Cat flap

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Morning all, we are finally coming to the realisation that our two rescue kittens are now old enough and wise enough to have a cat flap. It's been a long journey as one has had some illness problems and also is a bit of a climber (not too much of a descender and so there have been numerous rescue attempts from trees and roofs!). They are now 14 months old and go outside daily, but only when we are home. Boy cat is a bit of an adventurer but always comes back and if we are lucky returns to us calling for him/shaking some treats. Girls cat (the climber and who was poorly until February) doesn't stray to far since she got caught on a neighbours roof with two dogs barking at her!

Anyway, we feel the has come for them to have a cat flap to allow them to come and go as they please. We've been researching and there are so many to choose from so we are a bit lost and we need some help! We want a microchip reading (there are lots of local cats) and a flap that uses a battery (no cables to run). I'm also thinking of getting one which has a timer so that they can't go out at night (due to neighbourhood cats), clearly the flap would need to be entry only after the cut-off time to allow them back in if they go out late.

Are there any other features we should look for and are there any flaps you would recommend?

Thanks for your help!

[LyndaNotLinda]

I don't know about the timer but I recommend Sureflap. Very well made, easy to fit and excellent customer service.

Get a white one rather than a brown one though

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

We've got a Sureflap pet door (not cat flap, the pet door is bigger) and it has a timer so it locks at 6.30PM and opens at 7.45AM.

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Thanks Pink and Lynda - the sureflap pet door was the one I was wondering about as it has the timer. Good to hear the reviews about sureflap - online reviews are always so polarised!

I was worried about the size of the pet door Lynda - the info suggests it is marginally bigger than a cat flap, so I couldn't work out how a (small?) dog would get through! Is yours mounted in a door and does it look ok? Ours is a upvc door with an upper and lower glass section...

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Sorry pet door question should have been aimed at Pink, not Lynda

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

It seemed to be quite a bit bigger than the normal cat flap. Harry isn't a big cat but I can't imagine him squeezing through a normal sized cat flap - he can be a bit precious!

I can't help about the door fitting as ours is through the kitchen wall as that was where the cat flap was when we moved in. Hopefully someone will be along who has one in the door.