SureFlap Cat Flap with Microchip Identification, White (4 x AA batteries required)

We purchased one of these in 2020 after a neighbours cat caused great upset to our cats by coming in uninvited. After about 2.5 yrs the chip recognition failed so we used it a while with celotape to hold down the mechanism allowing use. But recently another cat has been at the catflap so we thought it was time to buy another. 70!! That was a shock. Fitted easily and really appreciated the tip from a past review to prime it with the cats prior to fitting. Much easier! Good solid cat flap. Just hope this one lasts longe

This is a very good product and does the job of keeping out unwanted cats, our timid puss is much happier. We’ve just bought our second one, the first lasted for just over the 3 year warranty period before failing – draining the batteries every couple of weeks. Based on reviews, I don’t think there is a better one in terms of long term battery life but given the price increase, it would be nice if it lasted beyond its warranty period.

Installed this in a thick wall. It has been working for 6 months now, and all is good (except that a local Tom has worked out how to tailgate my cat, but that isn’t the flap’s fault). One star off as I find it really pricey – especially when adding the tunnel. The whole thing came to a baffling 110.

This stopped other cats entering but our two got used to it straight away. Batteries last for ages ( low warning light could be more prominent )
Ours finally stopped working after ten years of constant use.

I had one of these in a previous house and had no hesitation getting it again. I had it fitted so can’t comment on that but my 2 cats used it no bother and you have the peace of mind that no other animal can get through it without being programmed.

Easy to install easy to capture your cats microchip
What isn’t so easy is to get your cat to actually use it.

We bought one of these 9 1/2 years ago when we bought our house, and we were getting 2 new mittens to add to the one we already had. Brilliant, worked a treat. We did notice that it kept other local cats out, but they got a bit cute, and still too this day, they try to tailgate our cats in, as that is the only way they can get in and pinch all the food!!! After the 9.5 years, the trusty flap developed what (as an electrical engineer), I diagnosed an internal short that ran the batts down in 2 weeks, instead of 6 months. Considering the fact that we live in the foothills of the Pennines, in Saddleworth, it was inevitable. 9 or so years, in this environment, for that cost, is good value for money. We have now bought another one to replace the old one, and I guarantee, it will outlast our current cats. But it is easy to program in new mittens, so as long as we are alive, and have cats (mandatory!!!), we will buy this every 9 years or so to keep our cats happy. I am 55 and my partner is 59 so I guess at max, another 2 of these will outlast us!!!

I bought this Sureflap microchip cat door in July 2012. As it approaches it’s 10th year, I felt I had to write a review on it’s performance to date.
My cat has used it continuously throughout the 10 years, and I have not had one single problem with it. Not one. To find a product as reliable as this over such a long period is rare. To find a product that performs perfectly 100% of the time even more rare. (Just to mention that I have always used Duracell batteries, which usually only have to be replaced once a year)
If you are looking for a reliable, long lasting and value for money cat door, then this surely has to be the one for you.
My cat has enjoyed 10 years of freedom because of it, and I’ve had peace of mind that he can come and go whenever he pleases.
Congratulations and thanks to Sureflap on this wonderful product.

Had this for over 6 months now and only had to replace the batteries once. The last one we had from PetSafe was dreadful (probably faulty) and needed the batteries changed every 2 weeks!

I like the fact that i could replace the existing regular catflap with this one as the hole-size very similar. Was fortunate that a friend did it for me and only involved drilling a couple of additional holes. Setting the flap to my cat’s chip was very easy. However it has taken quite a long time for the cat to acclimatise to the tunnel and also the fact she needs to press her nose against the flap for it to recognise her chip put her off in the first few weeks. A fair bit of shaking of the cat treats box when she has been outside now to encourage her to be persistent means she uses it without too much flaffing. She can now go in and out at her leisure so happy with the purrrrrchase.

Not a bad cat flap. Not too difficult to install in my wooden door with a jig saw and supports a fair amount of door thicknesses with 3 different sets of screws. Installed now 3 months. Stays shut without flapping (our old one didn’t) and only flapped a bit in storm Malik (which in fairness was horrendous). Still on original batteries 3 months in. Easy to program to your cat’s chip. My cat wasn’t used to chip detecting cat flaps and initially the loud click put him off but he soon learned to ignore that. Once activated by the chip the door stays unlocked for a while and it may be long enough for a following cat to get in but in fairness it needs to stay unlocked for long enough for your cat to get in.

