Cat flaps

I had a similar problem and purchased a roll of draught excluding material from a DIY shop. I had to remove the cat flap and apply the draught excluder to all surfaces until a had an airtight fit.

It made an enormous difference.

Regards

John

Makes a change from Flatcaps!

Jamie,try moving to Cairns, Australia.
Problem solved.

Seal off the catflap and buy a decent dressing gown.

Place the choice in their own hands. (paws) Once out they stay out. Our cat has never chosen to stay indoors overnight for years now. He calls to wake me up at completely random times and I fall out of bed (naked) and head off towards the back door carying a pencil torch to avoid blinding myself. This also helps the cat's dark adaptation.

I bought the dressing gown after a blizzard driven by a particularly vicious north-easterly covered me from head to toe while I was waiting patiently at the open back door for the little sod chap to go out.

He has various cosy "kennels" with fitted carpets and en-suite bathrooms when he dooesn't choose one of the local barns. His fur and weight adjust automaticallly to the seasons. He suffers from permanent cabin fever.

!

What's behind the green door?

We have a rather expensive one which has a brush type draught excluder 'built in' also it has a system of locking tabs which allow you to adjust the way it 'flaps'. Also you can lock it when the cat is settled in the house for a while.
David

The cat flap I have has a magnet system that keeps the door in it’s central position and is resistant to wind etc, and stays shut and keeps out drafts until the cat pushes on the flap and it then opens.

P.S. I'm not talking about the cat flaps where the cat has a magnet/electronic tag on it's collar. I’d never have one of these as if the cat’s doing mad run into the house and the flap don’t work then one concussed cat (and in a friends case a dog got to it – the cats now OK bit I think the dog is still in casualty!)

My sister once came home to a living-room full of cats! She then installed the coded collar type and now has only her own cat for company. I'm wary of collars on cats getting caught and the poor sod starving. Or injuring himself trying to escape while hanging from the top of a tree somewhere. The little sod got shut into a barn recently and tried to climb up to the roof to find a way out. He was so grateful to see me. The previous owner never shut the door for years on end and all the local cats used to hold wild parties in there. Or shelter from the storms, cold and snow, often overnight. The females would also drop their kittens in there. It throws their whole routine off when somebody starts shutting doors willy-nilly. I must recommend a cat flap to the new owner. But which one?

The joys of having 1 mm thick Staywell swaying piece of plastic for insulation is often the price one must pay for having benefits of cat. I have tried all sorts of DIY conversions to basic models such as building on curtained airlock/anteroom, but after 20 years with same basic Staywell have learned to appreciate any slight draught as 'ventilation'.

As has been said, there are other more advanced solutions.

The real down-side is an unneutered Tom coming in and spraying.