[Closed] WHICH - Chip reading cat flap

[img] http://www.smileys4me.com/getsmiley.php?show=2148 [/img]

DS - restricted access for those scabby pussies out there

I still can't believe such a product exists, back in my cat owning days we got up to open or close the door and when there was no-one in, the cat just got on with things with no negative effects.
it's complete disbelief.

back in my cat owning days

just think of it in terms of rigid forks -> full suss, technology has moved on

😉

just think of it in terms of rigid forks -> full suss, technology has moved on

we are on our 3rd flap...

this has been the best and has solve rouge moggy entry!

Catmate Elite Selective - works on RFID

http://www.surreypetsupplies.co.uk/cat-mate-elite-selective-cat-flap.html

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reason - it locks both ways - we had previously a petmate magnetic and infra red flaps -

but A. they were common in our street so not so effective as other cats had the same tags and
B. one cat had worked out that if it banged the flap hard enough it was enough for it to bounch outwards away from the lock and thus to get a paw under and then in... caught that on a webcam!

also have a draught excluder...

where going to get one that read the chip under there skins, but as with the crap ones they all seem only to lock in one direction so the clever moggy that have worked the system would have still gotten in...

Our daft beastie had trouble figuring out that the magnet on the collar round her neck was what opened the flap. She would sit back from the flap and bat it harder and harder with her paw to no avail. Amusing at first, but less so at 4am...

RIP Chancer, never was there a cat so daft. Regularly got lost and failed to find the way back out after sneaking under a duvet. Used to come home from work and find a lump under the bedclothes, plaintively, mewing away... 😆

this has been the best and has solve rouge moggy entry!

I've never had a problem with red cats.

I fitted a magnetic one. It worked, but not 100%; a determined ginger tom managed to defeat it, I think by brute force. Any other cats with the same system would have bypassed it too, though I've never seen any round here.

You also need to keep an eye on collar wear; a lost collar => a locked out cat, not a huge problem overnight but not great if you've left an automatic feeder and gone away for four days.

Other than that it was alright, simple to fit and the locking mechanism was decent. You can allow one-way opening in either direction, or two way, or locked completely.

Catmate Elite Selective - works on RFID

You can get replacement tags, presumably?

Sureflap, works on the cat's microchip. Batteries (4xAA) last about 2 years with 2 cats.

Works a treat, sorted out an invading cat problem, went from stressed fighting cats to (almost) best friends in a couple of weeks

We've got a Petporte Smart Flap for our three boys.
It works off the cat's microchip, powered from the mains via a 24v transformer, with battery back-up.
Works a treat.
£69.99 from Petplanet.

You can get replacement tags, presumably?

Yep http://www.surreypetsupplies.co.uk/cat-mate-elite-electronic-id-disc.html)

You get two with the flap, plus you can write the pets details on the disc, then laminate over with clear plastic (supplied)

of course that should of been rogue moggies!

Next door's cat was a wily one, she soon figured out she could get in if she followed my two in by sticking to their backsides like glue, of course she couldn't get out again but she didn't want to - was determined to move in with us. Regularly had next door asking if i would check my house for their cat!

Have had a Petporte for about four years now. Decided to get one after coming home to find the cat of the previous occupants on our bed.

It's not given us any problems other than when I left the outwards opening door open in some heavy rain. A call to Petporte and they sent me a new scanner board free of charge which sorted the problem. Only complaint with our old model is that it's not that well sealed so we get quite a draft. I believe the newer models are much better.

I read it as "which chip reading flat cap" and was most intrigued.

Our cat used to get his claws under the flap and open it towards him. It wasn't even a clever cat flap...it let anyone in 🙂 I wonder if he'd worked it out on someone else's tag activated cat flap and the habit stuck...

I can't help feeling that this thread is somehow indicative of a deep ill in our society.

I thought you said...Chip eating flat cap...which,to me,makes more sense.

Not "cap eating fat chap"?

I installed a Petporte and it works fine, £60 ish off Amazon.

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Re, the draft comment above - it lets a lot of wind in and quite often just stays fully open on a windy day as once the cat comes in, the wind can keep the flap unlocked for hours on end.

Just ordered a door curtain to try and solve this problem as otherwise the heating bill will be noticeably higher (plus I replaced the double glazed door panel with 8mm Polycarbonate to fit the thing, so the U value bombed).

use a [url= http://www.sureflap.co.uk/ ]sureflap[/url], our cats have 10 digit chips and the flap only works for cats coming in, so if another cat did get in they could get out easily enough. Very simple setup

had a pet mate elite before - which was great in that you could see which cats were in and have different programs for each cat (time based, in/out etc..) but relied on having a largish tab on a collar, which meant you couldnt really use a snap collar and if a cat did lose it, they were stuffed

if you could get a flap that combined the two (features/screen & for chips) that'd be a winner!

Our cat used to get his claws under the flap and open it towards him. It wasn't even a clever cat flap...it let anyone in I wonder if he'd worked it out on someone else's tag activated cat flap and the habit stuck..

Yep the big silver cat from down the road used to do this... took ages to catch it doing it! the Catemate solved this by locking both ways - also the flap shuts quite positively

if you could get a flap that combined the two (features/screen & for chips) that'd be a winner!

Correct!

i emailed the port porte people to ask about locking both ways.. they just could not believe cat could bang and then pull a flap towards it..

Do any of these work for stupid cats like mine that open it with their paw ? We tried the magnetic one we have but the stupid beast bats the flap open then sticks his head through so it didn;t work, needs something that activates the mechanism before he bats it ?

We're on our second Petporte - first version was not as robust as the current one and eventually the catches that hold the door closed failed - I should have learned my lesson about being an early-adopter years ago. Current version like the one in footflaps' photo is more robust but the flap's smaller and our larger cat has a bit of difficulty with it sometimes, so if you've got a large cat make sure it'll go through a Petporte-sized hole before you get one. We ruled out the Sureflap because there wasn't a mains operated version.

needs something that activates the mechanism before he bats it

Petporte does this, it activates when the cat puts its head under the scanning thing. You can programme how long it stays open after this if your cat's a bit slow.

Yep, one of our cats beats it with his paw, so I had to build a wooden ramp to force him up high enough to trigger the RFID sensor before he could get his paw near it. As the tag is embedded between their shoulder blades, they need to be semi-horizontal when approaching for it to detect them.

+1 for the sureflap - it's been faultless for almost 2 years and has stopped next door's cat breaking in which he could do with the Staywell magnetic one.