Goosey Lucy Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 We have just moved into our new home and have a door with a catflap installed. The catflap recognises a tag on the cat's collar to allow the cat to come and go. However my cats regularly lose their collars I'm thinking of replacing it with one of these. Before I go and spend silly amounts of money, does anyone have any experiences of these? Thanks, Lucy x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superkitty Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 I had one and my cats didn't get on with it (there's a very short delay before it opens) - they are obviously very impatient! But my mum has one and her two cats get on with it just fine, they've been using it for about a year now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggasperated Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 I've only got an ordinary cat flap and reading some of the one star reviews on Amazon I'd be worried about relying on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goosey Lucy Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 Thanks for those thoughts x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 I think any cat flap is only as good as the moggie using it. One of mine used to get half way and reverse back thro it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lydia Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 We've looked at these in the past as nextdoor-but-one's tom cat comes in and sprays. We didn't get one because it doesn't support all makes of microchip and the ones in our cats (fitted 1998) are apparently too old and weren't recognised (although they still work fine as chips). We could have got new chips fitted but our cats are nearly 15 and don't go out all that much these days so we decided to stick with the manual cat flap we have now and open and close it on request. It's a hassle but works OK. I have a friend who has one though and she loves it so we will probably get one when our 2 cats have passed on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaT Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 I've got a petporte model and love it. I went for it as my cats were also losing their collars all the time and the magnets are not cheap to replace! I have found that microchips can move and Nala's is now round the side of her neck not at the back so it's not read as easily. She has learnt to listen for the beep and moves her head until it goes off then she knows she can get though She's as clever kitty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goosey Lucy Posted September 15, 2012 Author Share Posted September 15, 2012 That's one clever cat! We let our cats out for the first time today, I kept the flap permanently open just so they could get the hang of going in and out. My OH isn't convinced that we need a microchip one so I've now got to investigate how expensive the collar tags are. I haven't checked if our microchips are compatible but as they were only put in 15 months ago I don't think it will be an issue for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Chick Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 I've heard bad stories about they delay and cats not getting used to it. I just have a standard cat flap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 We have one and are happy with it. We had issues with other cat flaps, especially the magnet ones, and collars being lost and all that, and needed a flap that only lets one of our cats in, as one of our cats doesn't like the other cats and lives in different rooms from the rest of the feline family. We've had this one for about two years now and have had absolutely no problems with it. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LottyJ1 Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 We got one about six months ago an its a must for us. We have local cats that were coming in and urinating in the house and upsetting my two cats. Our little feral cat also never keeps a coller on so the magnetic one wasn't an option. It has worked very well an we haven't had another cat in the house at all. Our two cats use it very well. The only problem I can see is if you have a very big cat they only come in one size so they might not fit. Our Archie cat is about as big as can fit so we need to make sure he doesn't get fatter They are worth the money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goosey Lucy Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 Thank you to everyone for posting your thoughts. OH is coming round to the idea of a new catflap. A new collar and magnetic disc for the current catflap will cost about £10. At the rate that ours lose their collars the new catflap would pay for itself within a couple of months Anyway I've agreed to try the current catflap and we'll see how long we have two cats and collars... I give it 2 weeks before I'm ordering the new catflap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LottyJ1 Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 We did try the magnetic cat flat but Molly the feral cat lost two collers and tags in two days so we gave up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omletina Kyckling Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 I have a Pet Porte cat flap and love it. My older boys got used to it quite quickly and didn't seem bothered by the beep. The girls also got used to it quite quickly. The slight delay doesn't seem to have ever bothered them. I'd had problems with harassing toms in the area Which is why I went for it. I have to say that it's the only mechanism which has put up resistance to my big boys, they were able to jailbreak the others when they were locked, whereas this one has survived all attempts to open! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
