# Cat Flap On a Timer?



## helz

Hey,

Does anyone know of a cat flap that has a built in clock or timer, I found one for £100 (yikes!) but the problem is each cat needs to wear a chip, my cats don't have colars, so it is no good for me.


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## azz0r

Your cats dont have reflective collars?


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## helz

Nope they don't, i have had bad experiences with collars and found even safety ones to be dangerous. I have also heard many other tragic stories relating to collars.

Plus, one of my cats is all white... so no reflective collar needed there!


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## azz0r

My all white cat was run over just over a month ago.

I now have my cat and two kittens with reflective collars.

I would highly suggest you prioritise visibility over "possible" accidents.


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## helz

azz0r said:


> My all white cat was run over just over a month ago.
> 
> I now have my cat and two kittens with reflective collars.
> 
> I would highly suggest you prioritise visibility over "possible" accidents.


Well being the owner of a cat that choked on her collar until she passed out, even though it was a saftey collar designed to quick release, and only survived because luckily I was there to free her from the collar after she stopped kicking, these accidents are more than just a "possibility" to me.

I think you need to do a bit more reading before you start advising people on their cats safety, because problems with collars causing injury and death are not few and far between.

My cats come in at night, so visibilty should not be a problem, hence the want for a cat flap on a timer. Also, I do not believe a reflective collar is going to aid the cat too well in preventing an RTA, cats tend to get run over because they get all scatty and run out in front of cars. So visible or not, the driver will not be able to stop in time. They do not tend to get run over because they sit in roads and are not seen. (IMO )


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## azz0r

I guess we agree to disagree.

However, yeah if she/he is staying in at night a timed cat flap would be great.

timed cat flap - Google Product Search


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## helz

Thanks for the search


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## Frankie34

Try Pet Porte (Pet Porte Microchip Cat Flap) - this is suitable for cats with no collars. x


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## abdecken5

thanks that looks ideal for keeping out the riff raff while letting my cat come in for dinner


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## Gismo

Did you ever find what you were looking for? I am in need of the same. I too do not have a collar on my cats for exactly the same reasons.


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## worthystella

I have 6 cats and all wear collars but the problem I have is that they frequently lose them! This would make the collar activated flap a bit unreliable and one could easily get accidentely locked out. The microchip ones are all well and good but my oldest cat at 18 is so terrified of the vet I would not want to put her through microchipping. I am looking for a flap with a simple timer mechanism which locks the flap to "in only" after a certain time in the evening and reopens it in the morning. Perhaps that is too simple an idea


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## tellingtails

worthystella said:


> I have 6 cats and all wear collars but the problem I have is that they frequently lose them! This would make the collar activated flap a bit unreliable and one could easily get accidentely locked out. The microchip ones are all well and good but my oldest cat at 18 is so terrified of the vet I would not want to put her through microchipping. I am looking for a flap with a simple timer mechanism which locks the flap to "in only" after a certain time in the evening and reopens it in the morning. Perhaps that is too simple an idea


You say your older cat is terrified of the vets, I do mobile microchipping for this exact reason.
Have a look in your area their might be someone else who is qualified doing a simalar service.:thumbup:

Click here to view my website
TellingTails - Home


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## NEW2CATS

I saw a program recently where they installed a light sensitive cat flap but i cannot find it online sorry

it only let cats in after it got dark. then when it got light it let them in and out, no chip needed


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## hobbs2004

This one has a timer function: Cat Mate / CAT MATE ELITE SUPER SELECTIVE CAT FLAP (305) - Petstuffgalore

We have got the one without the timer but just a word of warning: those tags are big!


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## Smiler

I might be being a bit thick here but i don't see the point of a cat flap on timer or light sensitive. If you are there then surely you'll check the cats are in and then lock the cat flap, and if you aren't there you don't want it to lock itself incase the cat is outside.

So what would be the advantage of having one on timer?

We have two 8 month old BSH who have just started to go out and we're just deciding what cat flap to fit, so I'm interested in your reasoning incase we might do the same. 

cheers
Bev


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## hobbs2004

Oh, hmmm, the way I understood they work is that you set the timer so that after a certain time it only allows cats in and not out. 

Otherwise, I agree, there is little point.


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## worthystella

hobbs2004 said:


> Oh, hmmm, the way I understood they work is that you set the timer so that after a certain time it only allows cats in and not out.
> 
> Otherwise, I agree, there is little point.


My catflap is already switchable to one way (they can get in but then not go back out until I switch it back in the morning). 
The timer would simply click the switch if I wasn't there to do it for some reason. Also it would allow them out earlier in the summer months.


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## helz

Well I think I made this thread a long time ago, as I have had one of these microchip cat flaps for a long time now. The point of the light sensitive / timer, is when it gets dark, the flap will only let them in, and wont allow them out again until it is daylight.


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## morgmonster

I did a lot of research looking for a timer catflap for our 2. We shut them in at night, but if we have an evening out or a weekend away I want to know they are safe inside at night without anyone being there to lock the catflap. When we tried the lock-them-inside-all-weekend approach, well lets just say they objected... 
We went for a petporte in the end as it has the light sensor facility which was a different means to the same ends. As others have said, it goes to "in only" when it gets dark, so any cat still outside can get in but once in, they are in until the morning. We've only had the cats since May, I'm not sure how the girls are going to feel about being locked in at 4pm in December! Oh well...

As an aside, I really think there is a niche in the market for a CHEAP timer catflap with no other bells and whistles (eg no microchip recognition, no collar tag recognition etc). I was surprised I had to spend £100 to get this functionality.


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## helz

If I remember correctly from when I was first looking, there was an infrared version (very simualar to the magnetic types) that had a light sensor, and many other options on it for about half the price. However, you have to attach something to the cats collar.


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