Yet Another Cycling Forum
Random Musings => Miscellany => Where The Wild Things Are => Topic started by: Basil on 26 October, 2014, 08:39:03 am
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That's it. Any recommendations?
Anyone bought one brand and feels they wouldn't recommend it for any reason?
Do they work?
Our cat was chipped by the vet. It works with that, right? How do you "tune" the cat flap to a cat's particular chip?
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We have a PetPorte one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Petsafe-Microchip-Petporte-Smart-White/dp/B003XLJ5DQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1379882148&sr=8-2&keywords=pet+porte+cat+flap (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Petsafe-Microchip-Petporte-Smart-White/dp/B003XLJ5DQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1379882148&sr=8-2&keywords=pet+porte+cat+flap) which has worked for some year.
New back door fitted this week which is white instead of brown so we needed a new flap to match. Programming them is easy before you fit them as you just press a couple of buttons on the door, then hold the reader over the cat until it beeps. Reprogramming when it situ is a little more difficult as it involves holding the cat under the reader, but we have managed.
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We have a PetPorte one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Petsafe-Microchip-Petporte-Smart-White/dp/B003XLJ5DQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1379882148&sr=8-2&keywords=pet+porte+cat+flap (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Petsafe-Microchip-Petporte-Smart-White/dp/B003XLJ5DQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1379882148&sr=8-2&keywords=pet+porte+cat+flap) which has worked for some year.
New back door fitted this week which is white instead of brown so we needed a new flap to match. Programming them is easy before you fit them as you just press a couple of buttons on the door, then hold the reader over the cat until it beeps. Reprogramming when it situ is a little more difficult as it involves holding the cat under the reader, but we have managed.
Seconded - had this one built into our double glazed patio door for about 4 years now with no problem.
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We have a Sureflap. It's designed to run on batteries so placement is more flexible. We have ours in the wall of the downstairs toilet where there is no mains socket nearby.
I have to declare my interest: Sureflap is owned and run by friends of mine. Please support this small independent company :).
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We have a Petporte one, and it has been in use for several years. I installed it in a panel in our UPVC rear door. It works and our cat soon got used to using it.
It is powered via a mains adaptor, so you need to run the thin wire to the cat-flap. the wire is about 3 metres long with both ends moulded on, so may be a problem if you dont have a 13A socket nearby. There is a back-up battery, but the cat-flap soon runs it down.
One inconvenience with the Petporte is that it has a 'porch', which extends 6" out from the door, that houses the coil for detecting the microchip. this can get in the way if you have to move stuff through the door and can get knocked if passing the door with things like bikes and wheel barrows (Our back door is right next to the back gate so we have to be careful not to catch the cat-flap porch).
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Pete and I are both very happy with his Sureflap.
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Thanks all. I'll be looking at the Sureflap, as running power to that location would be a bit of a pain.
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We have got a Sureflap, had it several years now.
The only problem I've ever had with it was not noticing the batteries were going a few months ago. Finally Simon noticed that the cats didn't seem to be able to get in, and realised why. They do bleep when the batteries are going, but if you use rechargeables this might not happen!
Rico was delighted with the new set of batteries :D
I previously owned the Pet Porte, but needing to keep it plugged in was a pain. My dog killed it coming in soaking wet through it frequently when he had been swimming in the pond. He doesn't fit through the Sureflap which is an advantage!
I am just about to have my front door replaced, and so am ordering a new Sureflap to go in it. I'm going to get the dual scan model because that can control who gets out as well as who gets in. It will stop the dog sticking his head out of the cat flap to bark at the postman! :facepalm:
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+1 for Sureflap.
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We have the Sureflap. It's our second, the first one did go all doorman on the cats and get sniffy about letting them in. But it had been subjected to four years of feline egress and ingress and the weather. That was fitted into a French door sealed unit and worked fine otherwise. We got a new one for this place, now sitting in the bottom panel of the back door. The winner is the batteries, I have a dislike of wires and wall warts. Batteries do last several months but, yes, glance at the LED every now and again to check. Otherwise the cats tend to remind you noisily of their own accord. To programme it, you just hold the button to activate the remember feature and eject a cat through it.
All said, I'd get myself chipped and get a door-sized one for people. Save me standing in the rain sorting through four identical-feeling keys to get in.
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I've recently installed the Staywell Petporte, so far it is working well. Looking at the build quality, it appears to be sensible with decent solenoids. Physical construction is good, with M8 bolts to clamp inner and outer, or a screw to inside/outside option (which is what I have, going through a wall). Programming options are good, including extending or reducing the open time (needed if you have a scardy cat like ours, who sits looking wondering if something nasty is going to happen inside) combined with a reasonably sensitive outer sensor. On the less good side, I'm not impressed with the quality of the power supply, which runs warm -I'm considering swapping out for a switching supply modded from an old phone charger.
