Can you put cat flaps in doors and especially large doors such as patio doors? The answer is yes and we explain everything you need to know in this short guide.

Advice for cat flaps in doors

First of all, it’s worth addressing the question around fitting cat flaps within existing glass. Usually this is not possible and you’ll need new glass. Most doors come with safety glass. Once toughened, this glass type can’t be cut. Therefore you may find it easier to seek the services of a local glass replacement company and have new glass with a catflat replacing your existing pane.

By law, low-level glazing and doors must have safety glass. Therefore with toughened glass needing cutting to the right size before toughening, retrofitting is not possible.

For doors with PVCu panels, if you’re comfortable with the DIY route, you can cut these with the right tools and self-fit a suitable cat flat.

Pet Flaps in new doors

For new doors, we provide your glass ready with a cat flat provided. This method has proved the easiest over time as well as the fastest.

If you have a particular cat flap type and model in mind, it’s worth checking it’s suitability for use within 24mm or 28mm double glazed units. 28mm is the more common thickness of double glass in the latest generation doors.

There’s also a specialist glass adaptor we use making most types of pet flaps suitable, but this is always confirmed with your specific doors and glass types. It’s not usually possible to fit pet flaps within blinds built into the glass units.

Types of doors suitable for cat flaps

All our doors, fully glazed or with a midrail suit a cat or other pet flap. Of course, the glass type and size (minimum width) may also be a factor.

Subject to size, French doors, bifolding doors, single doors and sliding doors are usually suitable for a pet flap.

If you’ve a side door with a midrail, this is also usually suitable.

For front doors with a decorative panel, contact us with details of your particular requirements.

At Aspire, we use the SureFlap product, suitable for new doors. It’s a microchip model letting only your pet through the pet flap and suits the glass in current-generation doors. As well as this, the SureFlap provides selective entry and stores multiple pet identities, for those with more than one pet. j