Cat flaps that scan for a micro chip?

[gladbag]

We've recently moved house and are having a catflap put in the back door for our two cats.

The new neighbourhood is bustling with loads of other cats and I'm concerned a cat flap might mean we may get invaded by alien cats. My two would find this very upsetting.

So... The idea of a personal cat flap that only opens for them is intriguing, but do they actually work? Has anyone got one, and how do you find it? They do often come in at full pelt, and I'm worried we may get dazed cats if
the catflap doesn't respond fast enough...

Any advice much appreciated.

I have a Sure cat one, works well, no problems with the cat coming through it and easy to program. Expensive but worthwhile.

We had a microchip flap from PetPorte.

They do work - on the outside, there's a sensor ring in a free-floating "roof" over the flap which picks up the chip in the back of the neck. There can be a slight delay in it triggering the flap, though.

We did have the odd cat chased in, but they seemed to cope with it and other cats soon realised that they couldn't get in.

A far better solution than the previous one (magnets hanging from collars).

We have the sureflap even when posh arrogant boy hurtles at the door it works fine. The only cat to headbutt it is the one we are keeping out.

We have the Sureflap - no problems at all and I'm really pleased not to have to put a collar on her. She approaches it a bit more gingerly, though, so I'm not sure about the hurtling aspect. Very occasionally it doesn't fully shut behind her, but I'd recommend it.

We have a SureFlap. It took a while for our cat to get used to the delay between her putting her head into the tunnel part and the lock being released. The delay is about a second I suppose. But, it doesn't seem to worry her anymore.

I suppose your cat might get a slightly sore head at first but would no doubt get used to it!

I have one, well worth the money.

Thanks for all the comments. Sureflap seems to be the flap of choice, and having googled, the reviews are really good too. I think they are the way forward. The cats will just have to learn not to hurtle at it.

We had one as other cats kept coming in and eating our cats food, but our cat couldn't get along with it. He likes to push cat flaps with his paw and just couldn't get the hang of putting his head in the tunnel first! I think they are a good idea, but we never managed to get him to use it properly and had to turn the sensor off in the end as he'd just end up sitting outside next to the cat flap miaowing for someone to let him in.

I've just had a sureflap fitted and it's good, after a couple of initial teething problems ( it didnt read the microchip - had to get a new one put in).
It works really well. It took our cat a couple of days to get used to the slight delay of the chip being read and the catch opening but he is fine with it now. Our flap does sometimes wedge it's self open when he goes out but I'm hoping that it will ease and stop doing that soon.
I've heard that the customer service at sureflap is excellent, which is a bonus.
So, so far no more cat fights in the lounge in the middle of the might with the local marauding Tom!

leddee - my cat can push it open with her paw, but maybe your catflap is in a thicker door so needs the extension tunnel, i.e. the flap itself is set quite a long way back from the outside of the door?

We have a sure flap, and its been great. No problems with it at all. It took a few days for ours to get used to it, and it makes a 'cick' noise when its released, so you can kind of hear where they are coming in and out. Great product though, and it stops the other local cats from coming in and stealing food.

Thanks Tribpot. I'll take a look at that. Could possibly sort it out!