No obvious place for a cat flap in new house- options?

[Cuppatea14]

So we've just moved house, and mogs is settling in nicely and more than ready to go outside. Problem is there's only large glass windows/doors at the back of the house. We thought a glazier could come and fit a flap to one of the windows but after ringing around, it seems we would have to replace an entire pane, and it would cost a small fortune. Could we wing it without a flap or will he drive us crazy yowling to come in at 3am? He's around 6 and always been a very outdoorsy type (unlike his people) so keeping him indoors isn't an option. Plus he is tracking bloody litter all over the house and I have a crawling baby who likes to sample it

[Sparklingbrook]

We don't have a cat flap. Sparklingcat is always in at night, she comes in in the evening then wants to go out about 7am. Cats should be kept in at night ideally.

In the daytime she comes and goes and there is usually someone around to let her in and out. But she has a bed in the garage which does have a cat flap, so she has somewhere to go if it's raining and there's nobody to let her in.

How much longer til he can go out?

[Cuppatea14]

Problem is we're at work all day, so he'd have no where to shelter if it was wet (unless we put a catflap on the shed???) He's supposed to be in for another week but we'll probably cave in sooner, he's not the adventurous type so I'd be fairly confident he wouldn't go far.

[MumOfTheMoment]

Our cat goes out (of her own accord) at around 10pm and usually reappears at 7am. We have never had a cat flap. The only time she bothers us at night is if she has brought us back a little "gift" but tbh I would rather be woken by a yowl under our window than a mouse running around the house!

Might be different if your cat is used to coming and going as she pleases though. Cat flaps can be put into walls - the cats just have a small tunnel to go through. Have a Google. It might be cheaper for a builder/handyman/you/dh to knock out an airbrick and install one than the glazier quoted?

[MumOfTheMoment]

Also we have a plastic cat kennel outside which cat loves.

[overthemill]

We don't have a cat flap at the moment for the same reason as you- I had no idea we would need whole pane replaced. But I am home most of the time and cat shelters in garage if he needs to ie raining. Otherwise our dog barks when he sees the cat waiting to come in. He is always in at night. So I would put a cat flap in your shed!

[Sparklingbrook]

Yes you can get cat kennels for somewhere to shelter in the day. A cat flap into the shed would be ok too if the shed is dry and you put a bed in.

[RoganJosh]

We had a pane of glass replaced, a whole door one, and it was £250, just to give you an idea of price.
In the next house we had a hole made in the wall which wasn't a big job surprisingly. I'm not sure how much it cost as it was part of other building work. It needed two flaps and a tunnel but worked fine. I also felt it would be easy for the next people to fill in if they didn't want one.

[GRW]

I had mine put in the front door which isn't ideal but worked for us. When I bought a new door a few years later the company advised me which one would be suitable to have a cat flap, and fitted it when they put the new door in.

[eltsihT]

My parents have knocked out a brick in their garage that the cat goes in and out of and have fitted a flap to the garage/hall door

[TheGreenNinja]

I've had one put into a wall, with a sort of tunnel extender thing to make it longer.

[unlucky83]

I had the bottom pain of glass (half the size of the door) replaced in my double glazed back door with an insulated panel. Cost just over £100 and I kept the double glazed unit so it could be put back if we sold etc. (glazier said it would be cheaper if I had a wood panel instead but I would rather have it done properly).
My other option would be the hole in the wall and tunnel.
However my parents had cats and never had a cat flap - they had a hole cut in the side of the shed and put cat beds in there.
I used to live in a rented house and acquired a cat (had been abandoned there by previous tenants ). Until I realised where it had come from it (neighbours told me) it was living in a pile of cupboards/shelving units the landlord was storing in the back garden and it still used to shelter there when I was out. When the landlord eventually got round to moving the cupboards I made a shelter out of old bits of wood -but a shed would be warmer.
I wouldn't let your cat out for the first time if you aren't going to around all day to let it back in as soon as it wants to come in if it isn't used to not having a flap -it might get confused and not think it is home...

[unlucky83]

or even pane of glass ...grrr autocorrect.

[amouseinawindmill]

Is there a smaller window you could use, it would be cheaper to replace a smaller pane of glass. I have heard of people putting the cat flap in the kitchen window above the sink, with a garden table or similar against the wall outside so the cat doesn't have to levitate up to the flap from the garden.
Otherwise a cat kennel is a good idea.

[stopfaffing]

OP, a catflap in the shed is a really good idea and means that cat can safely bring in all sorts of dodgy stuff (including dead animals) and not litter the house. Doing a bit of googling is does seem that you do have to replace the pane of glass in french door with special cat flap one. Expensive.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Even double glazed a glass door will be a cold spot in winter. We replaced the paneled white part with a plain one and dh cut a hole for the cat flap. It was £30.

A warm bed in the shed with a hot water bottle is do-able.