SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap Connect and Hub Review

If your cats go outside, a cat flap is a must for your sanity. Today I'll be reviewing the SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap Connect. It ain't cheap, especially as you have to buy the hub as well to link it to the app. At £200 in total for both, I'll be giving my opinion on whether I think it's worth the expense.

Our previous SureFlap was a basic one with a manual four way locking system. It did the job for our senior cat Mali. As she couldn't climb the fences due to her age, she was allowed to pop in and out as she liked, and we'd have happily let her out at night too if it wasn't for the fact she'd scream bloody murder at any neighbourhood cat that dared to invade her territory and wake us up.

The problem with Opal and Mica was that once their fear of the outside turned into curiosity, they soon saw their 'cat proofed' garden as a challenge. Opal was the original mastermind by squeezing through tiny nooks and crannies, but she soon lost interest once we'd tracked down all the Opal holes and closed them up. Mica would previously squawk at us whenever Opal escaped and show us how she did it, but once he got older and more confident, he'd throw himself at the mesh and scramble over it like a monkey. Those were definitely times where it would have been most convenient if we had a cat flap that could keep the escaping cat in and let out the one that could still be trusted currently.

The other issue is that whilst Mali would sleep a lot and was content to wait for us to get up and open the cat flap, Mica is a lot less willing to wait around. It was fine when we had a schedule he was used to, but now he's confused by my flexible working and expects me to be up at the time I would be when I'm going to the office. If we wanted a lie in at the weekend, tough luck, Mica would be climbing over us from 6am until we got up and let him out. 

Prior to a weekend away I was going to ask the cat sitters if they could unlock the cat flap in the morning and unlock it in the evening and thought again how convenient this fancy cat flap would be. Using an app, you can set a curfew, lock the cat flap at any time, and keep an eye on how often the cats are in and out. In a bid to not bother our catsitters anymore than necessary and reclaim our weekend lie ins, we decided to take the plunge and order one.

Luckily the cat flap is the exact same size as the old Sureflap, and having had a professional cut the hole in the door the first time round, it was relatively simple for J to swap them round. Scanning the microchips is also a breeze, you've just got to remember the order you scanned them in so you can rename the cats on the app afterwards. It can accept up to 32 cats in total.

My only criticism of this cat flap is that it would have been nice to get a choice of colours. Only white is available currently, and a brown cat flap like our old one would have blended in better. I've kept the old one so that when we move house in the future, I can swap the cat flaps round again so I can take the superior one with me and also have less of an eyesore for the next home owners.

The brown base of our old cat flap had been glued on by the fitter on the outside of the door, so we left that in place. It certainly looks a lot better in comparison to the indoor side. Regardless, it's a good quality cat flap and below you can see even my chonkiest cat Mica can get in and out easily. 

Now, let's get into the fun stuff which is the app. You need to get the hub set up first which was a bit of a faff for us as it has to be connected to your modem, and we already have a ton of stuff plugged into it along with a shortage of plugs. The instructions also say the hub should be close to your cat flap, which simply wasn't an option for us. Our hub is in the lounge and the cat flap is in the kitchen the next room along. You certainly can't see the hub from the cat flap, but it works nevertheless so it's fine.

As you can see the hub is kitty shaped with ears that normally glow green (you'll get red if it loses connection with the cat flap). The ears also flash whenever the cat flap is used. It's not distracting at all if that's a concern for you. I hardly ever notice despite my cats leaping in and out of the cat flap regularly when they have the zoomies.

Once connected, you have your own profile as well as the cats' profiles and can add the rest of your household on too so you all have control over the cat flap. Getting J added on was the most confusing bit but we got there in the end. We picked some silly photos of Opal and Mica and we were ready to go. Your main page shows your cat's profiles along with their status. An orange sun and cloud indicates they're outside, and a green house shows they're currently inside. 

The below image shows the controls. Provided there haven't been any incidents, ours is automatically set to open at 6am and lock at 10pm. You don't need to worry about your cat/s ever being locked out accidentally as unless you use the 'keep pets out' or 'lock both ways' option a locked cat flap will still let an outside cat back in. I've not personally used either option yet, but if I was having some work done in the house and didn't want the cats getting underfoot or escaping out the front door I would use it.

The main worry I had with the manual cat flap was accidentally using the option that will prevent them coming back in, resulting in an awful 'where is Opal moment?' where J found her sitting confused under some flowers in the garden when I failed to realise she was outside. I find it much easier to use the text on this app than follow the arrow icons on the old style flap. If you're a paranoid sort like me, being able to check this app rather than doing a physical cat check is a godsend.

It's interesting to look at the activity and duration reports as it shows the times your cat tends to be outdoors. Obviously it's going to be weather dependent some of the time, but it's useful data that gives you an idea of how your cat normally spends their time. I once noticed Mica had been outside for a long time early in the morning when he usually pops back in frequently to nibble his dry food. It turned out he had managed to get through the meshed area between the cat flap and the catio and had got stuck in the neighbours' garden. I think it would be especially helpful if your cat is free roaming, as if your cat does get lost, you may notice earlier with the use of this app and be able to find them before they go too far.

 

Below is the timeline, which was amusing at first but I don't really bother with anymore. The 'looked through' option seems a bit redundant to me as I would expect them to look through it anytime they enter or exit the cat flap. Plus one of their favourite games is to try and stare at the other from opposite sides of the cat flap so it really is incessant for me! On the right is my mobile's home screen where I get a delightful 'Hi/Bye Opal/Mica' notification every time they use the cat flap. You can turn these off if you find them annoying. I just like to have them for when I'm out and about, as it's reassuring to see them come back in throughout the day knowing they have not yet breached the cat proofing...

Saving the best until last is the main screen of the time your cat spent outside. I like to do a comparison every so often to see which cat 'won' being outdoors. As you can see below, Mica hadn't spent a lot of time outdoors that day, but he still had the entire evening to go and on sunny days both of them will have lengthy naps in their catio or sunbathe on the slabs on the passage way they use to access the catio.

If you're interested in the SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap Connect and Hub, I'd recommend buying through this link so you can get 10% off your purchase and support Cats Protection at the same time:

https://www.cats.org.uk/shop/other-ways-to-help/surepetcare

Must be off now as Mica's been outside for an hour, which could be a little suspicious so close to dinner time!