There are many good benefits to having a cat flap in your home for your cat or kitten. They allow your cat to come and go as they please and gives them freedom at all times of day and night, especially if you are not around to let them in and out yourself. It also helps you to keep them in at night if you choose to, and you can provide a litter tray if they need to use it until they go outside again.
There are many cat flaps available so choosing the best cat flap for you and your cat is key.
Where do you put a cat flap?
Consider the best position for your cat flap in your home. It can be fixed on a door, or on a wall. If you prefer the cat flap in your door, makes sure you measure the depth of the door and buy the appropriate size cat flap for the door.
If you are planning your cat flap for your wall, you will need to purchase an extension tunnel and certain cat flaps will need mounting adaptors for these to be securely fitted. You will need to buy these in addition to the cat flap. You will probably need to get a builder or cat flap fitter to fit it for you if positioning it through a wall as it will require drilling a substantial hole through the depth of the brickwork and plaster. You will also need to buy an extension tunnel for the depth of the wall. A professional fitter or builder will be able to do this for you as part of the fitting. I have always used a fitter for my cat flaps, just look up a local one or your vet may have details on their noticeboard.
If you are fitting the cat flap yourself, you should measure the height from the ground to your cat’s stomach and use this to mark the bottom of the flap. This is usually 4-6 inches.
If you want to fit your cat flap into a glass door, this must be carried out by a professional. A new pane of glass may have to be made that fits the cat flap. This can be an expensive option because door glass is made of safety glass.
Types of cat flaps
Basic cat flaps are simple plastic flaps that open when pushed by you cat and do not have locking mechanisms.
Manual locking catflap. There are cat flaps with manual locking mechanisms and these are sturdier than basic ones, and this is the type we have always chosen. They have a turning, simple locking mechanism that locks your flap in a number of ways: either locked to go out, locked to come in or fully locked. This allows you to restrict your cat’s movement in and out of the home and stop other cats from entering. They are really good and adequate; the ones I have been using for years is the PetSafe Staywell cat flaps. I have mine through my kitchen wall. Some people have asked if it is draughty and I would say it isn’t noticeably as they are quite airtight around the flap doors. I also buy two so that I have the same lockable rimmed part on the external wall as I do do on the internal wall.
Another form of cat flap is a magnetic cat flap, and for this to work, your cat will have to wear a collar with a small magnet attached. The magnet triggers the flap to open when your cat approaches it. It can be more secure than a manual locking cat flap, however if another cat wearing a collar approached, it would open the flap for that cat too.
Because the magnet adds weight to the collar, some cats may not want to wear the collar. And some cats don’t want to wear any collars at all! So this type of cat flap won’t suit all cats.
Another type of cat flap is an infrared cat flap which work in the same way as a magnetic cat flap. The infrared collar device can be uniquely coded so that only your cat gains access. However, they still require your cat to wear a collar to activate the flap, so if your cat doesn’t wear a collar, this wouldn’t be suitable.
Microchip cat flaps are quite recent and no collar is required, as the flap is triggered to open by your cat’s microchip. The cat flap can be programmed for other cats if you have more than one cat in your household. This type of flap, however, is quite expensive.
Training your cat to use a cat flap
Your cat may be unsure of what to do with the cat flap initially, however with some practice and gentle persuasion, your cat will soon get the hang of using it.
For the first few encounters, prop open or hold up the door of the cat flap so that it is fully open and gently coax your cat to go through. You can place some treats or food on the other side as a reward and to help them on their way through! When your cat feels more comfortable going through the open hole, lower the flap slightly and repeat the process, gradually continue until they are pushing and nudging the flap themselves with their head. Praise them as they get more confident and then it will come as second nature to them.
Your cat will usually have a routine when they go out, for instance after eating in the morning or before eating. Practice with them using the cat flap when they want to go out the most, so it gives them more motivation to try and use it.
Cats don’t like to come out of a cat flap into an open space as they cannot see what is on the outside when they go through it. So place some pots or plants around the flap so that they can peek out and hide in first before fully venturing outside.
Cleaning the cat flap
I regularly clean the cat flap. I give the inside entrance tunnel a good hoover as cat fur can get caught in it and wipe it down, and clean inside and around the flap doors and rim. Where the cats come in and out, they will have muddy paws sometimes, so place a little carpet mat down that they tread on when they first come into the home.