-smart-flap and once we turned off the beep when it detects the cat it works brilliantly. We paid much less than this though.
We have it plugged into the mains but needed the extension lead to reach the nearest socket at the top of the stairs, it doesn't work nearly as well on batteries.
We had a few problems fitting it, I think we had to drill new holes as the ones from the old catflap weren't quite in the right place but we used some expandable foam once we'd finished to fill in the gaps.

Now if we could just get it to detect when one of the cats has a present in her mouth and not let her in that would be fantastic.

[Ratbagcatbag]

We had the spraying from a visiting Tom and my cat was terrified. We fitted a sure flap cat flap, best thing ever for us, we've not had anyone bully their way in and and after a couple of weeks the local cats stopped spraying our back door/garden as to mark their territory.

[Niknak1980]

We also had a cheeky Tom coming in and scaring my cats and spraying, so we got a sure flap one and it's been brilliant x

[makingmiracles]

So do most microchip ones beep when the cat comes in and out? And do they all have the option to turn off the beep as mine is a scardy cat and wouldn't like the beep I suspect?

[JapanNextYear]

Ours is a pet Porte one and really good. The customer service is excellent. With the beep, you can turn it off, but our cat seems to quite like it.

[Icequeen01]

Another vote for the Sureflap microchip flap. We have two neighbour's cats who almost take the door down trying to get in to steal my cat's food but the Sureflap has held well. Their customer service is also fantastic (there was a post on here about a month ago where a couple of posters had excellent customer service from them) If you did have a problem with cats still getting in (which is unusual but not unheard of) they will send you a stronger lock.

Our flap doesn't bleep but does make a loud click once it recognises the chip and unlocks. It put my cats off for a couple of days when we first got it but it doesn't bother them at all now. I also find the click reassuring as I can hear them coming and going (I'm a bit sad like that). If you do go down the Sureflap route I would suggest that if you have a larger or older cat you should buy the pet flap rather than cat flap as it is bigger. The cat flap is quite small and my old girl used to struggle a bit when she was less agile, hence we changed to the bigger one. We now have two 5kg ginger boys and the pet flap size is perfect.

[makingmiracles]

Glad to hear the sure flap one is recommended, I see on eBay they can be picked up from about £30, so very reasonable. Our cat is fairly slim and fairly agile still but is about 9 now so that's something to consider..

The other cats coming in are much larger than our cat so perhaps the smaller flap would be even more of a deterrent!?

Anyone know roughly how much it is to get the cat microchipped? Was hoping it'd be £30 ish or under?

[shouldwestayorshouldwego]

It's currently £10 at pets at home to microchip a cat. A friend got a microchip flap and she got the cat used to going through it for treats before they installed it. Our cats just use their human slave to gain access!

[Fluffycloudland77]

Are these visiting cats hungry strays? You could be their food source.

[makingmiracles]

No I'm fairly sure they do have homes, they don't look underweight. Besides I can't afford to feed half the neighbourhood cats or put up with the bullying and spraying which absolutely stinks.
That's great about pets at home, I have one not far from me so will check that out. Plan of action is get cat chipped, install catflap then hire carpet cleaner to clean the carpets and get rid of Tom cat spray smell!
My cat has recently started peeing on the bathroom floor when the door is left open which he's never done before and I'm convinced it's because of the bullying from the intruder cats so hopefully with the new flap in place he'll stop that too, might buy some feliway too to aid the process.

[shouldwestayorshouldwego]

On the website it says until 15th May but they are open on Sundays here so might be able to do it today. Worth ringing to enquire. It is normally £15 so not too much more and then you don't need a collar. Out vet recommended not to have a collar due to potential injuries.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

We have a sureflap one,couldn't find one for 30 quid,it was more like 50 plus with posting and extenders etc but well worth it!

[NeedACleverNN]

Are they registered to a particular chip or is it just to a chip in general?

Would they only let in your cat or any cat with a chip?

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

No,you set it to your particular chip. I think up to 20 ish cats iirc.

[NeedACleverNN]

Aaaah that's genius!

I might have to look into one in the future. Cleverkitten is too young to go out yet but when we have the back door open and it's warm she will have a couple of steps and sleep in the sunshine. Supervised of course

[Palomb]

We have one and it's great but ime a persistent cat could just bust their way through it. My Torti Madame does not take kindly to being locked out and will just force the mechanism to get in which is worth considering if your visitors are especially bolshy. That said, we have never had another Cat in the house.

The other thing to consider is fitting - it cost us £300 for the flap and the extenders and to fit it through a wall. I see you've got a flap already so not relevant to you but something for other readers to think about.

[makingmiracles]

Mine will be going into a wooden back door, which already has a standard catflap fitted so hoping I don't need any additional extenders or anything.

Palomb that's what I'm apprehensive about, these cats coming in are particularly big and bolschy so they could in theory still force their way through?

[FuzzyOwl]

I would advise against a Cat Mate and recommend a Sure Flap. The Cat Mate makes a loud clicking sound when it recognised the microchip and this scared my cats. It also didn't recognise one of the cats' microchips so that cat could never come in through the flap and had to wait around outside for us (the vet confirmed the microchip was working and in the right place).

Whichever flap you do go for, check the microchip numbers that it will work for eg starting 90 or 77 etc and make sure your cat's chip is suitable. Otherwise you will end up getting them chipped again and if you ever plan to take the pet abroad, having two numbers causes a hassle.

Finally, yes, I think a bolshy cat could break the flap but hopefully it would be enough of a deterrent to stop it bothering. A crafty cat of mine used to be able to open a flap that was locked one way by digging a claw into the rubber rim of the flap and pulling it towards him, then sneaking out under it. As a microchip flap works on the same principle of effectively being locked one way but open the other, another cat could theoretically do this. However, I think that locking your current cat flap before you change would give you a good idea as to whether the ones coming in your house will be put off or whether they do still want to come in. No other cat has ever come into our house with the microchip flap in place.