Please recommend the perfect cat flap

[Bear2014]

As the title says - we are about to get our back door altered and cat flap added. There are a lot of cheeky neighbourhood cats so it definitely needs to be microchipped I think. She is quite nervy and jumpy still and I've heard that some make a noise which she might not like, so is there a silent/more quiet one? And one that you can time to not let them out all night? Thanks in advance.

I think Sureflap have mostly cornered the market in cat flaps. They do a basic manual version, a microchip version so only your cat can get in, and then a fancy version which links to an app.

I have the microchip one and it’s always worked well for us. It does make a tiny click when the microchip is recognised and the catch unlocks but no big noises. It also seems fairly draftproof which I like.

I imagine you’d need the app one if you want to be able to set timers etc but I can’t comment on how well it works.

If you just want to shut her in at night it’s easy to turn the lock on the microchip one to “locked” or “in only” before you go to bed, and then open it in the morning. Guess you might get pestered at 5am though!

I gave up on shutting my cat in at night when she started staying out later and later to avoid being locked in…

We have the bigger sureflap one with the app and love it.

@BooksAndHooks does the app one notify you when cat goes in & out (if you want it to)? Just wondering if this might be a way to keep an eye on our cat’s movements when we are away. Also does it chew through batteries very quickly?

We have one of the new Onlycat cat flaps that stops the cats bringing in birds and mice.

What do you think of it? I'm really tempted but it's alot of money.

I have the sureflap one with an app and love it. It is particularly useful when I'm away and I can see movements if the cat sitter doesn't see them at mealtimes.

I love it but our two were bringing in a lot of mice and birds both live and dead. So glad it has stopped that. The videos are cute too and as you say useful when you are away to see that they are ok

Yes it does if you turn on notifications. It then keeps a summary of how long outside etc.

Here’s a video from ours of our cat trying to bring in a mouse. It runs off mains power though and you need a socket relatively close to plug it into

https://onlycat.app/events/OC-8C1F64481041/6345?t=KJpbn

I love that! Contraband detected!! 😆

But is the cat able to work out that it’ll be let in if it drops the mouse??

We have a Sureflap (no app). We've had one for about 15 years and it hasn't let us down. It makes a small click when it sees the microchip but nothing to alarm the cat.

Following as we'll be installing a cat flap before long.

I'm intrigued by the Onlycat one, if it actually works. Our cats haven't been outside yet so it's possible that both of them will turn out to be dreadful hunters, but I have a worry that our athletic play-driven little tabby is going to be the kind of cat who brings home presents. We could just let them out and see if it's actually a problem, but then what I don't want to do is have to pay for a catflap and then pay for another one 6 months later.

The only cat flap acceptable to our felines is one that is door sized with a human slave to open and close it on demand 🙄 Why use the cat flap when you have a slave to let you in? The cat flap is more of an emergency exit/entry in their eyes.

Well she usually tries two or three times in a row to get in and when that doesn’t work she drops it and comes in without the mouse. We do end up with mice in front of the back door but that’s definitely better than in the house (especially the live ones!). She has stopped trying to bring them in very often at the moment so I think she is slowly learning she won’t get in with one (but could just be due to it being winter!). We have had it since about May and not had a mouse in the house since we installed it. At the peak we had about 28 attempts in a month to bring in a mouse/bird between the two cats

You have talented hunters! Dcat only brings something in very occasionally… I think our London terrace garden limits her.

We have an acre of field/garden/forest behind our house. I was one of the first backers of OnlyCat as I was so desperate to stop the endless live mice and bits of mouse on the floor and blood stained skirting boards in the house.

🤢