SureFlap - Sure Petcare Microchip Cat Flap, White, Scans Pet's ID on Entry, Check Your Cat's Size,Flap Opening is 4 3/4” (H) by 5 5/8” (W)

I just installed this flap today after having problems with next door's cat coming into the house to eat. This wouldn't have been an enormous issue (he does no damage and my cat gets along with him) except that he has a long running feud with the local bully, a black cat who attacks all the other cats in the area. Last night was the final straw when they evidently were both in my kitchen yowling at one another! This freaked my cat out so I decided enough was enough and went out to get a file to make the existing hole fractionally bigger so I could install this flap which arrived a week or so ago. That was no problem, I enlarged the hole and slipped the SureFlap in place. Within a few minutes, the interloper was trying to get in, to no avail.I programmed my cat into it without any difficulty, her chip is right between her shoulder blades. But getting her to use it... there's another thing! I went outside and lured her out. It took a while but eventually she figured out that she had to push it with a paw and not just her nose. However... going back in. So far she still hasn't done it. Once outside she sniffed about then took a look at the new door. It was very sunny and the plastic is highly reflective. She saw herself in the door, thought it was a strange cat inside her house and freaked out. She puffed up to twice her normal size and shot off around the side of the house. It was very funny but obviously I had to solve that. So I got some mud and smeared it on the outside of the flap so that it wasn't as reflective as it used to be. You can still just about see out of it if you're inside, but on the outside unless the light is on indoors you can't really see through it any more. She then was happily sticking her head in the tunnel and you could hear it click quietly which makes her start just a little. I'm hopeful that she'll get used to it quickly because I can't be having the big bully coming into the house tearing her to pieces. My main concern right now is that she is used to hurtling through the door when she runs away from him. (Until last night he didn't seem to have any notion that he could come in but now he's seen the other male do it I think he figured it out.) I don't know if it will react fast enough and open the flap without her smacking into it. It may put her off of using it altogether. I'll report back on progress in a while.Jan 9, 2012A month has now gone by since my cat began using this new flap. It took her a couple of days to start using it to enter the house. I ended up having to cover the inside and outside of the flap in white Scotch tape so she couldn't see her own reflection (but you can see kinda see through it). That was freaking her out a bit so perhaps something for SureFlap to consider in future. Maybe offer an opaque door flap as an option. On the whole though this door has been a life saver. It stopped the other cats from entering - maybe he's brighter than your average kitty but the main offender learned almost immediately that he could no longer get in that way and stopped trying. The only problem, if you can call it that, is that my cat can no longer hurtle through the door, it just doesn't react that fast. But she's learned that and doesn't try to enter it at a run. I worry a little that she may get caught by the big bully cat who occasionally chases her but so far that hasn't been the case. My only other concern and perhaps someone can inform me - does it give you any warning when the batteries are about to die or do I need to test them periodically to see how long they're likely to last?March 10, 2012There's a slight flaw in this door but I guess not likely to affect most users. My cat is constantly being chased by her enemy, the female cat who lives next door. One day recently she was in hot pursuit and when Mizz came through the door she was so close behind that she was simply able to follow her in because the door hadn't yet shut. This can't be called a design flaw, it's more to do with the nasty character of the cat next door but if you're thinking that it's completely fool proof, it's not. As luck would have it, my husband and I were both in the kitchen when this happened so no fight ensued. The interloper was terrified to find herself in this strange situation and being unfamiliar with cat doors she didn't simply turn around and go back out, instead running off into the house. Hopefully the experience scared her sufficiently that she won't do it again! Regarding the batteries, I tested them and three months after installation they're still almost at max strength so they're going to last a long time.Overall I highly recommend this product; it's miles better than the ones that rely on a collar tag, the microchip isn't going to get lost!

I have two cats - one is a bit of a bully and the other is the victim of his bullying. I use this door to give my female cat access to my utility room without my male cat being allowed in. This results in a better quality of life for her by giving her a private place with food, water, litter, and a bed where she can escape from the other cat for a while if he tries to start a fight.The door does a great job at opening only for the cats it's supposed to open for. When she approaches, you hear it unlock, and it locks behind her just a second or two after she gets through. It would conceivably be possible for another cat to follow in the cat who is supposed to be allowed in the door, however the timing window would be tight and while it is technically possible, it's unlikely the other animal would act quickly enough to get in before it locks again. Installation into an interior wall was easy, I can't speak to installation into glass or an exterior door or wall - any of these are likely much harder.I can't speak to battery life - I've had it for a couple months now and the batteries are still going strong. But the product works and works well. If you have a space that you want your cat to be able to access and no other critters, this will do the job. There are cheaper devices on the market which use a magnet that you put on their collar. However, that would mean that you have to put a collar on your cat and if it ever lost its collar, the door wouldn't work. This solution is much mor elegant as long as your cat is chipped. It doesn't depend on anything that the cat could possibly lose. All in all, it's a solid product. Expensive, but it does what it says. Think about whether you really need this or whether a similar model that uses a magnet on the collar will do. If you do need the feature that this offers, it's great and you won't be disappointed.

It works well and is holding up against the other cat's attempts to break in, but the unlocking mechanism is LOUD. I have this installed in my bedroom door so that my cat can have a private space, and sometimes my cat is rude and repeatedly sticks his head in it over and over. It's woken me up a few times.