Pet door questions, answered

A glass-fitting door clamps through a round hole a glazier cuts in a window, glass door or ranch slider; a wood-fitting door screws into a rectangular hole you cut yourself in a timber, uPVC or metal door or a wall. Pick by what the door is going into, not by the pet. Every Catwalk® and Dogwalk® model comes in both fittings, with the same flap and lock. See the full range.

A Slim Line glass-fitting door: your glazier cuts a round hole in the fixed or sliding pane and the door clamps through it. For cats use the Catwalk Standard or Maxi Slim Line; for dogs the Intermediate or Medium Slim Line. Nothing is screwed into the glass and the slider still opens and locks as before. A clip-in insert panel is the alternative, but it costs you slider width, lets draughts in and is easy to lift out from outside.

The door is easier and cheaper; the wall is tidier when the door you have is glass you would rather not cut, or when you want the opening somewhere else. A Tunnel model (Small Tunnel, Cat Tunnel) reaches through solid doors and walls up to 52 mm; thicker walls need a lined opening, which a builder can make in an hour.

The Dogwalk Medium (glass) and Wood-Fitting Medium have a 270 × 300 mm opening and suit dogs up to about 500 mm at the shoulder. We size by shoulder height, not breed: measure first (below) and the opening tells you yes or no.

A Multi-Magnetic door stays latched until a cat wearing a small collar magnet touches the flap, so your cat gets in and other cats do not. No batteries, no chip reader. It is for homes where a neighbour’s cat helps itself. Glass: G-MCDW; wood: W-MCD. Spare collar magnets are stocked.

If your cat is microchipped and you want nothing on the collar, buy the SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap; if you would rather avoid batteries, buy the Catwalk Multi-Magnetic. Both keep strange cats out. SureFlap reads the chip, stores 32 cats and runs about a year on four AA batteries; the Multi-Magnetic uses a collar magnet and costs less.

No. New Zealanders say cat door, the UK says cat flap; it is the same thing — a frame, a swinging flap and a lock. Every Catwalk® cat door is a cat flap, and the SureFlap is a cat door.

For most cats the Catwalk® Standard (165 × 180 mm opening, single glazing 3–10 mm). Double glazing, big cats or a small dog too: the Catwalk® Maxi (3–28 mm). Other cats coming in: the Multi-Magnetic or SureFlap Microchip. All glass-fitting, all in stock in Auckland. Our cat door guide walks through the choice.

An electronic cat door identifies your cat before it unlocks. We stock the SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap, which reads your cat’s implanted chip and runs on four AA batteries. The non-electronic alternative is our Catwalk® Multi-Magnetic, unlocked by a collar magnet with no batteries. Comparison in microchip vs magnetic.

No. We fit the dog door in the glass itself: a glazier cuts a round hole and the Dogwalk® Slim Line or Dual Glaze clamps through it, so the slider keeps its full width, seal and lock. An insert panel narrows the doorway, seals on brush strips and can usually be lifted out from outside; it suits renters who cannot cut glass. More in dog door for a sliding glass door.

Measure the pet, not the breed: for a dog, floor to the top of the shoulder; for a cat, width at the shoulders and depth from the top of the shoulders to the bottom of the chest. The opening should be about 25 mm bigger than the animal, with its bottom edge at belly height. Every door page lists its usable opening, and Find your door matches the measurement to a model in three taps.

Stand the dog square on a hard floor and measure from the floor to the top of the shoulder blade; then measure the widest point of chest or hips. The opening needs to be taller than the shoulder-to-belly depth and 25 mm wider than the widest point; its bottom sits at belly height so the dog steps through rather than crawls. Our guide: Intermediate to about 380 mm at the shoulder, Small about 360 mm, Medium 450–500 mm. Step by step, with photos: how to measure your dog or cat for a pet door.

Almost every domestic cat fits a 165 × 180 mm opening — that is the Catwalk Standard, good to about 7 kg. Cats over 7 kg, or long, big-framed cats, take the Maxi (187 × 190 mm). For SureFlap, print the free size tester on the product page and watch your cat walk through it.

One door, sized for the biggest animal and fitted at the smaller one’s belly height. The Maxi was designed for exactly this: large cats and small dogs through the same door. A big dog (to 500 mm at the shoulder) and a cat need a Medium dog door, which the cat will use happily. More in one pet door for a cat and a dog.

The bottom of the opening at the animal’s belly: 100–150 mm for a cat, and for a dog measure floor-to-stomach. Too high and the pet has to climb; too low and the flap drags. How to measure your pet shows where the bottom of the opening goes.

