Do your cats jump over the baby gate?

kalaropia

We set up a baby gate the other day and our cats still are a bit confused by the new contraption. They keep getting "stuck" on one side of the gate or the other and just sit there meowing until we open the gate for them.

They are young cats who can easily jump on top of our refrigerator and other tall heights with no problem whatsoever so this is not an issue of them being physically incapable of going from room to room.

So, can I expect my cats to eventually learn that they can jump over the barrier, or do we need to go and the more expensive gates with kitty doors built in?

[Deleted User]

We've had baby gates up for years (our old apartment had no AC in the bedroom, so we put up a gate to let the air flow while keeping the cats out).  Our cats have never been able to get over it. 

My theory is that cats are good at jumping ONTO things, but not so good at jumping OVER things.  If there is a high place for them to land on the other side, they should be able to get over it.  When we moved and wanted to keep the cats out of the new kitchen (we liked to keep the back door open and they are indoor cats) it didn't work because they were able to jump onto an adjacent counter and then onto the floor.

Try leaving something tall on one side, like a bar stool, and see if they can get over it that way.

Nita2603

Ours can, but don't like it much. We raised the gates a bit, now they just go underneath. So far, we have not put gates on for A though, itthey used to be in when Shadow was a puppy.

michpedelle85

Hi, Cats do not like to jump over something, they like to jump up and land. We put this on one side of the gate and turn it so the platform is on both sides if you know what i mean, so they can land on this in the middle and then continue to jump down to either side of the gate. its inexpensive and it works well. heres the link to the cat post we use. https://www.google.com/imgres?start=55&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N&rlz=1C1AFAB_enUS477US477&biw=1680&bih=949&tbm=isch&tbnid=GAnBqh8-glFFzM:&imgrefurl=https://getpetsavvy.com/pet-cat-supplies-cat-furniture-c-149_156.html&docid=HqliYbW0-HwwAM&imgurl=https://getpetsavvy.com/images/26445_pid.jpg&w=267&h=350&ei=gm_cT7DHFaKe2QXu3dSwDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=171&vpy=370&dur=614&hovh=257&hovw=196&tx=125&ty=136&sig=111795543528278742910&page=2&tbnh=131&tbnw=98&ndsp=62&ved=1t:429,r:41,s:55,i:36

jeanniez

My theory is that cats (and a couple of my dogs) won't try to jump over anything that isn't sturdy/climbable. If it is sturdy, then if they don't make it all the way over, they can climb the rest of the way. My beagle used to jump/climb a barrier we had screwed into the wall but won't even try the baby gate and it's half the height but not as sturdy. Just a theory