Draught proof cat flap?

[TheLongRider]

Long time reader, first time poster. I am the proud owner slave of three cats. I'd like to call upon the collective wisdom of this forum to help me find a draught proof cat flap. I've used both Staywell and Petmate catflaps in the past and they leak air like sieves around the edges.

My current catflap is a four-way locking Ferplast inserted into a double glazed panel in my back door. The back door will be replaced soon by a door with a PVC panel and I need a new catflap to put in the door. My problem is that none of the catflaps I've used are draught proof despite the manufacturer's claims.

In the past I've had cats who have ripped the brushing off the edge of the catflap (as a protest at being locked in for the night, preventing them from leaving headless corpses on the kitchen floor).

So good folk of Mumsnet, what do you do to prevent the wind from whistling around your ankles? Have any of you put a catflap through a wall instead of a door?

I believe that a cat picture is obligatory on this forum, so here is one of fluffy cat praying.

[GalenJustGalen]

In my experience there's really no such thing. I tried everything. Even the ones that stopped the breezes were made of stuff to flimsy to actually keep the cold out; it would just seep through.

I finally ended up building a little hollow "bench" next to the door. It was a sort of tunnel. It had one cat door on the interior side, and then another that went outside through a hole I cut in the side of the house. Insulated the shit out of it, and in the end it acted like a bit of an air-lock. It was a lot of work and you'd feel cold air when she went in and out, but it was magnitudes better than any other cat door I'd ever had. Obviously if you're renting, cutting holes in the walls probably isn't an option, though...

For me it was worth the trouble because the cat door was in the room that I spend the most time in. In retrospect, I might've been able to train her to a different location, one less central, where I wouldn't have minded it being cold.

Also that paw-in-nose thing is ridiculously adorable!

[GalenJustGalen]

P.S. It's not too hard to put a cat door through a wall. The principle is exactly the same as putting it through a door panel, it's just that the door panel part is much thicker. The hardest part is figuring out how to hold back the insulation that's already in the wall. If you're a bit handy, it's not too bad, though: just cut a few 3/4"-thick bits of wood to size and tack them in.

[TheLongRider]

Thanks for the suggestion. I own the house so no problem with a landlord. There is external insulation on the outside of the house and that would make it thicker than the usual cavity wall.

I was wondering if the cats would put up with a longer tunnel. I have visions of a cat with it's head out one side and it's tail still on the other side, like a catty tube of toothpaste!

[squeak10]

if you do and end up with kitty toothpaste tube, photo please. Have tried all sorts but the little darlings just trash them by flying from the top of the garden (over 100 foot) straight through the cat flap sitting down, quick wash then the look where is my food and why are you laughing at my (undignified) entrance, I'm home , you should be pleased