The largest is the Dogwalk® Medium, 270 × 300 mm, for dogs to about 500 mm at the shoulder and 245 mm across. Dogs beyond that are too big for our range and we would rather say so than sell you one. Measure first — many “large” dogs fit the Medium. See large dog door NZ.

Yes, but the existing sealed unit cannot be cut: your glazier orders a new double-glazed unit with the round hole already made and swaps it in, then the Dual Glaze door clamps through it. Dual Glaze frames fit glass 3–32 mm — Catwalk Maxi for cats, Dogwalk Intermediate and Medium for dogs. Allow for the new pane in the budget; the door itself is the same price as for single glazing.

No. Toughened and double-glazed glass cannot be cut at all, and cutting a round hole in annealed glass takes a glazier’s core drill and practice. Buy the door, book a glazier, hand them the cut-out size from the product page (245 mm for the Standard cat door, 267 for the Maxi, 320 for the Intermediate, 385 for the Medium). Fitting the door after the hole is made is straightforward. More in can I install a cat door myself?

Budget the door plus the glazier’s work: cutting single glazing in place is the cheaper job; double glazing costs more because a new sealed unit is made to order. Glaziers quote by pane size and region, so get two quotes and give both the cut-out diameter. We sell the door; we do not install, but any glazier can fit a Catwalk® or Dogwalk®. What you pay for, and how to pay less: cat door installation cost in NZ.

Glass thickness. Dual Glaze clamps through 3–32 mm, so one door suits a double-glazed unit as well as a single pane; Slim Line is a shallower frame for single glazing and sliders, up to 13–21 mm depending on the model. Opening, flap and lock are identical. For sealed units, see pet doors in double glazing.

Yes. The pet door sits in the pane, not the frame or track, so a ranch slider slides and locks exactly as before. Position the hole clear of the handle side so the open slider does not foul the pet door. More in cat doors for ranch sliders and dog doors for sliding glass doors.

Yes, any fixed or opening pane of single or double glazing — a laundry window is a common spot for a cat door. The glazier cuts or replaces the pane the same way as a door; keep the opening within the cat’s reach from a sill or step. See cat door in a window or glass panel.

Yes — a drill, a jigsaw and a screwdriver, with the paper template in the box. Draw round the template at belly height, drill a start hole in each corner, cut on the line, push the outer frame in from outside and screw the inner frame to it from inside. Most people are done in under an hour. The video on each wood-fitting page shows every step, and the full walk-through is in cat door for a wooden door.

Tunnel models: the Catwalk Cat Door Tunnel and Dogwalk Small Tunnel reach through solid doors and walls up to 52 mm; the Wood-Fitting Medium suits panels 5–36 mm. Slim Line wood doors are for panels 11–30 mm.

Yes. The wood-fitting frames clamp either side of any panel in the thickness range — timber, uPVC, aluminium, steel garage doors and composite panels. Use a metal-cutting jigsaw blade on metal and file the edge. For a brick, block or weatherboard wall, see through-wall pet doors. For the glass in an aluminium door or ranch slider, see cat door for an aluminium door.

Yes; the Slim Line cat doors are often fitted in a laundry or garage door inside the house to give the cat access to its litter tray or bed. Leave the lock on open. More in internal cat doors.

No — we design and sell them. Glass-fitting doors are installed by any glazier; wood-fitting doors are a DIY job. Each product page has the step-by-step, a video and a printable sheet for your glazier. Finding one near you: pet door installation in NZ.

No, it comes fitted from the factory. After installation, turn it through all four positions to check it moves freely. If a dial is ever damaged, replacement dial sets are in stock.

Wood-fitting: under an hour with hand tools. Glass: single glazing is usually cut and fitted in one glazier visit; double glazing needs a second visit once the new unit arrives, typically one to two weeks. What the glazier does: how a cat door is installed in glass.

Prop the flap open for a day or two and call the pet through with food from the other side; then let the flap down and repeat. Most cats take a day, most dogs an afternoon. Keep the lock on open until the habit is set, and for a Multi-Magnetic door fit the collar magnet from the first day so the click becomes familiar. The full method: how to train a cat or dog to use a pet door.

Any glazier, in any city, fits a glass-fitting door: cutting a round hole or supplying a new double-glazed pane with the hole made is ordinary glazier work. Wood-fitting doors are DIY or a handyman job. We design and sell the doors from Auckland and do not install; buy the door first, then book a local glazier with the cut-out size. City notes in pet door installation in NZ.