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All said, I'd get myself chipped and get a door-sized one for people. Save me standing in the rain sorting through four identical-feeling keys to get in.
You could try adorning the relevant keys with stickers or nail polish.
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I want remote locking like on a car. At least, I've been known to try unlocking the front door by aiming the car key at it and pressing the button :facepalm:
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I've tried to call the lift at work by waving my security pass at the button.
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All said, I'd get myself chipped and get a door-sized one for people. Save me standing in the rain sorting through four identical-feeling keys to get in.
You could try adorning the relevant keys with stickers or nail polish.
Well, yes, I could. I could also issue the cats with back door keys and a small ladder. But I think far easier to replace all my doors with giant versions of a electronic cat flap and have myself turned into microchip-coded cyborg.
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Unfortunately I can't find a clip of Lenny Henry's rant in favour of the Manflap - "Why is it cat's get all the flaps?"
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Interesting stuff, thanks for all the info. We were thinking of investing in such a device once we get Barry and Isabella chipped. They're a bit little at the moment.
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All said, I'd get myself chipped and get a door-sized one for people. Save me standing in the rain sorting through four identical-feeling keys to get in.
You could try adorning the relevant keys with stickers or nail polish.
Well, yes, I could. I could also issue the cats with back door keys and a small ladder. But I think far easier to replace all my doors with giant versions of a electronic cat flap and have myself turned into microchip-coded cyborg.
YA kevin Warwick AICMFP (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Warwick). Also know as "Captain Cyborg" by those naughty types at El Reg.
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Unfortunately I can't find a clip of Lenny Henry's rant in favour of the Manflap - "Why is it cat's get all the flaps?"
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http://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=6822.10;wap2
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd6CqB144JA
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Should be somewhere in there...
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Oh, if you insist... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXkxXDT1-F8
Not quite the clip I remember, section starts at 20 seconds
Oh, and
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-428jK2SegYk/Ur7RqCrXDCI/AAAAAAAADyI/7ZbrZU2BKDI/s1600/101006.gif)
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Ok, just installed the Sure Flap. I had also bought the mounting plate, thinking that I might need it. I didn't. So if anyone is about to buy one, there's a free one here, unopened. It's quite a large box from Amazon, so you'd have to stump up the postage. But that would still be cheaper than buying one.
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We've just bought a SureFlap Dualscan model as a local moggie has been getting into the house lately. Since Barry the Cat got run over a few weeks back :'( we only have his sister Isabella now but there are plans to get another kitten in the autumn so the ability to keep a cat in whilst allowing another free movement could be handy.
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We have a Staywell one, which is generally ok but every few weeks I have to dismantle it and fiddle with the spring that puts the catch back in place after a cat has come in (i.e the one that keeps the ginger bastard down the road out). That may be down to our two being complete idiots spending ages going in and out for the sake of it!
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An older lady of my acquaintance is looking for a door-flap for her microchipped cat to exclude a neighbourhood cat. The new flap will replace an existing dumb door-flap. Any recommendations or traps for the unwary player (size incompatibilities?) or just order something at random?
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Do check the size. When our back door was replaced, the double glazing people fitted a dumb cat flap. No problem we thought, we'll just replace it with the already acquired smart one. The were different sizes, which probably removed the profit margin on the job, particularly seeing we had specified that we would be providing the flap and it was even on the work order the fitter was using.
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I went to great expense to replace a standard cat flap with a microchip controlled one when the then new incumbent proved to be less territorial than the previous residents which resulted in home invasions by none resident felines. The first time she approached the cat flat the buzz/clunk of its operation spooked her and she has steadfastly refused to go near it, let alone go through it, ever since. It’s five years since I fitted it!
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An older lady of my acquaintance is looking for a door-flap for her microchipped cat to exclude a neighbourhood cat. The new flap will replace an existing dumb door-flap. Any recommendations or traps for the unwary player (size incompatibilities?) or just order something at random?
Happy Sureflap-ee here – we are on our second, the first did die, but I reckon we're into the third decade of using them and they get some use and abuse. Check the size, the details are on the websites, and there are various attachments to make adjustments. Also check the cat fits through, some cats are chunkier than others. We had holes cut to size for both our installations (the first through a double-glazed French door unit, the current one through a UPVC panel, hence the factor of 10 price differential – the glazier wasn't happy to notice a small crack once he'd finished installing the floor-to-ceiling French door unit but kudos to him for fessing up and making a new one).
Our cats were wary at first, but a bit of manual encouragement seemed to have got them over the issue.
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We got a standard-size micro chip Sureflap. The cat seemed very small, but since his arrival has proved to have a huge appetite - he is also very active - and has grown considerably larger when we thought he was too old to grow. Luckily he can still get through the flap, just. I'd have got the bigger one if I'd known. He prefers to have the door opened of course. I would recommend Sureflap.