Are cat kennels any good?

[ACatsNoHelpWithThat]

I've recently moved home and had a glass company round to quote for putting a cat flap into my double glazed french door. I used the same company at my old house and had no problems, however when they came round to measure at the new house they said the bottom of the entrance to the cat flap would need to be 20 cm from the bottom of the glass - taking into account the upvc door-surround the flap would be nearly 40cm up from the floor! I've tried ringing round some other glazing companies but no one has called me back.

I'm trying to think of other solutions as we don't have any other suitable walls or doors for a cat flap, or a suitable garage. I've googled cat kennels but I'm not sure how effective they would be, whether my cat would actually use it or whether neighbouring cats (there are lots) might commandeer it. Are they any good? The reviews I've read mainly refer to people buying them to provide shelter for stray cats.

My cat often disappears for a few hours after her evening feed and doesn't want to come in till the early hours of the morning. I often sleep through her asking to be let in and I'm worried she might freeze when the weather gets bad. Or are cats more resilient than I give them credit for and she'll be ok even at sub zero temperatures? She's originally a rescue cat and was picked up by the RSPCA as a pregnant stray.

Sorry that was long!

In general, if a cat doesn't have easy access back into the home, they are much more likely to wander off and can go missing. I don't think an outdoor shelter would really help in this instance unfortunately. I'm a volunteer at a cat rescue and we don't home cats that go out to homes without a catflap unless in exceptional circumstances for this reason.

Could you construct some sort of step for the cat flap? Our cat flap sounds similar to yours and we have some bricks forming steps so they can get in. You might want something more aesthetically pleasing though! Maybe a wooden ramp that you can move when the door’s in use?

I think if there is no practical way to have a cat flap you will need to keep her in at night.

I did think about a step/ramp but the upvc "ledge" at the bottom of the double glazed unit sticks out by a few cms so we wouldn't be able to push a step close enough to the cat flap entrance.

The problem with keeping her in is that she wants to go out after her tea around 5-6 pm so it would be really early to shut her indoors for the night. We tried keeping her in with use of a cat litter tray but she yowls to go outside. Hmmn, think I will have to try ringing round again or maybe replace the french doors with something else.

Thanks for your replies.

We had to make a hole in a brick wall for our catflap. Would this be a possibility anywhere? You can get tunnel sections to go in the wall bit.

Our house is quite small and is literally a box shape, I've had a look and unfortunately there's absolutely nowhere we could site a cat flap that wouldn't come out via a kitchen cupboard or somewhere equally awkward. Thanks for the suggestion though.

I totally understand. We had this. In the end we added a tunnel cat flap in the conservatory wall. Took him ages to get it as the tunnel is fairly long. But works better.

Does ur cat use a litter tray. Can u not just keep them in from dinner time onwards.