My only problem with this cat flap is the opening is very small and the tunnel quite long. I don’t think our cat is that big and definitely under 5Kg but he has to stick his paws in and then his head (to allow the chip to be spotted) and then jump though. He has got used to it but it is a very tight fit. With hind sight I’d have bought a bigger one. Arguably, I might have installed it closer to the ground by a few centimetres so I might have made it more difficult for him.

20.01.22 Update: contacted Sureflap customer care, new flap sent out and has solved the problem. Couldn’t have been more helpful. Recommend you do the same if suffering the same issue. Rating changed to 4 stars.

I have bought and fitted two of the same cat flap in the past and had no hesitation replacing with the same product. Once installed, I soon realised the draft excluder fitted around the flap is not fit for purpose as it doesn’t fill the gap. There is a 2-3 m gap around the door letting the cold air blow through leaving the room cold. I am currently considering returning this item due to the poor design and fit of the draft excluder. I welcome others views and advice. It seems the design or build quality isn’t what it was previously. One star just because of the draft. (The photos don’t really show the gap in the dark, will repost pictures in the daylight).

I bought this to replace a Cate Mate that had become faulty after 2 years, what I didn’t realise is that it’s smaller in internal height, i.e is 20mm less (125mm instead of 145mm), although my female cat can get through it, I can see it isn’t as easy for her to bring her back legs into position to exit. When chased by another cat she could quickly and easily enter through the Cat Mate, but now she is slowed considerably, I think a large cat would struggle with it, the makers should think about improving this, apart from that it seems well made.

I bought this to replace a Cate Mate that had become faulty after 2 years, what I didn’t realise is that it’s smaller in internal height, i.e is 20mm less (125mm instead of 145mm), although my female cat can get through it, I can see it isn’t as easy for her to bring her back legs into position to exit. When chased by another cat she could quickly and easily enter through the Cat Mate, but now she is slowed considerably, I think a large cat would struggle with it, the makers should think about improving this, apart from that it seems well made.

Easy to fit. Suits a wide variety of thicknesses and the tunnel just sticks out further on a thin door.

Easy to code it to cat chip. Just stand the other side of the flap with food or biscuits to entice them through to activate flap.

Works for our 2 cats fine. No others have entered yet. Not had a large strong cat tried to bust in yet as some of the other reviews suggest.

I removed a window next to the door and replaced with a hardwood panel and installed into this. Binky quickly figured it out after a demonstration and a little coaxing with Dreamies.
Previously an indoor kitten, with adventures outside in a cat harness, Binky was feeling the call of the wild. This flap is ideal because Binky regularly loses her collar, so a collar mounted ID would be no good. No problems with microchip setup and recognition. I will need to change the batteries at some point and I worry that Binky may be shut out when they go flat, so I’ve deducted one star from the 6 stars I would have liked to award. That works out on the Amazon rating scale pretty well.
I just have to figure out how to decorate the front door as a castle gate, with the cat flap as a sally port. 😉

This is the third one I have bought ( new doors – so have bought a new flap as the white does discolour after several years. My current cat took to it really easily, after I programmed her into it. I do wish they could improve the draft excluder aspect as that can be a bit drafty if the wind blows – but better than most flaps I’ve had in the past, but otherwise its great. Batteries last at least 6 mnths or more. Cheaper on amazon than on the company website. The company are really helpful too when I had my first flap a chip went wrong within warranty – I had a replacement within a day of emailing and simple instructions how to fit it!!

I have deliberately left writing a review for a few months so that I could feed back on longer term use. We purchased the brown option and had it fitted in July (which cost us 145 for a UPVC door, it needed a new flat panel in order for the flap to fit). Our cats had no previous experience of a cat flap so we got them used to it by propping it open all the time with a bulldog clip and gradually moving it so that the gap got smaller (luckily we are at home most of the time so this wasn’t an issue). Yes, it does make a clicking sound as others have mentioned, but even our more nervous cat got used to the sound – maybe it was helped by the cat flap being held open while they were getting used to the noise.
I had read a comment about the silver reflective sticker on the brown models getting scratched up by the cats and then not being able to get in, but this hasn’t happened to us at all. Also the batteries we put in it weren’t brand new and I have only just noticed today the red light indicator that they are getting low, so they’ve lasted almost 5 months. Touch wood no other cats have tried to get in, so I can’t comment on how strong the lock is at preventing unauthorised access! I didn’t give the lock feature full marks though as the manual lock (which we put on every night to keep them in) sometimes feels a little flimsy, as though over time it might wear out. Our neighbour has the same flap and her cat managed to pull the lock out completely, so we put a stool in front of it at night in case the cats were tempted to try. Overall, really pleased with it though and no faffing with opening and closing the door for indecisive kitties!