Cat Flap Fitted — Now Keep Them Safe Outdoors: Microchips, Collars and Curfews

1. Microchip and keep the details current. A chip registered to a previous owner or an old phone number is worthless. It's also a legal requirement in England from 20 weeks.
2. Set an overnight curfew. Dusk to dawn is when most road accidents happen.
3. Use a quick-release collar only — never a buckle collar, and never with a bell as the only ID.
4. Fit a microchip cat flap so your cat can come home but neighbouring cats can't come in.

Everything else — GPS trackers, reflective collars, garden fencing — is a useful extra, not a substitute.

The most common failure isn't the chip — it's the registration. If you've moved house, changed number, or adopted a cat, log in and check the record today. A microchip cat flap also needs the cat physically present to register, not the chip number.

Cats are crepuscular: they're most active at dusk and dawn, which is exactly when driver visibility is worst. Keeping a cat in from dusk until after the morning rush removes the highest-risk hours from its day.

The practical problem has always been being home to lock the flap. Modern flaps solve it:

• Curfew timer flaps lock and unlock automatically at set times.
• App-controlled flaps let you lock, unlock and see comings and goings remotely — useful for shift workers and anyone away for the evening.
• In-only mode still lets a cat that's out get home, which is the setting we'd always recommend over a full lock.

A SureFlap Connect gives remote control and activity history; a standard SureFlap microchip cat flap or PetSafe microchip cat flap covers the basics well.

• Quick-release (breakaway) buckles only. Cats are strangled by collars caught on branches and fences; a snap-open buckle prevents it.
• Two-finger rule for fit — tighter risks injury, looser risks a leg through the collar.
• ID tag with a phone number, not the cat's name and address.
• Reflective or hi-vis helps for road-side homes, especially in winter.
• Never rely on a collar as your only ID. Collars come off; microchips don't.

A bell reduces bird predation modestly, but a bib-type deterrent does more if hunting is your concern.

The most under-appreciated outdoor risk is inward: an intruding cat coming through an unlocked flap. It causes spraying, food guarding, litter-tray avoidance and fights, and it's one of the top reasons customers ask us to upgrade a manual flap.

Options ranked by effectiveness:

1. Microchip flap set to your cats only — solves it outright.
2. RFID collar-tag flap — works, but relies on the collar staying on.
3. 4-way manual lock — only as good as your memory.
4. DualScan flaps — go a step further and control which of your own cats can go *out*, useful when one cat is on restricted access after surgery.

See the flaps we recommend on the cat flaps page, or read the full microchip vs manual comparison.

Swapping a manual flap for a microchip model is usually straightforward:

• Same-size replacement in uPVC or wooden doors is often a direct swap.
• Larger microchip units may need the aperture enlarging — fine in panels and doors, not possible in existing toughened glass.
• Glass doors need a new toughened unit with the hole pre-cut; existing toughened glass cannot be cut.

We cover uPVC, composite, wooden, aluminium, patio, bi-fold and glass. Check what fits your door or get a free quote. Every install carries our 3-year workmanship guarantee.