If you’re about to buy a new cat flap, ensuring that you get one which is the correct size is vital to ensuring that your cat will be comfortable using it and will quickly adapt to it.
A cat flap which is too small will be uncomfortable for a big cat to squeeze through and will make it more difficult to train your cat to use their cat flap.
Measure Your Cat
To get the right sized cat flap you should measure your cat, you need to take two measurements:
Measure their width – This should be the widest part of your cat from left to right, for some cats this will be their chest, other cats this may be their hips.
Measuring the hip width is much easier than measuring chest width so if you if your cat has a wider chest than hips measure their hips and add a few extra cm on to the measurement.
Measure the height of their torso – this measurement excludes the legs, it should be taken from the top of their shoulders down to the bottom of their chest or stomach (wherever their torso is the longest)
When you have made both measurements, add a couple of centimetres to each one to be certain there is enough space while also allowing for future weight gain.
Note: It is a good idea to measure your cat’s legs too so that you can set the cat flap in the door at the right height. A cat with shorter legs will need the flap to be set lower than a cat with longer legs.
Weigh Your Cat
If your cat won’t stay still for long enough to be accurately measured then weighing your cat can give a rough indicator of the size of cat flap you will need.
| Cat Weight | Cat Flap Opening Size |
| Up to 5kg | 14cm x 12cm |
| 6kg | 14cm x 15cm |
| 7kg+ | 17cm x 17cm |
Choosing Your Cat Flap
Most cat flaps offer a few different sizes so when choosing your cat flap check the measurements of the opening and ensure that they have sufficient space for your cat to fit through based on the measurements you took.
