23.4.2012

I live in a one bed flat and have issues with neighbour cats coming in, terrorising the cats and eating their food. We also lock our cats in at night by using the manual lock on our old bog-standard Staywell flap. I chose this cat flap for its ability to automatically shut the cats in when it gets dark and for the microchip scanner to stop other cats coming in.Both these functions work well. The chip detects the cats and you can set how long it stays unlocked before it locks again. This was good for us as our cats are a bit delicate when it comes to cat flap operation, so I increased the timeout from the default of 4 seconds to about 15.Installation was fairly easy but fiddly.Because there was an existing flap with slightly different dimensions there was some new drilling and sanding of the opening to be done, but nothing major. The power cord is a pain because you have to run it across the hinge of the door and then hide it along the wall/under the floor/other method to the nearest plug. I wedged it under the skirting board, but the wire on the door is harder to hide - so far I've used masking tape as the door is white but would be open to hear to any better solutions! Also, try and avoid the temptation to force the tunnel into place because it 'just about' fits. This will make it warp ever so slightly and will make the Perspex flap get stuck. Make sure it all slides together smoothly. I re-used an existing flap hole so I can't comment on creating the hole from scratch.I also purchased the extension power cable, unless your mains plug is very close to the door I'd recommend it as it will give you some slack to make sure you really hide the cable.It only scans the cat on entry, so if your cat hangs around the flap from the inside, hissing at other cats etc, it won't unwittingly unlock the flap and let said nasty cat in.Below I've highlighted the main points of concern/note that potential buyers may find of interest. Having read them back to myself they may give an impression of negativity. To be clear, This flap is amazing. The convenience of not having to get out of bed on a weekend morning to let the cats out, or worry about other cats in our flat *ever again*, is brilliant. Am very happy with the purchase and would recommend this product.1. The door of our flat is slightly raised off the ground which makes the scanner further away from the cat, making it harder to scan the cat. The instruction manual recommends using a step to make the cat go higher on its approach. We didn't have a step and have noticed on one of our cats, it takes a bit longer to scan the cat.2. I completely underestimated the effect a new cat flap would have on the cats. I didn't really think they'd even notice the difference but they didn't like it and were very hesitant to use it. One of the cats then got the hang of it, but the other cat absolutely hates it, to the extent when I got back from work today she was waiting by it unhappy - I think she had been outside all day and wouldn't go in. I've done some training with her tonight so hopefully she'll get over it (this is only night 2), but just consider how you may ease the adoption process in your home. Don't aggressively force the cats through, just hold them into the tunnel and let them sniff it etc and they'll eventually just go through without pushing, then reward with treats. At least, that's what I tried tonight so hopefully it works!3. Sometimes with the old flap our cats would suddenly burst through, probably to escape some other animal. If they do this with the new flap, they are going to get a headache. It takes a few seconds to scan the cat and the cat has to be in the right spot so the cats will probably have to learn to patient the hard way.4. One of the locks didn't work after I had installed it, it was not protruding out of the casing like it should. Upon investigation, I found a very small wire used as a lever which had come apart from a small ridge on the lock. I repositioned it and fixed it, but it was not held on by much so knocks and bumps during transit could easily dislodge this, be wary.5. It doesn't automatically unlock if it loses power. I'm actually amazed at this, but there you go. I'd expect the locks to be engaged by power, meaning no power would release any mechanisms, thereby at least letting your cats go in and out (much better than be locked out). Threfore you MUST use a 9V battery as a backup (not included). It has options to set what lock state it reverts to when it loses mains power, but this only works if there is a battery. If it loses all power, it will just stay at was at the point it lost power.6. It has a pretty strong magnet. It takes a bit more pressure to open than the previous flap, not great for cats that don't enjoy cat flaps anyway, but not a big deal.

10.12.2010

Bought the petporte flap to replace a staywell IR flap though a cavity wall. The previous IR flap was false economy as the cats kept losing their collars. As well as that the previous was battery operated so cost involved in running it. Firstly, many websites will tell you that the BIOTHERM chips starting 985140 will not work. This is incorrect, they will work but just have a reduced range. This may be an issue if you are installing in a door where the cats have to jump up and through as they may not get close enough to the scanner. If however, you are installing in a wall then you simply build a small step up or platform such that the cats have no option but to pass close to the scanner.I have seen a minimum range of 4cm quoted with 985140 chips so you need to ensure the cats will pass inside this distance under the scanner. I have 3 cats with BIOTHERM 985140 chips and 1 cat with a standard chip and have no problem whatsoever with the operation.This unit is mains operated and as such no costs involved in replacing battery. Again, some websites may say that the backup battery facility is not available on the 'wall' model. This is also incorrect. Both the 'door' and 'wal'l model are identical, except the 'wall' model has a longer cable to connect to the scanner. The wall model also comes with one tunnel extension included. My cavity wall needed 7 tunnel extensions, making the tunnel about 30cm in length. You could probably get one more on if needed before the cable length may become an issue. Some people have actually installed the scanner on top of the tunnel inside the wall. Brilliant idea but I didn't have the room inside the cavity without hacking more brick away so left it as standard for now. The downside of a tunnel tho is that in the event of a power failure the scanner is only activited by the cats pressing on the door. In my case, the scanner is 30cm behind the cat by the time it presses the door so not very effective in a power cut unless the cat then backs out, activates the flap then moves forward again!Plenty of features on the flap and not that bad to program if you read the instructions carefully. The night mode is a good idea as it keeps them in at night automatically. I have found tho that if you have the lights on in the room where the flap is, it can fool it into thinking it's day time and allow the cats out! Door is a lot more sterdy than my old IR flap too. Also with my old flap, if it was on 'IN only' the cats were still clever enough to get claws around the door, then pull it toward them and still get out! This doesn't happen with this one!All in all, I'm very happy with the Petporte. No problems after a month or so of using it. More expensive sure, but cut out the cost of collars and batteries every 5 minutes and it becomes a lot more affordable! Highly recommended!

