Pet Porte Cat Flap

[Wilki31]

Greetings all, first time post here. :)

We've recently moved house and our cat Katie was settling in quite well until another cat paid us a visit the other night. As a result she has a sore bite on the top of her tail and shes been left rather traumatised since she's not the most confident of cats!

We are considering buying a Pet Porte cat flap which uses our Katies mircochip rather than the usual magnet which tends to end up round the back of her neck.

Has anyone got a Pet Porte cat flap and are they reliable?

Cheers

[Donna]

Hello and welcome!!

I have had similar problems with cats getting in through my magnetic cat flat - last night was the latest event!

I have seen these and think they look good, but have not heard of anyone using them so cannot advise as to how reliable they are. Would be interested too, to hear any comments.

[Wilki31]

Hi thanks for your note, nice to have an instant welcome!

Just an extra - our Katies chip is one that the website states as having a reduced range, so if anyone has experience with a similar type that would help as well. These chips start with 985140...

[Fran]

Warm welcome!! I don't know much about these catflaps tbh

I found this thread from a while ago...

http://www.catsey.com/showthread.php?t=21296

Good luck and do let us know how you get on :D

[Wilki31]

Looks like it might not work for our cat but it's good to see they have given an honest reply!

They wrote...

Thank you for your enquiry and for your interest in the Pet Porte microchip cat flap.

Unfortunately the Biotherm microchip 985140 can also measure the cat's temperature as well as serving as an indentification tag. Due to this dual function we have found that it has a much reduced read range as well as a slow reaction time with our cat flap. To put it into context, the microchip we recommend has a read range of about 18cm, most other chips have a read range of about 14cm, the BioTherm chip has a read range of about 4 - 5 cm.

Due to the above reasons we have found in practice that unless you are fitting the cat flap to a wall the Pet Porte would not be an ideal solution for your cat if they have the 985140 microchip.

I am sorry that it is not good news for you but I hope this has helped with your enquiry but if you have any questions or concerns then please do not hesitate to contact me and I will be very happy to help.

Kind Regards

Nick Smith,
Customer Services,
Pet Porte Ltd,

Oh well magnetic cat flap it is then.

[HellBelle]

This is my first post, so hello. I joined because I read the above thread and I own a Pet Porte cat flap. We bought it about 6 months ago, after Cadbury had a near death experience with a blocked bladder which the vet said could have been caused by other cats coming in the house and stressing him out. He is now on a special diet and (fingers crossed) seems to be ok. Cadbury was microchipped with one of the Biotherm chips and when we got the flap and tested it, it did read the chip but only when he was so close to the porch that he had to be lifted within range. So we had him chipped again with a standard chip and this is read from a very long distance no problem. It does mean that the Biotherm chip cannot be used as the stronger chip effectively smothers the signal from it. There are no medical issues with a cat having multiple chips but you should be aware that it could cause problems with getting a passport if you wanted to take your cat abroad.

The peace of mind you get from knowing that only your cats can come and go is worth the money, and the light sensor to stop your pet going out at night is also good.

Anyhoo, up until this last weekend I would have said that the Pet Porte flap was the best thing since sliced bread. And then it broke. I have contact them and am waiting for someone to get back to me. They do come with an 18 month warranty which is good, but I was searching to see if any one else had had any problems when I came across your forum. I shall let you know how I go on with them.

[Wilki31]

Hi HellBelle thanks for the notes and welcome to the forum!

Our Katies cat flap is redundant at the moment as she is refusing to go out because of a tom cat 2 doors down which is causing her a lot of grief.

It keeps getting in so we reckon that it has a magnetic collar as well. We're looking into getting a infra red cat flap now as the biotherm chip certainly has a few drawbacks for her.

If only I could train her to use the doorbell......

[John]

Hi Wilki from another mere male on this forum..
john

[HellBelle]

The flap is now up and running again. I had a chat with them (Nick, the guy from the above email) this afternoon who was very pleasant and helpful. His first suggestion did the trick - the switch is now working again. He is sending some spare parts anyway just in case and if the flap was beyond our repair at home they would have sent a replacement as it is still within warranty. I am v relieved. Cadbury doesn't want to go outside now anyway as it is raining, but hey ho :)

[jolerrs]

We bought a pet porte about two weeks ago because we were at our wits end. Our poor cats were being terrorised by another big tom cat who was coming in and treating the house like its own. It was also coming in and spraying all over our house too. Our cats were so upset they were starting to spray inside too. So I read about the infrared and magnetic flaps and they just don't seem to be reliable so I spent a bit more money (twice the price) but I don't regret it for a second.

Our cats have the thermo chips which are supposed to have a smaller reading range than the other type of chips. Only one of the cats really had a problem getting in but the vet also has problems reading her chip so there may be something wrong with her chip anyway. So we brought her to the vet and got another normal chip (£22) the day after installation.

The flap works like a dream. It took a couple of days for the cats to get used to it. We left the beeper on so they know when they hear the beep they can go through the flap. However, the first day one of our cats ran away everytime he heard the beep - it was quite funny to watch.

The cat we had coming in is huge and has broken through a locked flap before now. Well, he's obviously not very happy because he sprayed the door the other day because he couldn't get in! HAH! So it works really well.

It's important to seal around the top and sides of the porte with silicone sealer as there are electrics inside which you don't want getting wet. Also, the flap has to be plugged in to mains to work.

