Guide · · Updated · 3 min read
Cat doors in New Zealand: how to choose the right one
Glass or wood, Standard or Maxi, open-to-all or your-cat-only. Four decisions pick the right cat door for a New Zealand home — here they are in order.
By the Pet-Tek International team, Auckland — designers of Catwalk® and Dogwalk® since 1999.
A cat door is a twenty-year purchase that takes ten minutes to get wrong. Most of the returns we see come from one of four decisions made in the wrong order. Make them in this order and the right Catwalk® model picks itself.
1. What is the door going into?
This decides more than anything else. Glass — a window, a glass door, a ranch slider — takes a glass-fitting door: a round hole cut by a glazier, two frame halves clamped through it, nothing screwed into the glass. Timber, uPVC, aluminium or a wall takes a wood-fitting door: a rectangular hole you cut yourself with a jigsaw, frames screwed together through the panel.
Glass is the more common route in New Zealand because the cat’s way out is usually the slider to the deck. Wood is cheaper and a weekend job.
2. Single or double glazing?
If it is glass, look at the edge of the pane. One sheet: single glazing — a Slim Line door, cut in place. Two sheets with a spacer: double glazing — a Dual Glaze door, and the glazier orders a new sealed unit with the hole made because an existing unit cannot be cut. For cats that means the Maxi Dual Glaze (glass 3–28 mm) or the Multi-Magnetic (3–26 mm); the Standard is a single-glazing door for panes 3–10 mm, which covers most windows and older sliders. The Maxi Slim Line takes single glazing to 21 mm.
3. Standard or Maxi?
Measure the cat, not the breed: width at the shoulders, depth from the top of the shoulders to the bottom of the chest, add 25 mm to each. A 165 × 180 mm opening — the Catwalk® Standard — takes almost every cat to about 7 kg. Over that, or for a long, big-framed cat, take the Maxi at 187 × 190 mm; it doubles as a small-dog door, which is handy in a mixed household, and it is the cat door for double glazing.
4. Open to all, or your cat only?
If the neighbour’s cat lets itself in, you want selective entry. Two ways:
- Catwalk® Multi-Magnetic (glass) or wood version: a small collar magnet unlocks the flap. No batteries, no electronics, lower price.
- SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap: reads the chip your cat already has, stores 32 cats, four AA batteries a year. Nothing on the collar.
Our electronic cat door guide compares them in detail.
The wood-fitting range
For a timber, uPVC or metal door: Slim Line for panels 11–30 mm, Tunnel for thick doors and walls to 52 mm, Multi-Magnetic for selective entry. White or brown. Template in the box, done in an hour.
Where to fit it
Bottom of the opening 100–150 mm off the floor, on the fixed pane of a slider if you can, and clear of the handle side so the open door does not foul it. Full detail in the FAQ.
What every Catwalk® door has
UV-stabilised polycarbonate flap, brush seal, magnets at the base, factory-fitted 4-way lock (open, in only, out only, locked), 3-year warranty on the door and 1 year on moving parts, replacement flaps stocked for every model since 1999, and it ships from Auckland. Not sure which? Find your door in three taps.
Quick answers
What is the best cat door in NZ?
The one that matches your door: a glass-fitting Catwalk Standard or Maxi for a window, glass door or ranch slider; a wood-fitting Slim Line or Tunnel for timber, uPVC or metal; a Multi-Magnetic or SureFlap Microchip if other cats come in. All are stocked in Auckland.
Cat flap or cat door — is there a difference?
No. New Zealanders say cat door, the UK says cat flap; it is the same product. Every Catwalk door has a flap, a frame and a 4-way lock.
How much does a cat door cost in NZ?
Catwalk cat doors run from the wood-fitting Slim Line at the low end to the glass Maxi and the Multi-Magnetic at the top; the SureFlap Microchip sits above those. Glass fitting adds the glazier's charge; wood fitting is DIY.
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The doors in this article
See every cat door → · Ships from Auckland · courier NZ-wide · free shipping over $250 · 3-year warranty
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Three taps to the right door
Tell us the pet and the door it goes into; we name the model.