We have had a few customers ask if our products are sturdy enough to keep raccoons out so we thought we would enlist the help of two furry product testers at our local zoo to test a new feature on the SureFlap Microchip Pet Door.

Two resident raccoons at Shepreth Wildlife Park, Jumbo and Numning, stepped in to help. We installed a SureFlap Microchip Pet Door in a feed box to be placed in the raccoon pen. Initially, the microchip reading technology was turned off on the pet door, so that any animal could get in through it, and Jumbo and Numning were fed treats inside the feed box to get them used to going in through the pet door.

The raccoons quickly got the idea that the pet door was a doorway to food heaven! We then turned the pet door on and put it into Custom Mode 5, a security feature that prevents dextrous animals from gaining access.

Once the pet door was all set up, we put treats inside the feed box once more. With a lot of persistence, the raccoons tried to get at the treats and we are pleased to report that they were unable to get in! The SureFlap Microchip Pet Door held fast. Needless to say we rewarded the raccoons with the treats to thank them for their assistance!

We documented the process on film. In the video below, you will see just how determined the raccoons were to get at their treats!

The keepers at Shepreth Wildlife Park were happy to help us test the SureFlap Microchip Pet Door with their raccoons as it was a great way to provide a source of enrichment for them.

Please note that Custom Mode 5 is currently only available on the SureFlap Microchip Pet Door. This feature is not currently available on the SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap.

We’re having a bit of fun in the office today and we’ve all dressed up for Comic Relief! If you like our crazy costumes, why not donate to Comic Relief through the SureFlap Red Nose Day’s Giving Page.

We asked our Facebook fans to vote for their favourites. And the winners are…

1st: Brooke the Pregnant Trojan Warrior

2nd: Nick AKA Elvis

3rd: Wei the Pink Lady

As we were dressed up, we thought we would also do our very own version of the Harlem Shake! Watch our video below!



Which is your favourite costume?

Let us know by commenting on this blog post!

Some dogs bark to be let out into the garden when it’s time for them to ‘go’. A great way to stop this behaviour is to install a dog door, so that your dog can come and go as he pleases. If your dog has free access to the garden, you may find that he stops barking altogether.

If you have a small dog, you could invest in a SureFlap Microchip Pet Door. We recently launched this product in the UK, and will be rolling it out to the rest of the world in the next few weeks. The SureFlap pet door works with your pet’s microchip or collar mounted tag to give your pet exclusive access to your home, keeping other animals out.

Marion Trew installed a SureFlap Microchip Pet Door for her dog Treacle. She used to bark when she wanted to go outside. Now that she has a pet door, she’s stopped barking, because she can access the garden without having to alert Marion that she needs to go out.

When speaking about the pet door, Marion said: “It has substantially improved my life. I was aware of having to let the dog in and out of the kitchen door multiple times a day and especially in the evening when I was trying to relax.  Now she goes in and out by herself and what I hadn’t realised was how much she barked to be let in and out. Now she doesn’t bark at all and it is wonderful.”

Have you recently installed a pet door?

Has your new pet door put a stop to your dog’s barking? Why not tell us your story by commenting on this blog post!

The SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap is powered by 4 AA batteries. When the SureFlap is used correctly, the batteries should last up to a year with normal use. We’ve put together some tips on how to get the most out of the batteries so you don’t have to keep changing them.

Use good quality, non-rechargeable batteries

We recommend you use non-rechargeable Energizer or Duracell batteries in your SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap. Poor quality or rechargeable batteries are not recommended as they do not provide enough power to operate the SureFlap.

Keep your SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap sensors clean

In the tunnel of the SureFlap there are two sensors that detect when a cat is present. When a cat is in the tunnel, SureFlap powers up to read your cat’s microchip. If the sensors are dirty, the SureFlap may think there is a cat in the tunnel and will remain powered up, causing the batteries to drain quickly. Keep these sensors clean to prevent this from happening.

Remove loose fur from the draft excluder

Sometimes cat fur can get caught in the top strip of draft excluder. This can also cause the batteries to drain quickly by obstructing the sensors. Remove any build-up of fur regularly. Don’t forget that the sensors are in the tunnel of the SureFlap, so you will need to go outside to remove any fur that has collected near the sensors.