I hope this helps someone make a choice. Definetly worth that extra money to keep your furry pals safe and happy.

[Wilki31]

Thanks for the feedback, glad the cat flap has worked out for you.

We finally went for a Staywell infra red flap which works really well and we've had no unwelcome visitors yet. The only downside is that the key on the collar is very big, although it doesn't seem to bother our puss I wouldn't recommend it for a smaller cat. It (the key!) has a small battery inside and it flashes every 2 minutes so you know its working but Staywell recommend changing the battery once a year. The cat flap also runs on batteries rather than being plugged into the mains.

[diskinc]

Thanks to everyone for their posts on this.

I've been thinking of getting one and have now been reassured about them (given their price).

Lily is only a tiny cat (3kg) and i don't want to put a big tag on as well as her identity disk and Jack is a master collar remover so would cost me a fortune in new keys.

[shykitty5]

Hi

I am new on here but saw your message board about the petportes and wanted to tell everyone about the bargain i got - a lady is selling them on the internet for just £89 and will send them out for £5.00 - I bought one and it has helped my cats so much. I had the local tom coming into my house every day, terrorising my cats, spraying around the house and making my cats (female) start spraying which caused huge problems with my husband. he email address is bestcatflaps@aol.com her name Milly. Mine came so quickly and has turned my "mad house" around - my husband now likes the cats again and the tom now visits my neighbours house - im trying to convince him to buy one.

I think they are 5 out of 5 and recommend everyone to get one! I think it saved my marriage!!!

Thanks:p

[lynne@gmx.com]

We have just purchased a Pet Porte catflap due to problems with intruder cat and spraying.

However, we since discovered although both cats are chipped with Identichips one has biotherm one which has a reduced range.

I got her rechipped yesterday with a Bayer Tracer and I wondered whether you had to wipe the memory of the flap of the biotherm number to programme your cats new chip in.

Any advice would be greatly received.

Many thanks.

[lynne@gmx.com]

Did you have to wipe the memory first of the cats biotherm chip number before programming in your cats new chip?

[angieh]

Hi Lynne! I'm afraid that I have no idea about your question. If I were you I would contact PetPorte and ask them direct. Unfortunately the members who posted on this thread earlier don't seem to be active members anymore. Good luck with finding the right answer!

[carole.lindsell]

Greetings all, first time post here. :)

We've recently moved house and our cat Katie was settling in quite well until another cat paid us a visit the other night. As a result she has a sore bite on the top of her tail and shes been left rather traumatised since she's not the most confident of cats!

We are considering buying a Pet Porte cat flap which uses our Katies mircochip rather than the usual magnet which tends to end up round the back of her neck.

Has anyone got a Pet Porte cat flap and are they reliable?

Cheers
I have a new Smart Flap pet porte -- installed in a window. I have had several problems in the past six weeks, and both my cats will not even use the flap yet. First, the bolts that come with the flap have to be sawed down to use in a window (instead of a wooden door) -- this took me an hour. Then the Extended Modes did not work -- that is, when I programmed the flap not to "beep" every time the cat got near, it wouldn't work. The beep scared my cats away. Now this morning I found the flap stuck on "Open" mode, which it shouldn't have been. I cannot get it to go back to Normal mode which keeps other cats out -- so right now any cat can get in. The help line is often not manned at all and then it takes about 20 rings for someone to answer. A shoddy operation. I would wait until they iron out the wrinkles in the electronics to buy one -- I have the most expensive and newest model, which runs on mains electricity at £137. Not worth it so far, and still waiting for someone to contact me with help!

[angieh]

Hi Carole. I am sorry to hear about the problems you are having with the new Smart Flap and thank you for posting about it. I was considering having the "old" style PetPorte fitted as I am getting a new kitten in a couple of weeks time and still want my adult cat to be able to come and go as she does now.

I do hope that you manage to get your problems sorted. Have you looked at the PetPorte website at all? Please let us know what happens and if you get any service from the company.

[Binx]

Hi,

Just seen the posts on the pet Porte cat flap. I have one which has worked well up to today when the clip to let my cat in has broken. It still picks up my cat but when she tries to get in it will not go down. I was just wondering if this is fixable and f anyone knows who o contact. I saw hell belle mentioned something. Any help would be grea as my cat is getting frustrated ot being able to get in and out.

[fancyabrew]

I have a new Smart Flap pet porte -- installed in a window. I have had several problems in the past six weeks, and both my cats will not even use the flap yet. First, the bolts that come with the flap have to be sawed down to use in a window (instead of a wooden door) -- this took me an hour. Then the Extended Modes did not work -- that is, when I programmed the flap not to "beep" every time the cat got near, it wouldn't work. The beep scared my cats away. Now this morning I found the flap stuck on "Open" mode, which it shouldn't have been. I cannot get it to go back to Normal mode which keeps other cats out -- so right now any cat can get in. The help line is often not manned at all and then it takes about 20 rings for someone to answer. A shoddy operation. I would wait until they iron out the wrinkles in the electronics to buy one -- I have the most expensive and newest model, which runs on mains electricity at £137. Not worth it so far, and still waiting for someone to contact me with help!

£137! where did you get that? Should be around the £105 mark. I've had two an old style one and a new style on and am getting another as we've moved house. Never had any issues