Cat Flap - through wall or front door?

MrsMozart

MrsMozart

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Two lovely pusscats, one of which has started demanding (loudly and persistently!) to go out in the wee hours.

Looking at getting a microchip cat flap. Placement options are in the front door (we don't have a back door, just a French door in a bedroom), or through a hallway wall.

I'm leaning towards the wall option. Anyone have such a thing and can recommend make and model? We'd need someone to fit whichever one we went for.

Two black cats thank you in advance 🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛💖
 
I got a microchip reader flap for the Hooligan Cat. It stopped working after six months, and can't easily be returned for appraisal, as it leaves a hole in the door! Apparently they can be affected by electrical interference from the surrounding area. Luckily, it worked for long enough to deter Dirty Harry from up the avenue from breaking in to the kitchen, so I was able to tape down the locking peg. The magnetic flaps are probably a better option as there is nothing to break, providing the collar magnet doesn't get lost. Go for something with good draught proofing around the flap, to stop it from swinging in bad weather.
 
We had a Sureflap microchip flap, worked v well for the 9 years it was in. Just had to remember to swap in new batteries before we went on holiday.
They usually lasted 10 to 14 months, but guaranteed to give up if we went away lol.
Never had problems with it, served 2 middle aged cats one after the other. Easy to swap programming to keep in etc, just needed to get cat close enough to get chip read initially.
We put it in the lower half of back door, it was a large one as both were big cats (the 7.5kg one fitted 'just' through it)
I think you'll find it cheaper to go through wall I suspect, than getting one put in a replacement sealed unit for the french door.
 
I had a pet flap put in through a wall as I wanted them to go out into the back garden rather than out the front which goes onto a road. I used an existing vent in the wall and just widened the gap. It works very well- they don’t have to jump up and through, they can literally just walk through (very useful for my big fatty cat!)
 
We have one through a wall - we retrofitted a thin door one to use, as we already had 3 door thickness cat flaps ‘in stock’!…so didn’t want to buy yet another one to be deep enough for a wall. We lined the wall hole with ply, (we built the wall so knew where was most suitable), and fitted front and back sides of a ‘door flap’ to either side of the wall. It’s just a standard flap with front door lock, rather than electric.

It’s funny to see our boy at night, laying in the wall tunnel of the flap with his head poking out, keeping an eye-out for Mr Fox or Mr Pine Marten, with his butt hanging out in the room inside where we are 😁
 
No idea on the microchip flaps as I've never used one, but I did put a dog flap through the wall of my last house. The wall was a 280mm sips panel so I just lined the hole with rubber paint and flashing material before putting the flap in. It was used multiple times a day by 4 dogs and 2 cats and stood up to the abuse absolutely fine, plus was easy to wipe round to clean.
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
We had a Sureflap microchip flap, worked v well for the 9 years it was in. Just had to remember to swap in new batteries before we went on holiday.
They usually lasted 10 to 14 months, but guaranteed to give up if we went away lol.
Never had problems with it, served 2 middle aged cats one after the other. Easy to swap programming to keep in etc, just needed to get cat close enough to get chip read initially.
We put it in the lower half of back door, it was a large one as both were big cats (the 7.5kg one fitted 'just' through it)
I think you'll find it cheaper to go through wall I suspect, than getting one put in a replacement sealed unit for the french door.
Click to expand...
Sure microchip flap here as well and been working fine for over 7 years with 3 cats. Ours is in the back door, with 'steps' the other side to overcome the drop to the ground.
 
We've got a sureflap. It's in a door and went in 14 years ago. We've got rechargeable batteries in it.

Originally in for teeny tiny Missy cat because I was worried she'd get bullied. Turned out my ex Brummy stray was the street bully. Cats twice her size would reverse and run if they spotted her sleeping on the doorstep.

Now for Benny who at 5.6kg is 2x Missy but bottom of the street pecking order. He must have been an indoor cat before being dumped but he'll use it for a wee at nighttime. Took a while to teach him though - not the brightest!
 
We've got both. I think the door one was more awkward to fit (although naturally I did neither). We have Sureflap for the microchip one. It's about 13 years old, now. It's known a few kitties. Training is easy in situ, just put a pile of treats right up against the flap and it'll register the chip in 'training mode'.
 
I've had a Sureflap for nearly 4 years in this house and 6 in the previous. Very happy with how they worked. Before being installed into a new door here, it was installed into a window, is that an option for you and the cats? A new glazing panel with bespoke hole ordered?
 
Thank you all.

Decided on the wall option, now just figuring out which Sureflap to go for as not all in stock. Needs to be one the JackRat can't get through at will. We're losing our last Rottie tomorrow (dementia) or would've had a big dog flap with integrated cat flap fitted.

Will let you know how the kits take to it!

Ah yes, thank you, the windows are all biggish panes that flip open from the bottom, and D was less keen. There's one window that might've worked, only it's in a bedroom and sadly the occupant wouldn't appreciate cats in n oot through the night.
 
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