Catflap finally fitted!

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sarie
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Catflap finally fitted!

Post by sarie »

Well.. Clive is 7 years old and Harvey is 5 and neither cat has ever had access to the outside via a catflap! I've always lived in rented so I've never been able to fit one so their access has always been restricted.
I bought a house last July and intended to fit a flap then but I got a kitten, Bailey, not long after I moved so I decided not to fit a flap as I wanted to wait until he was older.

My relationship with the cats has always been less like the traditional cat/slave relationship I remember from living at home with my parents and our cats as a child. Their cats always had a flap so they were much more independent. They'd come and go and apart from being shut in at night, there wasn't much in the way of restricting their movements. They had a litter tray but they never used it and although they'd come up for a lap cuddle when it was raining, they were generally off doing their own thing.
The result of mine being largely indoors is that they are super clingy and much more reliant. They follow me around constantly and when I come home from work I'm always greeted by all of them when I first come in. They're more like dogs than cats in a way as they're always there and rely on me for a lot of their stimulation. They were getting out for a couple of hours when I got home from work and during the day on weekends when I was home but otherwise were largely inside.

What a difference within the last 24 hours already!!
I left the flap open yesterday after it was fitted and went out for the afternoon. I came home in the evening and was greeted by just ONE cat, the other two were sat in the garden bird watching. An hour later one more sauntered in, gave me a quick glance, had a bit of food then pottered back off out again. I didn't see any of them again after that until bed time! I switched the flap to allow them in but not out before I went to bed and by midnight all three were back inside, safe and sound but instead of hearing them digging in their trays and belting around the house all night I was greeted by silence as they were all tired out and conked on the landing. This morning I noticed there was hardly anything in the trays and the moment I unlocked the flap they all shot out and did their business in my garden and started plodding around eating grass.

It feels like the flap is going to quite drastically change our relationship as they gain more independence. I feel like a parent watching my kids go to University haha, I'm happy and sad all at the same time. I'm really pleased for them though, knowing they can now go out and enjoy the sunshine while I'm at work and come in for a snooze when it suits them and generally come and go as they please instead of being shut in all day. I work very long hours quite frequently so I felt like they really didn't have much of a life.

What I can't believe is how quickly they all adapted to the flap. None of them had ever used a cat flap before but within 30 minutes all three were using it without a problem! Ahhh it's a good feeling :)
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meriad
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Re: Catflap finally fitted!

Post by meriad »

Aw, that is a lovely update. So glad it's working out for you all
sarie wrote:What I can't believe is how quickly they all adapted to the flap. None of them had ever used a cat flap before but within 30 minutes all three were using it without a problem! Ahhh it's a good feeling :)
Can I send my little Henry over your way please? I really need to get him cat flap trained. Two years down the line it's still propped open because he just hasn't figured it out :lol:
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Kay
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Re: Catflap finally fitted!

Post by Kay »

I think you'll find they will all come running to you when you join them outside - and then there are all the days when it rains, or is too cold for them

you'll have plenty of cat cuddles in the future, I'm sure, and from three super-contented cats
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Crewella
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Re: Catflap finally fitted!

Post by Crewella »

That is a lovely update. :)

I don't have a catflap, but I work from home a lot and on days like to day the doors have been open all day for them to come in and out. The novelty will wear off a bit, and Kay's right, there will be enough rainy and cold days for you to spend time with them. My gang are very different in summer from how they are in winter - Merrick in particular spends all winter on my lap and then I hardly see him indoors all summer! I agree on the running to you when you go out as well, all of mine love pottering around with us in the garden.

Congrats on a contented household! :)
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sarie
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Re: Catflap finally fitted!

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Haha thanks guys :) Sorry for being quiet - work picked up a bit so it's been manic recently. All the better that I got the flap when I did haha!
I hope Henry learns how to use the flap soon meriad - 2 years haha!! Maybe he's just being selective on purpose ;) They can be such tricky individuals, little manipulators :lol:

Things have settled into a good routine with my three now but I've been setting the flap to lock behind them as they come in on a night so I don't have to wait up for them before I go to bed. Unfortunately, Clive has proven to be a little smarter than I anticipated and has started clawing the flap open from inside by pushing down the grey catch and pulling the flap open to let himself out when the flap is locked. There's also a design flaw that means he sometimes claws the draught excluder loose too and it then jams the flap open so any cat can come in. The unfortunate result of this was that a stray got in last night and sprayed in my kitchen and beat up one of the boys. I cam down this morning to a very strong stink of pee and fur all over. I located the pee and cleaned it up and rang Sureflap to ask them if they have a solution and they were absolutely fantastic. They've asked their engineer to create a modified flap for me where the seal is all glued in place and they're sending a special modified face plate to fit for smart cats too that prevents them from pushing the catch down with their paws. Hopefully this will sort Clive out! Can't believe how great their customer service is, they were very lovely and have also said they'll look at having the draught excluder properly secured on all future flaps to prevent the problem with new flaps going out to customers.
She said it's the first time they've had the issue with the excluder but Clive has a bad habit of getting his claws stuck in anything and everything so I shouldn't be surprised :lol:

Aside from the issues though, they're so much calmer these days and their cat litter use has plummeted, as have my bills as a result! They're also eating absolutely everything now and are way less picky, I guess because their extra exercise is making them too hungry to fuss.

Here's hoping the modifications from Sureflap solve the Clive issues as I really don't want strays piddling in my house :lol:
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meriad
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Re: Catflap finally fitted!

Post by meriad »

I agree, the customer service at Sureflap is great. I had a problem quite some time back with their old design and asked them their advice. They not long after bought out a new improved model and offered me one at a hugely reduced rate which they didn't have to.

I'd be interested in hearing how the amendments work once you get them, esp the modified face plate as my Monty does exactly the same clawing at the flap to pull it open when it's locked. If it works then I may look at replacing the Sureflap I have now as it's an older model with a turn wheel to lock / open it
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sarie
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Re: Catflap finally fitted!

Post by sarie »

Yeah they seem to be really good with their customers. I got the new parts today so they came incredibly quickly! They've sent me a "Mark 5 Thumb-Proof Front Frame" which includes a little cover for the grey catch so they can't mess with it - looks like it'll do the trick :) They've also sealed the draught excluder and it feels very secure so hopefully he won't be able to pull it loose again.

I'll let you know once it's all fitted as it does sound like it might do the job for Monty! :) This model has a rotary dial for manually locking and unlocking the flap but it's microchip controlled too.
This is what I have:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SureFlap-Ltd-Mi ... s=sureflap" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But mine now has a modified bit where the grey catch is to make it cat proof hehe :)

All this said, if I had the choice now I'd buy a Sureflap Dualscan as it just seems like a better flap all 'round - but they'd need to provide a cover for the catch again in that case too! The Dualscan came out just a month after I bought my catflap, annoyingly :)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SureFlap-DualSc ... p+dualscan" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

In other news, I got home last night and the stink of wee from the intruder was still horrible so I spent more than 2 hours investigating and traced 7 spray spots in addition to the one near the back door :( It took me hours to clean and de-odourise it all and it still smells. The little s**t even sprayed up my potted palm tree and all over my beanbag in the lounge so aside from putting the plant outside to let the rain go to town on it I'm not sure how to get rid of the smell as the plant is very leafy and I couldn't get it all off. Very annoyed an intruder did so much damage - I only finished decorating my lounge 3 weeks ago and it smells like a public toilet now!
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