Hi.
Not had a cat flap ever, and I have 6 well, 7, semi ferals who will be moving with us next year who have never lived indoors. We are slowly introducing them to 'indoors', and 3 are still very skittish about walls and noice and movement.
We have had an open back door policy all summer and tried to get them indoors as often as possible but they still freak out every time the back door is shut.
So what we plan to do this winter is to have the flap on open all day so they can learn how to use it, and just move it to 'out only' in the evening so that they can learn not to panic when the door is shut and we don't either freeze all winter or lose the 'living indoors' vibe that we are trying to encourage. Then they can just leave at night when they are ready. They have a range of outside spaces, heated mats, open pottery shed, polytunnel and loads of other spaces they sleep in. They all mostly live in the garden all the time.
So, on that note, does anyone have recommendations for cat flap manufacturers that make good robust cat flaps that will tolerate loads of in and out cat action and moving the 'open/closed' switch activity? I want a decent make and do not want one to break and to bugger up their training.
Thanks in advance. Some pics of a few of the furries for tax purposes.