If you have a brown SureFlap check the sticker is still in place

In the tunnel of all brown SureFlap Microchip Cat Flaps, there is a reflective sticker. This sticker is used in conjunction with the sensors in the SureFlap. If the sticker has moved, or has come away completely, the SureFlap may think the brown plastic is in fact a cat inside the tunnel and will continue to power up, causing the batteries to drain. If you require a new sticker, please contact us and we will send one out to you.

Did you know, today is World Cat Day! And we’re celebrating the joy of cats by offering 10% off a SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap. But this offer isn’t just for today; it’s valid until 21^st August 2012!

Not only will you receive 10% off a cat flap, we’ll also be donating a percentage of every sale to two great charities.

5% of every sale will go to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). This fantastic animal charity launched World Cat Day in 2002. The IFAW was founded in 1969 to save individual animals, animal populations and habitats all over the world. They have animal welfare projects in over 40 countries across the globe.

We will also donate 5% of every sale to Tiertafel Deutschland, an animal charity based in Germany that is supported by the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

If you would like to take advantage of this great discount for World Cat Day, and help us support these two great animal charities, just enter the discount code WCD2012 at the checkout on any of our webshops. Just click on a flag below to be redirected to the relevant SureFlap website.

(Note: Residents of the following countries can purchase a SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap from our UK website which incurs a £5 shipping fee: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden).

Are you doing anything special for World Cat Day?

Why not tell us about your World Cat Day event by commenting on this blog post!

To celebrate the launch of an exciting new SureFlap product, the SureFlap Blog will soon be getting a makeover!

To start with, the name What’s New Pussycat is no more. We have now renamed our blog, Cat & Canine Chronicle. What do you think of our new name? Pretty cool eh?

In addition to our blog’s name change, we are also going to start sharing content about dogs as well as cats. Tomorrow we are launching an exciting contest that will give dog lovers something to bark about! There will also be some great prizes up for grabs! Our blog is gearing up to become a resource for cat and dog owners all over the world.

We love sharing relevant content with animal lovers and invite anyone that has an interest in cats or dogs to submit a guest post. We like to hear from people that have stories to tell about their own cat or dog, or those that have a specialist knowledge of pet care. We even accept posts written from a pet’s point of view!

If you would like to submit a guest post, please contact us here with a subject idea. If your topic is approved, we will then send you further submission guidelines.

We hope that you will like the changes we will be making. Let us know your thoughts by commenting on our blog!

We know that the SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap stops neighbouring cats from gaining access to people’s homes, but it’s always nice to see the proof! A few customers have sent us photos of the neighbour’s cat trying (and failing) to get in through their SureFlaps.

While some neighbour cats continue to try to get in through a SureFlap, many will stop trying altogether when they realise that the SureFlap won’t open for them.

If the neighbour’s kitty can’t get in, then your cat won’t have to put up with being terrorised in his own home. You’ll probably find that you save money on cat food because you will no longer be feeding the neighbour’s cat as well as your own!

Do you have a SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap? Have you caught the neighbour’s cat trying to get in? If so, send your pictures to enquiries@sureflap.co.uk!

We’re also after videos that can demonstrate how robust the SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap is. So if your neighbour’s cat is particularly persistent in trying to bash its way through the SureFlap, try to catch it on camera and send it to us!

A cheeky neighbourhood tom looks miffed he can't get in!

Stiggy from next door is foiled by the SureFlap!

We’ve just got back from exhibiting at the BVNA Congress at Kettering Conference Centre. We had a great time connecting with vet nurses at the congress and demonstrating the SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap to them!

We were delighted that many people had already heard of SureFlap, and lots of vet nurses were interested in the possibility of stocking SureFlap in their veterinary practice. There are already a number of veterinary practices across the UK that stock the SureFlap, and the list is continuing to grow.

In addition to the great reception that we received from the delegates at the BVNA Congress, we also received some press coverage. The press visited our stand and an article was written about us on MRCVS.co.uk!

