May 2011 Moms

Cats, kids, and baby gates... Talk to me!

Hey ladies,

 The time is coming for us to get some baby gates up.  I've been dreading this.  We have only have a one level home, but we do have a basement, which is where the cats' litter box is, so I can't really block off the access to the basement (and there's no where else to put the litter boxes upstairs). 

So far, I can only find one baby gate with an opening for the cats.  Was wondering if anyone else had any suggestions or has found something that works for them.  One of our cats is fairly chunky, so I'm doubtful that he'd be able to jump over a gate.  We've also had some troubles in the past with him peeing outside the litterbox when he's "stressed", so I'd like this to be as atraumatic as possible.

 Thanks!

Lilypie First Birthday tickers

Re: Cats, kids, and baby gates... Talk to me!

  • Loading the player...
  • We put a cat door in our basement door.  Actually, we took off the original door, bought a new one and put a cat door in it, and hung that door.  That way when/if we move we can put the original door back on. 
  • If your cat is super chunky, maybe he won't jump over, but I just wanted to say that we used to use a baby gate to keep our cat box room off limits to our dog. The cat had no issue jumping over it, and he's a pretty big guy! Cats can surprise you. As a warm up to the switch, I recommend starting in mini steps. Whatever gate you get, maybe lean it against the wall near the doorway where it's going. Wait a few days, then move it to where it's partially blocking the door. Wait a few more days, and then install it. That way it's not an all of a sudden "haha no litter box for you!" thing. HTH!
  • I ordered this https://www.amazon.com/Carlson-0930PW-Extra-Wide-Walk-Thru-White/dp/B000JJDI0G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321900206&sr=8-1, and it should be waiting at home for me today. I have one baby gate, but our one cat wants nothing to do with jumping it.  I'll be putting it up to block the way to the kitchen since the dog's food is on the floor in there.  I had to have something the cats could get through since the basement door is in the kitchen and their litter is down there. 
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • We have an 18 pound cat, and he can jump over the baby gate fine. (I think a healthy cat can do 7ish feet from the ground, so asking an overweight one to do three feet aint bad)

     I think you'd be surprised.  Could you try it for a day and see what happens?  Maybe its also some great exercise for kitty :)

    imageimage
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • We have a gate at the top of our stairs (2 level home).  

    1st we tried mounting the gate a little off-center so the cats could go through between the gate & the wall.  This was a pressure-mounted gate & it was maxed out for width.  We did not like 2 things about this setup:  did not seem stable and cats were leaving oily residue on wall.

    2nd we tried mounting the gate up off of the floor.  (We used the screws and mounting brackets.)  The cats can crawl underneath & don't leave marks on the wall!  The gate is about 5 inches off the floor.    

    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • imageapril1bride:

    2nd we tried mounting the gate up off of the floor.  (We used the screws and mounting brackets.)  The cats can crawl underneath & don't leave marks on the wall!  The gate is about 5 inches off the floor.    

    this 

    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • imageapril1bride:


    2nd we tried mounting the gate up off of the floor.  (We used the screws and mounting brackets.)  The cats can crawl underneath & don't leave marks on the wall!  The gate is about 5 inches off the floor.    

    That's a good idea.  We ended up buying this gate:

    https://www.amazon.com/Safety-1st-Baby-Gate-Brown/dp/B0032FOORA/ref=br_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2SMXOCFD186RS&colid=3457QVJ6T8JE6

    The opening isn't huge, so if your cat is fat it might not work. 

This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"