Magnetic & Electronic Cat Doors

What you should know about magnetic and electronic cat flaps before buying

Power

The collar keys in this section are all passive—they don’t require battery power. So that’s one thing you needn’t worry about. However, a number of the electronic cat flaps themselves are battery operated and you’ll want to pay attention so that a dead battery doesn’t lock your cat outside on some cold winter night.

On the other hand, the magnetically-operated cat flaps rely on the magnetic strength of the cat door magnet to move a lever inside the cat door, thus unlocking it. No power required at all. But these cat doors are a little more sensitive to placement and how your cat moves through the door. You want that collar tag to come very close to or actually touch the lip of the sensor as the cat is coming in. Typically this means mounting the cat door a little bit higher than you might to ensure that the cat is approaching from slightly below the door rather than from slightly above the door. Door installation can play a large part in the effective functioning of the door.

Directional Control

The second thing to consider is how much control you have over the door's pet access. Some of these cat flaps control in one direction—that is, you have to be wearing a collar key to come in but you don’t need the collar key to go out. Some control in both directions—you need to be wearing the collar key to use the cat door at all.

Certainly, if you have pets you want to have access to the door and others you don’t, the two-way design is best because you just don’t put a collar key on the pets you want to be kept inside.

We also think the two-way locking version, like the SureFLap Microchip Cat Door Dualscan, is more resistant to intrusion, particularly from raccoons. You can’t hook a claw on the edge of the door, pull it outward and duck under. Still, there are those who say that if the skunks in the house you sure want to make it easy for him to get out. However, one of the best electronic cat door options is the Sureflap Microchip pet door controls only one way but offers a special raccoon mode that you can program. Based on customer reviews, pet owners tend to gravitate more to this two-way locking system, as it gives more control over their cat door flap and their cats!

Limitations

There are some limitations to when you can install electronic or some magnetic cat doors. Electronic cat door screened porch applications are not recommended as it can expose the electronic components in the pet door to weather and cause them to fail. For this reason, we only recommend an electronic cat door for a wall, door, window, glass doors, and slider installations.

You'll also want to be careful when installing automatic pet doors that use RFID technology into metal doors. They require an adapter so the metal does not interfere with the signal. This includes electronic smart doors and microchip cat flaps. When in doubt, contact Customer Service and reference your installation instructions to ensure an easy installation!

Magnetic & Electronic Cat Doors FAQs

What cat flap window insert do you recommend to keep out raccoons?

We recommend the Thermo Sash 2e with SureFlap Microchip Pet Door. It also keeps out other unwanted animals like strays with its selective entry design.

Can dogs use these electronic pet doors?

While small dogs may be able to use these doors, they are designed specifically for cats and cat sizes. We recommend looking at pet doors or dog doors specifically, like the High Tech Pet Power Pet Electronic doors.

It rains a lot in my area. Are these doors waterproof?

Yes, if installed into the door panel or wall correctly and with caulk, these doors should not leak or short out.