“Cat Mate Elite Super Selective” electronic cat door/flap

February 26th, 2009 · 4 Comments

I used to have two cats- one black huge male and one petite delicate female (the one in the picture). The large male cat used to make sure the territory is clear… No cat got too close to the home base. I have a private home, so the cat’s were allowed to the yard outside and they would come in through a regular plastic door flap.

Unfortunately my beloved male cat died ofÂ cancer, leaving only the female to defend her territory. She hasn’t been successful at this job and I experienced a few nights waking from my cat notifying me that there is an unwelcome visitorÂ in our apartment. As soon as I woke up, the perpetrator was gone…

Anyway, I had to go abroad for 45 days. I did plan it that friends and family come in and check her food and water, but the house was empty at nights. My concern was stray cats entering the house, attacking my cat. So I needed a solution.

The cat mate is a great solution. Here’s why:

The cat mate monitor allows you to see if the cat is inside or outside the house (Assuming he entered or exited via the flap, not an open door).
Unlike other mechanisms which use relatively heavy, big size magnets that the cat carry on their collar, the cat mate uses an electronic chip in the Tag to unlock the flap, it’s thick as a quarter coin, a little larger in diameter, and seemingly weightless. My model has 2 ID tags supplied. You can buy more tags if needed. The same if it gets lost, you can easily sync between the cat-mate and a new tag.
because the collar chip is small and almost weightless, it’s less susceptible to fall or get stuck. cat doesn’t have a magnet’s weight on his collar – much comfortable.
The collar tag has no batteries!
The collar tag has an adhesive plastic covered label which you can write your contact details in any case.
Time programmable – the electronic actuated mechanism allows your cat to come in the house at any time you want. You can program the flap to not allow the cat outside during night time. My cat has full privileges, she can go in and out as she pleases.
Up to 8 Individual access control – you can have different programs for each cat.Â
The flap unlocks only when the cat reaches a few cm from the entrance, assuring that a stalker cat won’t be able to follow her in.
Low battery meter- 4 AA Batteries, last a long time (mine is past 6 months and still good).
Weather proof and brush sealed flap seal wind and rain.
Self-lining up to 2 inch (5c”m) of door thickness.

Training your cat to use a cat flap:

My cat already knew how to go in and out of a regular flap, so the cat mate was pretty easy to get used to. My cat needed a few minutes of persuading to enter through it for the first time

If your cat never used a flap , you will probably have to give him a lesson first. I think the best method is hold the flap door fully open and call them in so they get used to coming in through the relatively small door (or out).
After a time or two, as soon as the cat puts his head in, stop holding the flap so he will get used to the touch of it. Repeat this, but now open the flap just a bit, until he opens the door by himself. Do this a few times, until the cat acknowledges the fact that this is an entrance and exit. Then do it without helping him in, stay close, call the cat from the other side, and he will soon catch the idea, guaranteed.

The locking mechanism makes a clicking noise when it unlocks and locks. This may distract or scare a bit the cat at first – he will probably stop for a second to understand what’s going on, but he will get used to the mechanism clicking sound in short time – a few in and outs, and that’s it. There are some cat flaps which featured as “silent” – most likely these work on a magnetic mechanism (a magnet the cat carries on his collar) – don’t buy this model.
Again, if your cat is used to some kind of flap, the break-in period will be much quicker.

There are several models that seem to be the same but cheaper. Some do say its “electronic”, but make sure the one you buy, has the electronic chip collar tags that do not need batteries (its the same principle as those anti-theft labels store owners attach to their products), up to date, only the cat mate elite models use a chip tag.

“Cat Mate Elite Super Selective” on AMAZON