What a cat flap does not lock

A microchip flap is sold to stop other animals coming in. Read that sentence narrowly. Sure Petcare's UK shop page for the Microchip Cat Flap, opened on 14 November 2026, says who it keeps out, and the wording is animals.

Animals in, and the direction of the reader

The page says the flap prevents intruder animals entering the home. It says entry is selective and any animal can exit, because the microchip reader is on the outside only. Unwelcome cats and wildlife are the intruders it names. It does not say the flap stops a person.

That follows from the mechanism the page describes. The flap unlocks when it reads a programmed microchip or RFID collar tag. A person does not have that chip. A person also does not need the flap to unlock in the way a cat does: a cat flap is an opening in a door, window or wall. The manual lock is the control Sure Petcare does describe. It can stop your cat leaving or entering, or be set so the cat can come in and not go out. Use that when you want the opening shut. It is a pet control, described on a pet-door page, not a certified door lock. This guide will not invent a security grade the page does not give.

We haven't tested this. Figures are as the maker states them (checked 14 November 2026).

Programming matters. The page says identities are stored, up to 32, and kept when the batteries are removed. If a neighbour's cat was learnt by mistake, that cat is now an authorised animal until you remove it. The shop page does not, in the text opened for this guide, spell out the erase steps. Use the manual for the unit, rather than a guess.

The legal chip is separate from the flap

In England a cat still needs a microchip under GOV.UK's rules, including a cat that lives indoors, by 20 weeks. The flap can use that chip. It does not create the legal record, and it does not update your address when you move. Database updates are on microchip versus a GPS tracker.

A camera pointed at the flap to see who comes through can film a shared path or a neighbour's garden. That is the ICO's home CCTV question, not a feature of the flap. See pet cameras and your neighbours.

If the cat should not be outside, a flap that any animal can exit through is the wrong tool until you set the manual lock. Sure Petcare's own footer says the products do not replace veterinary care. Whether an elderly or ill cat should have free access is a vet conversation, not a setting in an app.

Does selective entry mean the house is shut?

It means, on Sure Petcare's description, that animals which are not programmed should not be able to enter, while any animal can leave, and a person is not the customer the page is talking about. When you want the opening closed, the page points you at the manual lock.

Can wildlife still come in if the batteries are flat?

The page says a low-battery light gives you time to change four AA batteries, and it claims up to 12 months. It does not say what the lock does when the batteries are already dead. Do not assume a fail-safe. Read the manual for that failure, and use the manual lock when you are away if you need the opening shut regardless of batteries.

Will the flap stop my cat visiting the neighbour's kitchen?

No. The reader is for coming in through this flap. The RSPCA's page on feeding other people's pets is about cats who are fed elsewhere, and it suggests a quick-release collar that says not to feed them. A flap does not control the house next door.

Sources

• SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap — Sure Petcare UK shop, accessed 14 November 2026.
• Get your dog or cat microchipped — GOV.UK, accessed 14 November 2026.
• Why you shouldn't feed other people's pets — RSPCA, accessed 14 November 2026.
• Home CCTV systems — Information Commissioner's Office, accessed 14 November 2026.