We have been thinking about getting one for ages and decided to bite the bullet, unless there is an issue with them.
Due to Dom's size (7.4kg) it is pointless getting the standard one. Also, I think it will be easier to train Ingrid to use a microchip flap. I can't get her to use the regular door - the flap is taped open at the moment, which is very practical!
Anyway, Monster Pets are selling them 33% off RRP, so £80 (unless anyone knows of a cheaper seller)
Hi Mark
I've had one of those for 3.5 years now. Two Maine Coons required a large cat flap! It worked well enough to start with, even keeping next doors greedy guts out until he learnt how to nip in under Tilly or Badger's tail! I've had some problems with it of late, as the retractable latches, which are on the bottom of the door, do not always retract when the flap is being pushed against them. Consequently, did not always open when Tilly was wanting to come in. Not sure whether this is just due to age and getting battered, as it worked alright originally. As the only external cat trying to get in is Tay, who as noted has worked out how to circumvent it, I now run it as a curfew flap. The timer for setting times of exit is very useful and I can stop Tilly going out after dark when I am not around.
Alan
I can't help with the cat flap I have Catmate, and my mother has a Petsafe/Staywell one, neither are microchip operated. My mothers is a medium one and does seem very large compared with our normal one but at 7.4kg I agree it is probably what Dom would need (Blue might have been a Ragdoll, but he never got above 5kg and while he looked massive, it was mainly fluff).
I would ask why you think Ingrid would learn to use a microchip one better than a normal one, she would still have to push it open, but she would also have to learn to make sure it had time to register her chip before she pushed it. Not knowing what her issue is I don't really know if it would be better or not. Freyja spent the first year here unwilling to use the cat flap. She just would not push it to open it if it was shut. I could put a peg on it and if there was enough of a gap at the base for her to get her nose under it she would push it and use it, if there wasn't she would just walk away. For her it all changed when we tried to catch her to take her for her booster jabs. The cat flap had been locked and a bored placed over it. She is still scared of being handled and after several attempts at catching her, and her taking one look at me holding a towel and fleeing before I could get near her, we decided to give up and just take Saturn. I took the bored from the cat flap, opened it up so Tiggy could come and go as she pleased, and the next thing I new Freyja was off down the bottom of the garden. I left it pegged so she could get back in but after that she has been happy to use it to come and go as she pleases. For her it just needed to right incentive to learn to push it. I wouldn't recommend chasing Ingrid around to make her use it, but I hope you do find a way, its no fun having to try and keep it open so they can come and go.
My reasoning behind Ingrid possibly taking to it - and I could be wrong, but I am assuming that once the latches retract, there is little or no resistance. Although very agile, I think she lacks strength. she is only 2.8kg. She probably could push the regular flap, but doesn't try hard enough. Anyway, will soon find out as I bit the bullet and ordered it - so it will be here on Wednesday. I also used a '£5 off first order over £70' code, so paid £75 (a bit different to the £120 on Sureflap's own website!
Anyway, she she going to have to learn to use it, or stay in. I'm not too fussed about letting her out, but am concerned about knowing when she wants to come in. My days of staying up half the night waiting for cats to come home are behind me (I hope )
Mark
There is still some resistance to opening - the flap has a light centering spring to stop the flap in the central position for the latches to reengage. Not as much as a normal cat flap, though.
It is easiest to train the cat flap microchip if you can set the flap up indoors for a few trial runs and also so the cats can get used to the noise it makes when working. I had no trouble with Badger who just barged though as per usual, but Tilly was a bit disconcerted by the clonk of the lock the first few times.
Thanks Alan. I guess all I an do is try. Another thing we probably need to work out, is for the longest time we hadthe manual flap locked to 'in only' within a day of moving in. Kasper worked out how to open it from the inside. A couple of months on when we decided to give Ingrid free access, he had go so used to it, that even though the flap works either way, he still uses a claw to pull the flap open inwards when he goes out.
Well hopefully it will arrive today, which is estimated (unlike the 2 day guaranteed delivery they stated when I ordered on the 9th) My first and last time ordering from Monster Pet.
A couple of my fosters have been like Kasper. When I first get a new inmate in the outdoor run I leave the big door to their little house open for the first night, so they can see the bed, blankets and heater. Then, when they've found the bed I shut the big door, but prop the catflap entrance open with a big bulldog clip - to 'give them a clue' as many are strays and not likely to have used a catflap. I gradually lower the position of the bulldog clip until the flap is almost closed, and then remove it, but a couple of them have carried on hooking the flap open like Kasper!
