Catflap - novice - this Sureflap microchip business

[girlwhowearsglasses]

Very highly cat (and fox, and rat, come to that) populated area. Abyssinian kitten now nine months and the DCs are about to start spending their entire time running in and out of the garden now it's spring; so time he started going out.

What do I need to know about this microchip catflap business? We are going to have to go through masonry at the side of the house for the catflap due to various issues (parrot in room next to garden entrance - so can't be left to go in there all the time, and I don't want a cat flap in the front door). Do I just buy the Sureflap and then the tunnel extender??

Thanks for help

[Petal02]

Yes, you would probably need the tunnel extender. And unless you/your DP or DH is quite handy with a set of tools, you might need to get a builder or handyman to help you.

We got a Sureflap microchip cat flap last autumn, installed it in the back door (which is metla with a uPVC skin) and had to have an extra piece of kit as the metal can interfere with the ability to read the chip. But once we’d got that sorted out, and persuaded Madam Kitty Drama Queen to try the new flap, it worked a treat and we’ve never looked back.

I had six weeks off work before Christmas, recovering from a minor op, and I was amazed at how many cats tried (unsuccessfully) to gain access to our house; before installing Sureflap I think we must have been the local feline cafeteria, as we get through far less cat food these days!

[girlwhowearsglasses]

Yep DP handy and I think looking forward to making a hole in the wall. Cat so desperate to get out he won't blink at going through a tunnel

[Madcats]

I had to google Sureflap. It sounds very similar to our Petporte mains operated thingy we made the builders pop into our kitchen extension 6 years ago.

We used to be woken up several nights a month with a full on growl-fest on our stairs between our grumpy siamese boys and a big fluffy cat from along the road.

The microchip wall has made a huge difference; no intruders! Our delinquent teenagers took a few days to get used to stretching through a wall catflap (plenty of treats and praise). One of them still checks through the French windows to see if it is worth crying....

Money well spent in our house.

[Fluffycloudland77]

I wish my neighbours would get them, pretty sure ASBO cat goes into their houses to bully their cats.

[moonbells]

The one thing we now wished we'd done is get the Sureflap pet door not the cat flap! Mooncat struggled with the flap even before she ate all the pies... thankfully the diet is working and she can deal with the flap a bit better now but if you think you will at any time have a larger cat than an Abyssinian then get the pet door. It's a lot bigger.

[Petal02]

I'd be concerned that the larger "pet door" could also be a "burglar entrance"!!!!!

[Reiltin]

We have it in our back door. It's a glass door that we had re-glazed to fit the flap. It works really well. My wife didn't want it through the wall cos she thought it would decrease the house re-sale value.

[BetsyBell]

Sureflap are brilliant. Stopped the local toms popping in for a snack and a spray (and bully our cats). Ours went a bit faulty after 9 months but it was sorted with one friendly phone call to the manufacturers and an easy to fit free part quickly sent out. Great customer service! (I don't work for them but good service is so rare these days that it'a worth mentioning.)

[umiaisha]

We had a sureflap fitted in our UPVC back door a couple of weeks back and I am very impressed with it.

We went for the pet door rather than the cat flap as I was concerned that our British Short Hair might outgrow the cat flap. Very easy to programme and she is in and out all day long now!

[moonbells]

Petal - I think the pet door is actually as big as a normal non-chip flap and has two latches not one. Sureflap cat flaps are known for being a tight squeeze for larger cats.