Cat flaps - chip or no chip?

[birdseeder]

Morning!
So we have 3 cats (inherited one this year 😢) and have decided to get a cat flap installed in our glazed door.

We live on a housing estate with quite a few other cats around, however none have actually made it into the house as far as I am aware...

So I am thinking, will I need a chipped flap with 3 cats? I'm kind of assuming they have the "territory" covered?

I am also thinking of costs lol, x3 collars getting lost/replaced 🙄

My question is really, if you don't have a chipped cat flap, do you get random cats come in?

Thanks

We used to have a normal cat flap, and all was well for a long time, a local cat in occassionally, and he/she and our cat were friends. I swear to god Arthur used to go out and invite it in for tea.

Then, we had a stray enter the territory. It was awful. Came in, sprayed everywhere, on the floor, the tops, on my BREAD BIN! Arthur was completely terrorised and upset. We got a chipped flap, and it has been wonderful. Sadly the friend cat can't come in anymore, but of course the bastard stray can't either, thank God. Everyone, cat and me, are now much happier.

I fitted a sure flap in my glazed front door. I removed the bottom glazed panel and fitted a plastic bottom panel so that I could then cut and fit a space for the cat flap. Works brilliantly and stopped a random stray coming in. Had a couple of issues with the batteries running down quickly so only fit Duracell now and its fine. Also, the spring mechanism broke last year and the customer service from Sure Flap was brilliant, they sent me the replacement part in the post for free really quickly and provided video walkthroughs of how to replace the part. All works perfectly again with my two chipped cats!

@Nomnomarrgh

You learn something new every day. I thought collars showed a cat wasn’t a stray and is treated for fleas.

Nah... it just shows someone put a collar on and it hasn’t come off, yet.

Cat collars have to be easy release because otherwise they can give them horrendous injuries - so they come off fairly easily during normal cat activities.

Strays usually look scruffy - I mean some well looked after cats can too, especially older ones, but if it’s clean and healthy looking, chances are it’s just out for a walk.

We had loads of strays and other people's cats coming in before we converted to a chipped cat flap. You don't need collars, they work on the cats microchip.

If you're going that way and money is no object, can I recommend the Sureflap connects which, as well as controlling entry and exit, have an app (you need a hub as well as the cat flap, look for deals to cut the cost a little).

The app tells you the comings and goings of your cats, so good if you have a cat that spends a lot of time outside and sneaks in the middle of the night for food - this is recorded by the app and provides peace of mind that they're still alive and well when you haven't seen them for days.

Also has control like you can lock the catflap remotely - good for when you get them a vets appointment while you're at work and stops you from getting home to find the cat is hiding in the bushes laughing at you until after the vets has closed nowhere to be seen.

Our previous cats had magnetic collars for the cat flap. The cats we have now have chips and a chip activated cat flap. Which is brilliant, because they kept losing their collars. It's definitely worth the money getting a chip flap.

wombatchocolate your cats sound like mine! They scram upstairs and hide behind the curtains if they hear the cat flap go and are nervous walking round the kitchen door sometimes. It also took one quite a while to master our very ordinary cat flap. He used the claw trick too!

As someone that has a rogue cat nearby that likes to get in everyone's houses and since moving has our cat terrified, I would get a chipped flap. It keeps him out as long as other doors and windows are shut.

I have a Sureflap too which works a treat, reading my cats microchip and keeping the bully cat out. It is easy to set up and you can add a number of additional cats too as long as they have the microchip in their necks.

We have an old SureFlap (+10yrs), but it still has different modes and a light sensor to lock/unlock as required. I would definitely recommend, ours is mains-powered so no issues with batteries.

In all this time we've only had one incursion - I've no idea how the local bully cat managed to muscle his way in, in the middle of the night. I woke to hear the poor thing miaowing away and desperate to get out, our own cat cowering in a corner. We usually have it set so our cat is locked in when it's dark out.

When we first got our cat flap, the instructions suggested training them to go in and out of the cat flap before installing it, using treats to motivate them to go through it. We did that and they didn't have too much trouble getting used to it.

Another vote for microchip cat flap. Stops others coming in. We are have sureflap and we can set when it’s locked: unlocked which is handy

Definitely a chip one that reads their chip in their necks. They are expensive but brilliant. We were okay with a plain one before our girl cat but despite being neutered she had beaus after her that came into the house. She was terrified and out boy cat was stressed. With the chip cat flap she could run in and the beaus couldnt. Neither could they spray everywhere.

Yep a microchip cat flap here, 2 cats and a small dog. Uses their ID microchips not a collar. We have had the odd attempt by visitors as I've heard them he's butting the flap during the night whilst ours are tucked up in the kitchen for the night!