Microchip cat door keeps intruder kitties out

Aug. 26, 2011 6:34 PM PT

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Want to keep feline squatters from entering your home?

Enter the SureFlap Microchip Cat Door, ‘invented by a physicist and cat owner,’ which uses radio wave technology to read and identify microchips implanted into cats, according to the company website, and only allows critters with preapproved access through.

For Dr. Doolittle types or those with multiple felines, the door can be programmed to store the microchip IDs of up to 32 cats (because 33 would just be going overboard).

Microchipping pets (by implanting a chip with a unique identification number) has increased in popularity as a way to track down lost critters without tags. A bill that would require all cats or dogs adopted at a shelter to be microchipped was introduced in California earlier this year.

The door, sold for a hefty $149.99, is not the only door of its kind. And judging by a quick scan of consumer reviews online, cat owners get pretty creative about putting them to use. Some are installing the high-tech cat portals onto litter boxes and food dispensers to break up territorial squabbles among the feline set.

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-- Shan Li

Technology Blog

Shan Li

Shan Li covered the retail and restaurant industries for the Los Angeles Times. She previously reported on the California economy and the technology sector. A Texas native, she graduated from the business school at New York University, where she decided journalism was much more interesting than a job on Wall Street. She left The Times in 2017.