Fitting a catflap - should we? And how?

[Jennyfi]

FluffCat's nearly 11 months old now, and starting to spend longer outside on his post-breakfast outing. So far he's always come back before I have to go to work, but I'm worried one day soon he won't. We're thinking of getting a catflap for him so he can come and go.

Are there any disadvantages? We'd get one which reads his chip and keeps other cats out.

Also - how do you go about putting one in? I've googled "cat flap fitter" and found a few companies, but is it something I could do myself? The door is a UPVC one, not wooden.

The main disadvantage is the arrival of presents, sometimes live ones.

I've always been a non-cat flap house, mainly for this reason. The other disadvantage is cat going out overnight which is when they tend to do more killing and get into fights.

I used to just send mine out in the morning and back when I got home, dependent on the weather. Then I got a nice neighbour who would let them in if they looked mopey

Now I have a house husband, he is enslaved to the current batch of cats who are idle bastards and his main job is cat door opener

But really the main disadvantage is your feelings about discovering a not dead bird flying about your living room.

At a glance I read this as fit a flat cap 😂

I admit I'm not too keen on being brought live gifts, but I think I'll just have to grin and bear it! Fortunately he's not very good at sneaking up on birds yet so I'm hoping he's a pacifist cat

It's really for those times when he doesn't come back early enough. He'd only give it ten minutes before he'd be round at the neighbours' door complaining he's been Abandoned and Starving. He's not a patient cat...

And the idea of him in a little flat cap on his fluffy head is adorable!

Some of the fancy chip flaps come with a timer so you can confine them indoors at night. Ours comes with a switch that we can put to only in bound traffic at night so they'll come in for dinner (served at 9pm)but can't leave again. We do this during fledgling season. We do get the odd live mouse but mostly they're dead or part eaten (we're not far from stables).
DH fitted the cat flap (he's v handy) and the only problem is that we should have got a bigger one. Our smallest cat is a bit rotund...

We had a cat flap fitted into a Upvc/ glass door. It was about two hundred quid.

I would never have another cat flap because of the live presents. We have had a bird, frog, rat and mouse in the house. No cat flap for me! If my cat wasn't back in the morning, I would leave biscuits and water outside.

It's far safer to have a catflap than not so your cat has a way back into the home if they're chased by other cats, dogs, humans intending to harm them etc. Cats with access to their own home are also less likely to try and move in with someone down the road or stray and go missing.

A lot of companies that fit UPVC windows can fit it also - you will need a whole new UPVC glass unit made with the hole for a catflap. Mine was about £180 for the pane of glass and fitting but I'm in London so probably cheaper elsewhere. You can also fit it through a brick wall or a window if there's a suitable place at the back of the house.