28.10.2012

I originally acquired a micro chip flap produced by a different company, on the back of great reviews. However, on receiving this flap and observing the small door size, I felt that it would be unsuitable for the larger of my 2 cats who is part maine coon. I returned the original flap and instead purchased the pet porte. The pet porte benefits from a larger door size, that is approx 2cm wider and 2cm plus higher than that of the flap that I had originally purchased. It doesn't sound a lot, but these larger dimensions in my opinion make a big difference when you have a big cat!The product itself was installed by a local glazing company. I required a new, flat door panel to replace my existing moulded panel.That was £50 and then labour charges an extra £65. I thought it a good deal. I would advise getting a pro in to fit this product.In advance of having the product installed, it is strongly advised that you scan your cats in to the products memory. Firstly, to be sure that it can recognise the chip on your cat. Secondly, because if not doing this before fitting, you will need a second pair of hands to hold the cat under the scanner while someone else primes the flap to acquire your cats chip. Difficult to do, if you live alone as I do!The pet porte is initially a little complex to use. At least for me. But with the instruction book handy, along with perseverance, everything falls in to place. I had to adjust the lockout time on my pet porte from the default 4 seconds to something rather longer, for my cats to be able to get back in. You can set a desired lock out time of between 1 and 25 seconds, I think the default 4 seconds is perhaps not long enough for most cats if I am being picky. Also, the device on default setting emits a noise on your cats return. This was undesirable, it scared the cats, but again you can change the settings and obtain silent mode.This catflap is pretty robust in my view, even though it doesn't look as sturdy as the product I had originally acquired. I can't see any feral cat getting in to your house unless it's the feline equivalent of Arnold Schwarzenegger perhaps! More seriously, the un-neutered Tom that has been coming around and harassing my cats can no longer get in the house. I now have peace of mind!In conclusion, in my experience a really good product. I did have teething problems with it, the cats were initially scared by the clicking of the door lock etc. I had to use it as a normal flap to begin with. Also, I had considered that the scanner wasn't always picking up the larger cat. But everything is fine now and both cats have learned to use the flap without difficulty. Again, a really good product though perseverance may be required.

16.12.2011

We bought this catflap 4 months ago and we are delighted. It was easy to follow the instructions and register our cats with the micro-chip reader. The flap itself works a treat - does all the most basic things; lets them in and out, no other cats in.Our cats had never used any kind of catflap before. It took us about 2 weeks to fully train them - we used string and treats to lure them in and out. Initially they were frightened by the loud beeping and the sudden movement of the green latch, but they did get used to it, one cat faster then the other. It was quite an intensive training period and me and my partner had sore knees from the amount of kneeling down we were doing,

24.5.2013

Like many other users I purchased the Petporte as a last resort after my two cats were terrorised by local cats entering through our traditional cat flap. I chose the Petporte over other alternative brands because it was size compatible with my existing Staywell cat flap and had a night time setting feature + mains power. Installation was easy and the supplied power cable was just long enough to reach a nearby socket. I routed the cable through some small trunking stuck to the door and via the door hinge and then under the internal door mat. The real challenge was getting the cats to use it. I followed the suggested solution and taped the door open for the first two days.