That Purple Cat visited the stand too. He tried to fit through our SureFlap that was on display on our stand but he was a little too big… and maybe he wasn’t microchipped so he couldn’t get through!

Also at the congress, we supplied two SureFlap Microchip Cat Flaps as prizes in The Bella Moss Foundation raffle. The Bella Moss Foundation helps people with pets that are suffering from resistant bacterial infections and they were kind enough to have our cat flaps on display during the event.

Our next trade show will be the London Vet Show in Olympia Grand Hall, London on 24-25 November, where we will be exhibiting on stand Q30. If you have a veterinary practice and you’re attending the event, why not drop by our stand and say hi?

If you are part of a veterinary practice and would like more information about becoming a SureFlap stockist, visit the Veterinary Members Area of our website.

Did you attend the BVNA Congress?

If you were a delegate or an exhibitor at the BVNA Congress, let us know your BVNA Congress highlights by commenting on this blog post!

For the past few weeks at SureFlap Head Office, we’ve been busy putting together the first ever TV advertisement about the SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap! Our TV advert will launch in the UK on Monday 10^th October for 3 weeks.

Everyone at SureFlap loves getting involved with all aspects of the business, so much so that our TV advert was actually filmed at an employee’s home and Hoshi the SureFlap cat makes a cameo appearance!

Filming of the advert took place at night to ensure that the continuity was spot on. The film crew were preparing for a long night of filming. Thankfully Hoshi played his part so well that filming only went on until 1:30am…

Gary Hurst plays the role of an intruder in the home of a couple that are sitting down to enjoy their dinner.  He eats the couple’s food and makes himself comfortable on their furniture. Are you a cat owner? Does this sound familiar to you? You wouldn’t put up with a human intruder in your home so why put up with intruder cats?

If you see our TV advert, you might be interested in entering our Twitter competition! Be sure to pay close attention when the advert is on because we want you to tweet us and tell us something that happens in it! This could be absolutely anything, whether it’s something that is said by the actor or an object you spot in the background!

Just tweet your something-that-happens-in-the-advert to @SureFlapNews between the 10^th and 30^th October to be entered into a draw to win a SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap! There will also be 5 runner-up prizes of SureFlap mugs which have a cute cartoon of Newton the SureFlap mascot on the side.

For now, take a look at some of the behind the scenes footage below on the shoot of the SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap advert. Look out for the TV advert when it airs; it will be shown on ITV2, Sky Living, 5 Star and many others.

Check out the following 10 reasons why you and your cat will love the SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap!

1. SureFlap keeps other cats out of your home so that your cat can live a more contented life, safe from the stress of invasion. If your cat suffers from stress related illnesses, such as cystitis, you might find the SureFlap helps to cure them because they are no longer terrorised by the neighbour’s cat invading their home!
2. Your cat won’t need to wear a collar to operate the SureFlap. Many cats often lose their collars which can be expensive. Cat collars can also cause serious injuries if not worn properly.
3. You can save money on cat food as you are no longer feeding the neighbour’s cat as well as your own!
4. SureFlap’s manual lock can be used to lock your cat inside when you need to take him to the vet or if you want to keep him inside at night. Set the lock to ‘in only’ and the next time he comes inside he won’t be able to get out again.
5. SureFlap can be installed in doors, windows and walls giving you plenty of options of where to install it.
6. SureFlap is designed as a drop in replacement for many existing cat flaps, making it very easy to install if you already have a cat flap.
7. The SureFlap is battery powered so there are no trailing wires. Batteries should last at least 6 months with normal use. An indicator light will start to flash when the batteries are running low so that your cat isn’t in danger of getting locked out.
8. The SureFlap is extremely simple to program with the use of just one button, which means you don’t need to be technical to store your cat’s microchip into the cat flap.
9. SureFlap has an integrated draft excluder to help keep the cold out in winter.
10. SureFlap offers excellent after sales support so if you ever need help contact us right away!

What do you think?

If you own a SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap, tell us why you and your cat love your cat flap by leaving a comment on this blog post!