AlanC - give Sureflap a call and they'll talk you through some trouble shooting. I had a similar problem, but opposite in that the latches wouldn't go back up; gave them a ring - they sent photos' and instructions and were very super helpful. You've got to be willing to sort of dismantle the flap a bit though; but once i did what they said it worked perfectly again.
Also your's could be a build up of dirt inside the mechanism. if you can get an air canister (you know the ones to clean a keyboard and see if you can squirt air around the latches (push them down with your finger if you have to), that may work
Mark, as for training cats... they're a mystery. Harry who is as daft as anything took to it like a duck to water. Ava simply copied him. Henry on the other hand.... forever and a day.
Thanks, Meriad, may give them a call. However, as Tay has figured out how to circumvent it and there are no other cats around who try to come in, may not be worth having to dismantle it! (Anyhow, Tilly prefers the kitchen window which of course lets Tay in as well, and how do you put a microchip reader on that?) Can well believe there is dirt in the mechanism, the latches are in a perfect position to collect mud from a set of large Maine Coon fluffy paws!
The problem I'm having is that although I registered all 3, it doesn't seem to be picking up on Kasper coming in. He is the only one so far that just barged his way out through the door. I am wondering if his chip is too low down? (Ria, I know Sarah said you had that problem)
Ingrid was out earlier and I kept hearing it unlocking. She was sticking her head in the tunnel, but won't push the door open!
PS - Alan,, one thing I remember from skimming the instructions earlier, is they say the optical reader at the top, back of the tunnel can get dirty and should be cleaned once in a while. Not sure if you have tried that?
Last edited by MarkB on Sat Nov 12, 2016 12:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
Mark
I do clean the tunnel from time to time, but the problem is not with the reader as the lock goes clunk when Tilly puts her neck in the tunnel. Latch works OK as long as Tilly isn't pushing on the flap at the time - however, with a long necked cat like Tilly who tends to come in quite fast that often happens. By the time the reader has registered her chip and worked the lock, her head is pushing on the flap! Been looking at it and the problem may be dirt accumulating on the inner edge of the latches (which is very difficult to clean off) causing too much friction between the latch and the flap for the latch to move when the flap is pushed against it. Tilly is a very powerful cat and can push quite hard!
I suspect you may be right about Kasper's chip being too low. Not sure what the actual range is for the reader to work. I don't have that problem of course as Tilly's neck is up near the top of the tunnel!
PS - Kasper seems to have it worked out now. He has managed to get in 3 or 4 times. I suppose 2 out of 3 aint bad in a matter of hours - Who know, when Ingrid wants to go out in the early hours, she may work it out. Given that the flap is clear, I thought she would work it out.
At long last, Ingrid has finally mastered using the flap to come in. I first noticed about a week ago. I was sure I saw her outside and then was surprised to see her in the house. I wondered if she had tailgated Dom to get in, so wanted to be sure, but she had the hang of it. A few nights ago, shetook it a step further. I went outside for my last smoke and she was up in the dining room. On my way out, I set the flap to 'in only' (the boys were in the garden) I was outside and her her bashing the flap -and then she appeared. It seems she bashes the flap and works up momentum - so it opens a bit more with each bash and she gets her head under.
Anyway, I actually witnessed her using the flap to come in this morning, so am going to leave it unlocked going forward. Ideally I would lock the flap at night, but I have never seen Kasper use a tray and he has been dashing outside sometimes in the morning when I open the door. I hate the idea of him holding it in (or peeing on a carpet ) I just hope they are sensible.
MarkB wrote:. It seems she bashes the flap and works up momentum - so it opens a bit more with each bash and she gets her head under.
if she's going to be doing that then definitely keep the flap unlocked because she could get her tail caught in it as it's opening the wrong way round. It happened to one of mine and it was horrid because they were stuck and the only way I could release them was by pushing the flap back so had to run outside to get there; horrid.
So yes in the hope they'll be sensible either keep it open for in and out or do a double lock so it doesn't open in any direction
Mark, I am wondering whether the latch and flap design has been changed? With mine there is not sufficient play and the raised latches are not rigid enough to give enough rebound for Ingrid's method to work, fortunately. (However, I do keep it locked both ways after Tilly has come in for dinner in the evening.)
(a bit different to the £120 on Sureflap's own website! 
