Cat flap in window - has anyone else done this?

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

We've recently moved house, and our back door is in the utility room. For various reasons I'm not keen on putting a cat flap there, not least because it would mean having to leave the utility room door open from the hallway.

As an alternative, I've suggested that the cat flap could be put in one of the window frames in the study. The study has a long window comprising 4 panes. The cats would have to get onto the window sill (they can easily jump it) and then go through the cat flap. We could put a platform under the window the other side.

DH isn't convinced, not least because hes not sure our extremely thick cats would get the hang of it . Has anyone else ever put a cat flap in a window at 3 or 4 ft up, and did it work out?

Thanks

I've seen it done, and a cat using it.
We have ours in a glass door, but it quite the same thing.

Why not have a flap on both Utility room doors (internal & external)?

Not seen a flap on a non floor-level window, plus doesn't that mean you have to leave the study door open instead?

We had the flap put in the external wall. A wooden tunnel with a chip operated flap on the inside and a normal one on the outside. Our cats got the hang of it straightaway.
Somebody around the corner also has the same.

I’ve seen a cat flap on ground floor window , it’s at a farm I go to and they have made a little set of wooden steps under the window for the cats to walk up 🙂

We had a cat flap in a glass pane in a set of French doors. When our cats got elderly they definitely couldn’t have jumped up to a window.

Yes we have a family member with such a cat flap.

I'd probably put flaps in both the back door and utility room door. Much cheaper than getting glass cut/fitted and building steps and whatnot.

We have this in a small pane of double glazing about 3’ high. If it’s double glazing it can be quite expensive to get it cut in a way that maintains the seal, but it was really easy to fit the cat flap into the glass, and the cat is happy using it. We built an extra little platform for him on the outside as there wasn’t much in the way of window sill for him to stand on as he went in and out.

We quite enjoy watching him coming in through it. For some reason it’s more exciting than it would be at ground level.

Yes I did when I lived in a ground floor flat.

An alternative could be in another property I had a hole made in the wall- you can buy at car flap with tunnel that goes through the wall.

They leave filthy pawprints all over the glass. You can get a catflap put through any external wall at ground level. I had one in my last house. It was great.

Won't it make the study pretty cold in the winter?

Thanks for all the responses.

We have considered putting a cat flap in both the back door and the utility room door, but the utility room is a complete mess and needs renovating. The back door is a dreadful aluminium framed glass door, which we want to replace. But that won't happen immediately so we'll be paying out twice. Plus the cats will get really freaked by the rebuild of the utility room if that's their exit from the house.

The pane in the study is blown, so needs replacing anyway. We could put some staggered boxes beneath it in the study, and then pet steps or similar outside.

For those of you who have done it, did your cats take to it OK?

We just leave a window open for our cats and they were fine. We recently fostered an 11 year old cat who is extremely overweight and I thought she wouldn’t be able to jump but she had done fine no problem. I put a chair in the inside and something to jump on half way up on the outside.

There are quite a few companies who specialise in cat-flaps in unusual places, so you could contact a couple and ask for a visit/quote;

catoutofglass.com/

Have you considered putting one in a wall?

If you don't have a convenient wall, I think I'd just make the back door a priority.

unless you're doing an extension then the renovation of the utility room shouldn't take too long.

you know your cat, mine weren't too happy with upheaval, but they soon settled down again.

depends on the age of them too.

but cats aren't stupid, if you're not there & they want in/out they'll work it out, until they physically can't any longer, but they may be more demanding if door service when you are home!

my girl cat would sit next to the flap & meow to be ket in the door next to it. Just because!!

I've seen one in a first floor window and they had a ramp (piece of wood) so the cat could walk up to it.

We were having building work done over a couple of years so had to come up with various solutions as work progressed. He’s a large older gentleman.

left side window open in lounge and he jumped up on table outside and then down on to a table in lounge. Quite happy with that. Then switched to dining room window. It was summer so ok.

had a plywood panel put in to replace window in conservatory (that was coming down eventually) and put steps up to it with a couple of upturned garden pots. He had to do a bit of a shimmy to stay on the window ledge inside till we jerry built a landing platform.

now he’s got a cat flap into utility and another cat flap from there into the kitchen.

the cat flaps gets filthy. It’s a microchip one so stays shut.

he still sometimes heads to one of the windows when he forgets about the cat flap.

I short he managed fine getting in and out.

if one window pane in study can be replaced with ply or upvc panel then that’s cheaper.

I saw a cat flap in a window a couple of weeks ago. There was some sort of ramp up to it, on the ground, just wood I think.