Hi
My cat loves his catflap. Unfortunately, where I live, there seems to be a lot more ferral and stary cats then I first thought, and guess what...... they all love the catflap too.
I changed it to a magnetic one, and they still get in, either by headbutting it or by clawing at it and ripping of the magnetic strip.
I then changed it to the infrared one, thinking as there is no magnetic strip to rip off, it will keep all the squatters out. Alas, they just headbutt it, and still get in.

Has anybody got one of the microchip catflaps??? They are very pricey, however they also claim to keep unwanted visitors out.

Copied and pasted from website:
PetPorte boasts a unique patented intelligent microprocessor-controlled locking system that responds in an instant to access your cat but can withstand even the strongest of cats attempts at getting in. The door has been tested to cope with up to 13kg of exerted force without breaking so it can last you for years.

Is it true???? Does it really work???

Saw these advertised before, luckily I don't have bother with other cats at the moment, but I would definately use this type if I needed to exclude other cats as they do seem pretty impressive. Sorry not much help am I

Board up your catflap and teach your cat to knock on the door!

I used to have an unwelcome feline visitor through my catflap. I managed to lock it in and drench it with water. It hasn't been back since

BTW Those stary cats of the OP's sound scary

But make sure it doesn't let another cat in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7-1CZEkun4

It would be cheaper to get the cat a key cut.

I have a PetPorte as other cats were coming into the house and attacking mine. As long as it's fitted low down on the door to bring the sensor close to the cat, it works perfectly.

They are damn expensive though!

Does it keep other cats out?

I had a cat that did appear to have learnt to do that. At the time we had one of those Victorian type combined letter box/ knockers, a cat could have easily reached it and flipped it with paw or nose. I would often go to answer this knocker and just find the cat sitting there!
This cat could also turn doorknobs to open doors, I often saw her do it.
PS a squirrel learnt to use our cat flap to get at the cat food.

I think these are generally better, as they only allow the flap to open one way....or am I thinking of another one

The problem with others is that if another cat was following yours and was looking into the catflap and your cat then got close enough would'nt it just reopen the flap and let the other cat in aswell?

Brilliant

Yes, because it reads the microchip in the cat (assuming you've had them implanted by the vet). You program it with the ID number - before you fit the flap of course! and it will only unlock when your cat (up to 12 unique IDs) passes beneath the sensor.

So even head-butting the flap will not open it?
I have an infra-red one at moment, and with enough power from the determined strays, they can get in, because the mechanism is rather flimsy.

The flap has all the functions of a normal one, but the sensor is on the outside - your cat(s) can go out freely but only they will be allowed back in.

There's a pre-programmed 5 second delay before the door locks, so I guess if your cat was being chased, and the other was right behind, there's a small chance it would get in.

Before I fitted the new flap, other cats were wondering in freely and not only helping themselves to cat food, they were physically attacking one of my cats. Since fitting it, I've not had any unwanted visitors - apart from the steady stream of small rodents left in my hall

It's a pretty sturdy lock - unless the stray is immune to headaches then there's very little chance it could get in.

By time I have bought one of them, I will have spend a fortune on catflaps. First a normal one, then the magnetic one, then the infra-red one, now a micro-chip one. That is near enough £200 for the lot. I must be going soft in the head!

Haha , I think that sometimes! Obviously there's no guarantee it'll work perfectly but I've had mine for nearly a year and so far, it's worked - the peace of mind is worth the 100 notes.

Thanks for the info. Really much appreciated.

You're welcome

With all these stary and head-butting cats, do you live in Glasgow by any chance?

The 3 cats that made a habit of coming into my house and eating my cat's food all got caught and given a mouthful of Tobasco (doesn't do them any harm), none ever came back.

Haven't bought one of the Micro-Chip-Catflaps yet, as since I did this thread, not one single stray or feral cat has attempted to come in. Have cats got tinternet and are members of DS?

We bought one of these:

http://www.petstuffgalore.co.uk/cat-...-flap-305.html

We considered the pet-porte but it runs off the mains which presented us with 2 problems, the first being that there is no power-point anywhere near the door and the second being that we live in a rural area where we have loads of power cuts and the pet porte locks the cat flap either on in only or out only (can't remember which!) during power cuts which we weren't keen on.

This one is great - it can be programmed to let the cats out or in at certain times and is programmable per individual cat so if one is ill and is not allowed out for a while it will let one out and keep the other in. We do have lots of feral cats in the area and one head-butted it for 20 mins or so one morning before it gave up - the lock is very strong.

It does involve wearing an RF tag on their collar - weighs nothing at all but does cost £10 to replace each time they lose one! (we've actually only ever lost one). It also tells you how long ago each cat used the cat flap and whether each cat is in or out!

lol

My 2 cats live with a staffie. We dont get any unwanted visitors thru our flap (Or if we have I've never found any "evidence").