Cat flap

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A cat flap in action.

A cat flap (British English) or kitty door (American English) is a hinged flap set into a door, wall or window to allow cats to enter and exit a house on their own without needing a human to open the door. Doggie doors similarly exist for dogs.

Cat flaps are popular in some countries, particularly the United Kingdom where it is believed that about 90% of cats have access to the outdoors^[1].

[edit] Etymology

The Oxford English Dictionary records the first use of cat flap in 1957 and the first use of cat door in 1959. ^[2] The Webster's Dictionary of English lists cat door as a synonym of cat flap. ^[3]

[edit] Features

A wall-mounted flap with access tunnel.

The simplest cat flaps are just weighted flaps, but these may be blown open or may make a rattling noise in the wind. A magnet on the flap can hold the door in place and allow access. Some flaps also have adjustable catches to restrict the opening of the flap in one direction or the other — for example to allow the cat to come in, but not go out again. More sophisticated flaps have electromagnetic catches that can detect a matching permanent magnet worn on the cat's collar that will unlock the flap as the cat approaches, thus preventing any other animals from using the flap and entering the house. Flaps with infrared locks open only when a collar-mounted device transmits the correct code to the flap, allowing cat owners to have multiple flaps that different cats can use.

Some cats can circumvent one-way flap-mounted-in-flap designs by pulling at the bottom of the inner flap. Cats can carry rodents into a dwelling through flaps; one cat owner has gone to technological extremes to solve this problem, employing a webcam and image recognition software ^[4].

Devotees suggest a pet door should be set at a height so that the bottom of the opening is just a little lower than the belly of the animal when standing^{[citation needed]}. Many cats prefer to use a transparent flap, so that they can be sure there is nothing threatening outside before leaving the safety of the home^{[citation needed]}.

Some very young children are small enough to fit through a cat flap and get themselves outside. As a precaution, cat flaps should be secured when very small mobile children are in the house.^{[citation needed]}