Cat flaps - worth spending money?

[Swearwolf]

We have moved into a place my cat feels comfortable going outside - this is great as her confidence has really grown! She spent the summer wafting in and out, and now can't understand why doors are closed and she can't get through them. We think it's time to put in a cat flap!

Having never had one before, this might be a stupid question. Is it worth spending extra money on a fancy flap, or will a basic one do just as well? I don't want to waste money when it's already going to be expensive to install (only place it can go is in glass so expensive to put in) but likewise, if it's not functional we'd rather the initial outlay than having to replace it later or having something the cat can't use.

She doesn't wear a collar but is of course chipped.

The sure wifi one tells you when its low on batteries. I got it from Ocado, who were bizarrely selling it for £40 less than everyone else.

I wonder if it depends where you live? We put in a regular cat flap thinking if there was ever an issue we'd swap it for a microchip flap. But not once have we had any other cats come in - and our cat is a scaredy-cat so it's not that she's scaring them off!!

Needing to cut into the double glazed door has put us off a flap, but now I want one!

Can I hijack for a mo, OP, and ask other posters how much it costs to put into double glazing?

Echoing others re sureflap microchip operated flap.
Prevents unwanted visitors and easily set for times open and closed (for in only, out only, or fully locked down)
I now want an upgrade to the WiFi one to show when they go out

@HMArsey - I had one put into double glazed glass, they don't put the flap into the existing glass unfortunately - you have a new piece of glass with the cat flap put in & then they replace the window/door so it really depends on the size of glass your putting it in.

Another Sureflap fan here - we have the one with the curfew mode so I can keep my night time fighter in at night, well worth it imo

Thanks Crumple. Unfortunately the whole door is glass, so that could be an expensive endeavour. Grr. I want to see Arsey Cat's potterings on an app.

Another one saying jump straight to chip reader flaps. We progressed from normal (£25) through magnet (£40) to chip (£65) and would have done much better to bite the bullet in the first place.

Re the locking positions on SureFlap - the in-only setting can’t be relied on.

My cats can all open it inwards with their claws - the dim one learned first, amazingly, & the others copied her!

It’s very frustrating because I’d prefer to keep them in at night but at least one is always out when I go to bed

I've found the locking works perfectly. If I dare set the curfew up, they stop using it to go out at all and wander around forlornly because clearly if it wasn't working at 2am then it won't be during the day. And I can see from the app that they've tried to get through - it records attempts to leave and enter as well.

Mine’s just a manual one, no app (& not set to read chips either)

Cost about £400 to install sureflap in double glazed door sized window. Can you upgrade to the WiFi one without replacing the glass?

I've got a sureflap microchip catflap and it's brilliant

We've got a big standard cat flap. No fancy bits and bobs. Can lock it so in only, or out only, or locked or open.

Not had any visitors (hope I don't jinx the cat flap)

Cost about £125 to have installed into lower half of double glazed door.

Cats love the freedom.

We lock at night.

Blows in and out when windy though!

@GiantKitten it might be worth contacting Sureflap about that - I seem to remember reading that others were having similar issues, and that Sureflap were pretty helpful