This post is certainly not for everyone but I have been desperately searching for the perfect pet door for our little Molly Monkey (a.k.a porch cat). She wants to be able to come and go as she pleases but of course I want my other cats (Heidi, Lucy, and Lilly) to stay put.
{UPDATE see which of these doors ended up at our house HERE }
These three are still only using their outdoor cat enclosure I built but Molly (Monkey) wants nothing to do with it. As a former stray she is used to her freedom.
There aren’t really any informative reviews or help out there so I’m making it my mission to share my findings and let me tell you it is so unbelievably frustrating.
For our other cats to get into their enclosure from our living room window I’m using this Sash Cat Flap Small Pet Door which works wonderful and I can highly recommend it. So I had the idea to buy another one and exchange the normal flap (which you can unscrew and take out) with an electronic or magnetic locking flap. I’m talking about those pet doors that require a trigger key around the pets neck to enable it to come and go. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?
Well, the problem is to find a pet door that locks in both directions (individual entry and exit control) with the key because it appears that most of those pet doors only lock one way. Meaning that all the cats can leave but only the one with the collar key can come back in. Which is completely stupid if you ask me. There are so many people that are in the same pickle as me with different pets and situations.
So I ended up finally finding the Cat Mate Elite Selective Cat Flap which uses batteries and collar tags to only let the tag-wearing animal enter and exit. I was so excited and ordered it right away:
The door arrived and it actually fit into the window door too. I would have been set!! So I installed the contraption into my window and tried to set it and BOOOOM….nothing. The thing didn’t even turn on. Darn it! The metal interfered with the reading of the pet collar key. This made me so angry because the window door is metal!!!! And the box of the Cat Mate door clearly states that you are able to install it into metal doors.
What did I do? I called the company to ask them. And the lady on the phone was no help whatsoever. She told me that it only works in metal when installed correctly. Well, it was installed correctly. That’s an easy way out my lady.
I also wrote to their customer service in the US which gave me another completely uninformative answer and then I wrote to their British customer service with no answer which leads me to the conclusion that their customer service sucks. There is no other way to put this.
The end result of this door’s review is that the Cat Mate Elite Selective Cat Flap might possibly work wonderfully if you use it in a wooden door but face it, a lot of households have metal exterior doors like myself and the window sash door that I want to use it with doesn’t leave room to cut the hole bigger to line it with something else.
I’m now desperate to find another one that requires the key both ways and I have written to several other companies with no response. Doesn’t anyone have good customer service out there? Seriously!!!
I wrote to HighTech Pet who is selling a horribly expensive version. They even have a link to fill out a form for an affiliate program and guess what? No reply for the form of the questions. Nothing…nada!!!
Newsflash people, I’m not going to buy your $400ish door if you can’t even answer simple questions for a customer. I still want to know which doors work with the key both ways. And that’s way too much money to waste on a company with that type of service and I deal with websites and companies all the time! This is not the way to do it.
You can find the door at HomeDepot by the way and it does get pretty good reviews though besides being expensive.
Then there is the Ideal Pet 7 in. x 9 in. Small Electric Cat Flap sliding glass pet door at Home Depot gets really great reviews but I still can’t determine if I can set it to only key exit and entry. Looks like that isn’t an option but to be sure, I wrote to the company again with no luck of course. Appears to be the theme here.
There are several other doors on Amazon which look like they all only have the option to use the key one way, not both ways.
Here are the other following doors I have found:
Ideal Pet Products Cat Flap Plastic Electric Pet Door (appears to only work one way because I read that Racoons can still get in which means they lift the unlocked flap from the other side. All my cats would still be able to leave this way)
The SureFlap Microchip Cat Door is another option but your pets have to have a microchip. And unfortunately, it is also not secured in both directions. It is designed for selective entry only. They suggest reversing the door which would only allow the one cat to exit but all the other critters and strays would still be able to come inside too. No thank you!
I have spent hours and hours and hours last week and this past weekend reading reviews and writing to companies. The moral of the story is that if you need a door to keep out other strays and raccoons (because they don’t wear a collar with a key) and all your pets are allowed to leave your house, then there are plenty of doors to be found in all kinds of price ranges.
But I only have one cat that is allowed to leave, so this one needs a collar and key for both ways which is the BIG problem here.
I can’t believe that I haven’t found one company so far which is able to address this problem with me. Yes, the first door does the trick (for some) but not in metal which means I either buy a wooden door (which won’t happen) and I also don’t want my cat to break her leg or I’ll continue to search for a company that can help me.
And this is where part 2 of this review series would come in if I am successful in finding a door that works with metal and has the individual entry and exit control feature that I’m looking for. I know this adorable little one (read more about her HERE and HERE) would thank me a lot since she wants to come and go nonstop:
Wish me luck because I’m really really frustrated at this point.
SO frustrating! We only have the regular old cat door (down to our basement, to keep the dogs away from their food and litterboxes), and even that one that should be really simple we’ve had some problems with.