Yes. Catwalk® and Dogwalk® doors are available at Mitre 10 stores across New Zealand. PetNest carries the full range online, every model and colour, with genuine replacement flaps and locking dials, the cut-out sizes and installation videos on each page, and a 3-year warranty on the door. Orders ship from Auckland, free over NZ$250. More in where to buy Catwalk® and Dogwalk® doors in NZ.

Yes. Every Catwalk® and Dogwalk® door has a factory-fitted 4-way dial: open both ways, in only, out only, or locked. Glass-fitting Dogwalk doors can add a security clip that holds the dial in the locked position; the Medium ships with locking clips.

The flap closes against a brush seal and is held shut by magnets at the base, so it does not swing in the wind. On glass the two frame halves clamp with a gasket; in a wall the tunnel seals the opening. For a very exposed wall, face the door away from the prevailing wind. If an old flap no longer sits flat, a replacement flap restores the seal. More in do cat doors let the cold in?

UV-stabilised polycarbonate — the same material as safety glasses — made for New Zealand sun. Flaps are a wear part: a clouded or cracked one is swapped for a genuine replacement without taking the door out — the smaller flaps flex in with no tools, the bigger ones take a screwdriver — and we have stocked flaps for every door since 1999.

A cat door is too small for a person. A Medium dog door is large enough to reach through, so lock the 4-way dial when you are away and keep house keys out of reach of the opening. The glass-fitting Dogwalk® doors can add a security clip that holds the dial locked. The honest detail is in are pet doors a security risk?

Yes. We stock genuine flaps for all nine door families; the model code is moulded into the frame of most doors. Match the code to the flap on the spares page, or email a photo of your door and we will identify it. Each flap’s page shows how it fits, with a printable guide.

Replacement flaps, 4-way locking dial sets in clear, white and grey, security clips for the glass-fitting Dogwalk doors, collar magnets for the Multi-Magnetic cat doors, and SureFlap mounting adaptors and tunnel extenders. All from stock in Auckland, on the spares page.

Look for the code on the frame — G-DD, W-CD and so on — or measure the flap: 165 × 180 mm is the Standard cat door, 187 × 190 the Maxi, 216 × 237 the Intermediate, 270 × 300 the Medium. The replacement flap guide shows where to look on each model. Still unsure? Email a photo.

No. It reads the identification microchip your cat already has; a cat without a chip can use a Sure Petcare RFID collar tag instead. Full details on the SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap page.

Yes. A glazier cuts a 212 mm round hole and the flap mounts through the mounting adaptor, which also covers an older round hole up to 260 mm. For a wall or thick door, add tunnel extenders at 50 mm each.

Up to 12 months on four AA batteries, with a low-battery light on the inside frame. Your registered cats and lock setting are kept when you change them. More in our SureFlap buyer’s guide.

If another cat is coming into your house, yes — it is the only door that recognises your cat without a collar. If you have no intruder, a plain Catwalk® costs less and has no batteries. Full buyer’s guide: SureFlap in NZ, is it worth it?

The flap plus TUN001WT2 tunnel extenders: wall thickness minus 70 mm, divided by 50, rounded up. A 220 mm wall takes three. Steps in fitting a SureFlap in glass or a wall.

The opening is 142 × 120 mm, right for cats to about 6 kg. Print the size tester at 100%, cut it out and watch your cat go through. Bigger cats: the Catwalk® Maxi.

Orders ship from Auckland by tracked courier; free on orders over NZ$250; most of the country sees it within a few working days, rural addresses a little longer. Details on the shipping page.

3 years on every Catwalk® and Dogwalk® door against manufacturing and parts defects, and 1 year on moving parts — flap, dial, hinge and magnets. SureFlap carries Sure Petcare’s 3-year warranty; claims go to Sure Petcare customer care (contact details on each SureFlap product page). This sits alongside your Consumer Guarantees Act rights. See warranty.

Yes, within 7 days of delivery, unused and in its original packaging; you cover return postage and we refund the product price. Faulty goods are handled under the warranty and the Consumer Guarantees Act. See returns.

Yes. Pet-Tek International supplies the trade across New Zealand and overseas; use the Trade enquiry button on any product page or email info@petnest.co.nz with your business details.

Catwalk® and Dogwalk® doors are designed in Auckland by Pet-Tek International, a New Zealand-owned company, and have been going into New Zealand homes, and to distributors overseas, since 1999. Every order ships from our Auckland warehouse. More about Pet-Tek and PetNest.