26.5.2018

So far it works fine but I haven't had need to deal with the 'bells and whistles' that come with it except for immediately switching off the bleep that appartently tells you when the cats come and go. Personnally I don't need to know that fact because it's self evident to me whether they're in or not and when you have several cats coming and going many, many, many times a day and night you don't want to be told again and again and again!. Can't tell you how loud it was because didn't wait to listen to it, but what I can tell you is the mechanism still clunks loudly when they come and go and when they sit outside the door it clunks and clunks and clunks until they move,

7.12.2013

After reading some other other reviews on here, I was a little apprehensive purchasing this as many cite difficulties and problems with both the installation and operation, but when a neighbours cat starting coming in our house and - in the words of Frank Spencer - "did a whoopsie on the carpet" something had to be done!This works perfectly. Installation was a breeze and it fit almost perfectly into the existing cat flap, I just needed to drill an extra hole and that was it. I was worried that our cat would have trouble using it as instead of approaching the cat flap with her head where the machine could read her microchip, she would "paw" at the door until it swung open a little,

10.8.2013

I purchased this product after comparing several similar cat flaps - this was chosen mainly because it would keep the kittens in at night and because it runs off the electricity supply and not just a battery.I was concerned that the micro-chips wouldn't register with the 'porch' as my cats are small and their micro-chips were placed lower than the scruff of their necks when they were put in.I had spoken to Petsafe about this concern, they had not been able to give conclusive advice but amazon said they would give a refund on the item if it didn't work for me & my kittens.Registering the kitts with the flap was easy, installation was a bit fiddly but not too bad, the flap fitted into the existing hole for the previous flap.

18.7.2012

I note that some other reviews of this have taken place after they've had the flap for a while, but I thought I'd give my first impressions.First off, this almost exactly fit the hole in the door from our old Staywell 31 flap - which isn't that surprising given that they're manufactured by the same company. I did have to put new securing screw holes in the door, though as they're marginally further apart on the new flap. I also had to cut out a small piece so that the sensor plug could pass through the door. Other than that, though, a perfect fit.It takes 2 people to fit the flap as you'll need someone to hold up the other side when offering up the screws.

31.1.2016

I purchased this cat flap after inadvertedly entertaining next door's Ginger-Tom for a number of weeks. This cat had been sneaking into the kitchen to eat leftover cat food, then gradually sneaking up the stairs and generally tormenting my two 14 year female cats. To be fair they were doing a fine job of defending the homestead from what I witnessed, but it's not acceptable to allow your pet's home to be invaded on a regular basis if you can afford it. And this product is rather expensive. When it arrived I thought I'd need a degree in technology to follow the oversized instruction booklet, but it was a false alarm. However the design IS excessive.

11.4.2012

The main reason I bought this particular cat-flap is because it only allows my cats in, being activated by their own individual microchips.I'm so glad I didn't opt for the `microchipped collar' variety because that would have proven to be a disaster! Having chosen to only let them wear breakaway collars (advice from my vet), there would have been several occasions, at least ten in the previous two weeks where they would have been locked out using that other choice of cat-flap! Because I've been using a Loc8tor unit to keep track of my cats' whereabouts, I've discovered the lost collars caught in bushes and even five feet up a conifer tree so it doesn't bear thinking about my cats'

28.4.2015

Since owning a cat (Smudge), I have had a PetSafe/ four way manual cat flap. However recently a new bruiser of a cat moved into the area and has been coming inside my house, much to the annoyance of my cat. Therefore I decided to replace the cat flap with this microchip one.The setup and installation is a little complicated, but the user manual does help guide through the process well. Programming the cat flap to the cat is fairly easy, it just requires the sensor to pass over the cat. The flap fits perfectly in the hole for the four way manual cat flap, which saves any door cutting. The one downside is the screws do not align, so I had to drill new holes in the door (for an M6 screw size).The cat flap runs off the mains rather than batteries.

28.1.2015

I purchased the newer version of this cat flap to replace the old one that I bought quite a few years ago. The original one worked a treat at keeping other cats out of the house and saved my wife and I a lot of cleaning up after other cats and a fortune in cat food.This newer version instantly felt like a better quality out of the box. From the look and the feel of the product and its build. The instruction manual is now a large glossy booklet that makes it much easier to understand and read.Installing the cat flap itself is fairly easy, make sure you read the instructions first. Lol. I made the mistake of getting the flap on the door and then realising that I hadn't secured the porch section to the front.

9.10.2012

Dear Elena,I hope you're well.We bought this cat flap when we became too fed up of a certain neighbourhood cat coming in during the day when we weren't in, eating our cats' food, and generally using our house as if it was her own! We would sometimes come in and she would be curled up on the sofa - cute but annoying. The cat flap was quite easy to set up - it accepted both our cats' microchips first time round, no problem there.Installing it on the door was a bit trickier: we had to remove the old cat flap, and make the opening in the door wider so it would accommodate the shape of the Petporte. But within half an hour, it was installed.

24.3.2014

Well this is by far my best purchase this year!!! I have it fitted in a glass door so I had to have the glass professionally made so the cat flap itself wasn't the only expense for me.My cat had never used a cat flap before and her microchip is quite far down her back so I was concerned that she may have problems with it.I foolishly failed to register her chip before fitting the cat flap in the door which unfortunately meant I had to spend several days playing with her through the door and repeatedly pressing the green button! My advice here would be to do as the manual says, register the chip before fitting!!!!I also do not recommend randomly pressing the buttons as this puts all sorts of

Petsafe Petporte smart flap Microchip Cat Flap - Reviews

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