I love how well you are always taking care of your animals. Also you would think that the requirements that you have for a cat/pet door are pretty basic. I mean, what else is a cat door supposed to do besides let the right cat come in and out? Isn’t that the whole idea? I can’t stand companies with bad customer service. Blech.
Ugh…I wish I could be of some help here! Hopefully you’re able to find a reasonable solution! I still can’t believe the whole fiasco with the metal door…crazy!!!
How frustrating! You are such a good cat-mom to work so hard at keeping Monkey happy 🙂 Here’s a vote for the microchipping – it is quick and easy and you can probably find a low-cost clinic to do it for around $20! When we lived in the city, I looked into getting Abby microchipped for peace of mind if she ever got out of our apartment. I didn’t end up doing it, but Tina came to us already microchipped from the animal shelter.
We installed it back in 2008..and it’s been a dream! We did have to replace the motor once last year…but it wasn’t too expensive and the guy who owns the company was really nice and helpful. We replaced the motor ourselves. We have two beagles and a fenced in yard..and they can come and go when they please. You just attach a magnet to the dogs collar and that opens and closes the door. At bedtime..we take the collars off so that they stay inside. Hope that helps!
Hey everyone, we have had the SureFlap for almost 4 years now and we are very happy with it! Very easy to install. You can add up to 30 chipnumbers if you want to (we just have 1 cat). I don’t get the note about the one way entry, because you can change the flap in any direction (no one in or out, every chip registered in our out, just in or just out). For us, it works wonderfully. The neighbours cats are waiting outside the flap for our darling to enter the yard, so cute! We never had any other animal break through the safety system since we had this flap. During our movement, the flap broke. We got a new one for free (shipped to the Netherlands), great (I mean, really great, helpfull and polite) customer service. I’m sticking with the SureFlap! Greetings, Hanna
I have the SureFlap now too which I wrote about in my second part of this review. And I’m really really happy with it too. Totally agree what you said! Thanks Hanneke
which works wonderful and I can highly recommend it. So I had the idea to buy another one and exchange the normal flap (which you can unscrew and take out) with an electronic or magnetic locking flap. I’m talking about those pet doors that require a trigger key around the pets neck to enable it to come and go. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?
which uses batteries and collar tags to only let the tag-wearing animal enter and exit. I was so excited and ordered it right away:
is another option but your pets have to have a microchip. And unfortunately, it is also not secured in both directions. It is designed for selective entry only. They suggest reversing the door which would only allow the one cat to exit but all the other critters and strays would still be able to come inside too. No thank you!
we’ve never used pet doors so i am no help!!!! good luck!
SO frustrating! We only have the regular old cat door (down to our basement, to keep the dogs away from their food and litterboxes), and even that one that should be really simple we’ve had some problems with.
I’m no help but now Ike thinks he wants a dog door. 😉
I love how well you are always taking care of your animals. Also you would think that the requirements that you have for a cat/pet door are pretty basic. I mean, what else is a cat door supposed to do besides let the right cat come in and out? Isn’t that the whole idea? I can’t stand companies with bad customer service. Blech.
Ugh…I wish I could be of some help here! Hopefully you’re able to find a reasonable solution! I still can’t believe the whole fiasco with the metal door…crazy!!!
How frustrating! You are such a good cat-mom to work so hard at keeping Monkey happy 🙂 Here’s a vote for the microchipping – it is quick and easy and you can probably find a low-cost clinic to do it for around $20! When we lived in the city, I looked into getting Abby microchipped for peace of mind if she ever got out of our apartment. I didn’t end up doing it, but Tina came to us already microchipped from the animal shelter.
Good luck in your search! We would like a door for our dog, but don’t want the cat escaping or something (or someone) creepy coming into our house.
Wow! I can’t believe how hard it is to find exactly what you are looking for. I’m no help!
Wanted to let you know what we have in our home.
https://www.solopetdoors.com/
We installed it back in 2008..and it’s been a dream! We did have to replace the motor once last year…but it wasn’t too expensive and the guy who owns the company was really nice and helpful. We replaced the motor ourselves. We have two beagles and a fenced in yard..and they can come and go when they please. You just attach a magnet to the dogs collar and that opens and closes the door. At bedtime..we take the collars off so that they stay inside.
Hope that helps!
Thanks for the tip Kristen. I think I found one and will write a post about it soon.
I wish so bad that we had a place for a door for the pups.
Hey everyone,
we have had the SureFlap for almost 4 years now and we are very happy with it! Very easy to install. You can add up to 30 chipnumbers if you want to (we just have 1 cat). I don’t get the note about the one way entry, because you can change the flap in any direction (no one in or out, every chip registered in our out, just in or just out). For us, it works wonderfully. The neighbours cats are waiting outside the flap for our darling to enter the yard, so cute! We never had any other animal break through the safety system since we had this flap. During our movement, the flap broke. We got a new one for free (shipped to the Netherlands), great (I mean, really great, helpfull and polite) customer service. I’m sticking with the SureFlap!
Greetings, Hanna
I have the SureFlap now too which I wrote about in my second part of this review. And I’m really really happy with it too. Totally agree what you said! Thanks Hanneke