Sureflap cat flaps, anyone got one? Have a problem...

[Mr Pies]

Has anyone got a sureflap cat flap? I installed mine about a week ago. I'm having a problem with it.
As you can see from the picture, the flap keeps stopping before the little plastic shot bolt when my cat comes in. Meaning other cats can still get in my house.

It's not happening everytime but more often than not. Anyone else had similar problems?

Edited by Mr Pies on Monday 6th August 20:13

[Simpo Two]

Mr Pies said:

Meaning other cars can still get in my house.

I hate it when that happens.

Can only suggest you try lubricating the hinges/pivots.

[moosepig]

Bit of silicone grease on the hinges should sort that out.

[CR6ZZ]

I have one exactly the same and it works brilliantly. Is there stress on the frame from installing it?

[Mr Pies]

CR6ZZ said:

I have one exactly the same and it works brilliantly. Is there stress on the frame from installing it?

The hole was purpose built into the wall when I had the conservatory built a few weeks ago, so I'm pretty sure it's not that.

I'll get hold of some silicone grease and give that a try.

[pidsy]

If its still sticking when you have greased the hinges, run a line of blu-tak along the bottom to give it some more weight.

If that doesn't do the job, call sureflap, they should change it.

[mrsxllifts]

If you can't sort it, sureflaps customer service people are fantastic. We had a problem with ours, I emialed them at 3pm one day and at 8am got a knock from the courier with a complete new catflap with a note to say how sorry they were. I asked if I needed to return anything or copies of reciepts etc but they weren't worried.

[Mr Pies]

Well, 2 emails later sureflap are building me another flap with a much stronger magnet.
Apparently their engineers claim its happening because my cat comes through it very slowly.
Said it takes a few days to build and will be with me by Wednesday.
Very happy with that.

[MrChips]

Apologies for the hijack, but i'm also looking at getting one of these but both of our cats currently seem to enjoy/get forced to fly through our current catflap at great speed once they see another cat in the area.

Has anyone any experience of this? How quick is the sensor to unlock, or would it just be a case of dealing with it until the cat learns that it's locked until they approach at under 100mph??

[mrsxllifts]

Going out isn't a problem as the latch controls incoming animals only unless you twist the catch to stop them. Our 1stone furry used to chuck himself through the flap at mach speed and it faired fine! It did take him a while to catch on to the split second delay on the incoming though, he would try to dash in, be a nano too quick for the catch release so sit and howl at the door!

[anonymous-user]

CR6ZZ said:

I have one exactly the same and it works brilliantly. Is there stress on the frame from installing it?

I've got one as well.

Best catflap ever. Hundred times better than the piece of st Staywell electronic one I had before it that totally fell to bits in 5 months and I got my money back.

Plus, as it works on the chip the cat can always get in, even off the cats collar gets ripped off.

The Staywell electronic ones are the sttest design ever. If your car hears a noise outside (other cat trying to get in) and goes for a look, as soon as he gets within a metre of the catflap, his collar unlocks it and all the other cats come in, which is exactly what I bought it to stop!!

Then it just fell to bits from other cars pushing at it and barging in.

Then I went on holiday and came back to find my cat looking very upset and dishevelled, because the cat had lost its collar at some point during the week and then spent days bashing at the cat flap trying to get in, unable to understand why he couldn't! Poor thing!

Total crap.

[LC2]

Zombie thread resurrection alert !!!!!

Can anyone advise if these are better than the PetSafe Smart Porte (also says staywell on the instructions).
Our Pet Porte (second one now) always seems to have issues with the green lock failing (and short battery life), so looking for something better.

Ta
Tim

[Mobile Chicane]

I bought the Sureflap having read reviews of all the others on Amazon. Great product.

Our barn cat is not allowed in the house because he eats the other cats' food and doesn't know how to play gently or nicely.

The Sureflap won't let him in and gives the other two somewhere to escape to.

[LC2]

Mobile Chicane said:

I bought the Sureflap having read reviews of all the others on Amazon. Great product.

Our barn cat is not allowed in the house because he eats the other cats' food and doesn't know how to play gently or nicely.

The Sureflap won't let him in and gives the other two somewhere to escape to.

Cheers. Can I assume that it 'just works', and isn't a temperamental pita like he pet porte.
Ta

[Patch1875]

Ours has been great, make sure you use Duracell rechargeable batteries as others don't seem to last long.

We upgraded ours to the locks both ways posh one when we got a 2nd kitten but it turned out to be a waste of money as Hamish just piggy backed on Max to escape!

[LC2]

Cheers. When this one gives up the ghost (or we get too bored fixing it repeatedly) it's off to sureflao for the next one.
It would also be handy to restrict their access individually, for vet trips and the like.

[oldgreenmini]

I had the same problem and I think found a solution. One of our cats comes in very slowly and the flap was not latching closed. The edges of the grey catch were sharp and I could just feel a notch of resistance when pushing the flap closed over the latch. Smoothed off the edges with 600 grade emery paper and did the same on the edge of the flap. Also lubricated the hinge, by taking the whole flap out and opening it up, with just a trace of silicone grease buffed off with paper towel so it does not stay sticky.
The flap is now almost impossible to balance on the catch when re-fitted, so I hope the intruder will not get the opportunity to sneak in again.

If this does not work, I will have to add a bit more weight to the flap as suggested by another poster.
I can see how a stronger magnet might work but it would be more intrusive to fit, so will see how the smoothing works.

[Bergs]

Had a pet flap sureflap in our old house and when we moved I made sure to get a new one (had to leave the other behind because the hole for the flap was too big to fit another, more cheaper one)
Would highly recommend them, we’ve got about 5 local cats and they’ve all tried to get in and all failed.

Makes for a very smug looking cat on our side of the door!
Best part is we’ve fitted it into a patio door so he can fully see them trying!!

The magnet on the older one was quite weak, I’ve noticed it’s much stronger on the newer ones and the door doesn’t flap about if it’s windy.

I was looking at their website when we bought the new one and they’re planning on bringing out a smart connector so you can connect to your phone. Not sure how useful that would be?