Cat flap....are there any elegant solutions?

[fastliving]

I'm hoping to extend my house - rear extension across the whole width of the house.
I want either bi-folds or France doors into the garden.
What do I do about my cat flap (which the dog occasionally uses in a middle of the night emergency! - she's only little!)?

It's a bit of a shame to put a cat flap into a lovely expanse of glass, but there will be hell to pay if she can't get out (old rescue, won't use a litter-tray under any circumstance- will use my bed or the sofa instead I'm sure!)

Should I go for one of those through the brickwork ones?

French doors!

We have one through the brick work for the same reason. It was a bit of a nightmare to install as the tunnel sections don’t actually join together, so we ended up cobbling a Perspex tunnel together through the 18 inch thick cavity wall. BUT it’s been fab, it sits behind the dining table so you don’t notice it and most importantly saves me getting up to let the little buggers in and out 278393 times an hour!

We had ours put through the brickwork during our kitchen refurb because we were having bifolds. We didn't bother with the plastic tunnel though - our lovely builder rendered inside the brickwork so it was nice and smooth for our cat's paws!

If she’s old her joints might be a bit stiff, would she want to go through a tunnel?.

I would have to make the tunnel quite big for the cat because she is old and stiff, and I'm 100% sure the dog wouldn't go for that.
I didn't realise walls were so wide!
I'm thinking maybe I'll get side panels and french doors, then the side panel could have the cat flap, but it would be in full view - I like the idea of tucking it away in a corner out of sight.
Maybe I can get a miniature window put in at floor level, out of sight, then the cat flap could go into there might be indulging my cat a bit too much, but she's worth it.

A cat flap might not look as bad on doors like this?

Transparent cat flap.

Bi fold doors will be easier to clean and add more value.

We have French windows and a cat flap through the brick wall. It's so much cheaper to do it through the wall. Any builder can do it.

We have one through the wall. In bad weather there is usually a cat lying in it, checking out its options. I won't lie though, now the bigger cat is carrying a bit of winter weight, it is a bit of a squeeze for him.

I don't think bi-folds with add value fluffy they are already a bit out of date?

I did the tunnel thing in my last house and got the builder to smooth the inside - worked really well. If your wall is really thick you could have flaps at both ends, which would double your draught protection??

I was going to mention the transparent/slimline ones too that Fluffy has linked above. Just make sure to mention it to your window/door fitter in advance as they'll have to prepare the hole for it when the doors are made.

I'm not sure an older cat would get the hang of the tunnel through a wall system. I tried to train my senior cat to use an ordinary cat flap (she had never used one before) and she didn't really get the hang of it.