Baby and Kitty Litter Box Dilema

[jmstroup]

Help! I have a 10-month old baby and a cat. The kitty litter box is in the basement because there is no place else to put it in our house. Because of this, we always leave the door to the basement open a little bit. However I don't want to keep it that way because I don't want my daughter to accidentally go (or fall) down the stairs to the basement. People have suggested putting a cat door on the basement door so the door can remain closed but the kitty can still get downstairs. I am concerned that my daughter will be able to crawl through it though. What have other people done to solve this problem? Our cat is strictly in-doors so I can't let him outside.

Thank you, Marie

[egoldber]

Here are a couple thoughts. They sell cat doors that only open when the animal is nearby. The cat wears a collar with a transmitter and the door only "unlocks" when the collar is close enough to send signals. Check out: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/sc_view.cfm?siteid=1&pCatId=1893
(Not necessarily recommending these folks, but there are several cat doors on that page.)

If you don't trust this (or if your cat would rather DIE than wear a collar like ours) can you put up a baby gate with vertical bars? Our cat can walk between the vertical rails on our gate on our steps to the basement. Most cats can also jump over them, but our cat isn't coordinated enough to do that. Pretty sad. :)

HTH,

[KathyO]

We have the same problem - three cats, all older and a little arthritic, so expecting them to jump over the gate was not an option.

Initially, we got a plastic mesh gate and just left it open when baby and I weren't in the room. However, then we found that the cats can actually squeeze through the Evenflo Secure Solutions wooden gate which we have for the top floor... even Bonnie, the plump one, can get through pretty smoothly.

Unless your cat is REALLY big, this gate might do what you need.

Good luck,

KathyO

[coreysmom]

I have the same exact problem with my 11-month old son and 2 elderly cats. The basement door is off our kitchen, and our high chair has a very stable base (ie, won't tip over if pulled up on) and is on 4 lockable wheels. So, I put a foam rubber finger guard on the basement door itself (very inexpensive) and I lock the high chair (all 4 wheels) in front of the basement door when baby is not in the high chair. Baby can't move the high chair (I am always watching him when he is near it....). Luckily our basement door is near a corner, so I can put the high chair angled, and the basement door can open just enough to let the cats through, but baby won't get his fingers caught. So far it is working, I don't know if this will suffice when he is actively toddling. Good luck!

[Momof3Labs]

Our baby isn't here yet, but we have three large dogs to keep out of the litter box. Our cat won't jump over the baby gate, so we put the gate a few inches off of the ground - high enough for kitty to slide under but low enough for doggies to stay on the outside. This has worked great for us, although we'll probably go to the vertical slat idea once baby is here and up and moving!

[dubbogod]

We have a cat and a cat door to the outside, and I'll tell you, that once your baby is crawling around, unless your baby is super tiny, there is no way she/he will be getting through that cat door!! It would be far too small. But I would agree that a baby gate (mounted not pressure fit) would be a good option. Your cat should be able to jump the gate or get through it somehow.

[daisy]

My in-laws bought a large hook and eye latch that when latched held the basement door open just enough to let the cats through, but not enough to let a baby crawl through.

[KCR4]

Yes, we also have a hook & eye latch on the bathroom door, behind which are the cat's food/water and litter box (and our diaper genie). Although our cat is fat, the distance between the frame and the door is just enough that she can squeeze through, although baby cannot. At first I worried that he might be able to get his head through, but by the time he began crawling at 9 mo, his head was far too big. He cannot pull the door shut, since the hook is rigid. This works beautifully and is easy for us and our guests to access the bathroom (since it is our only guest bathroom).

[mama2be]

I know this is an older question but just now seeing it...we have three large retrievers and an indoor cat and have the best of solutions that has worked for us. Our new house came with a "bonus room", with a little attic looking closet (an odd shaped closet with no clothes that could absorb smell) that can't really hold anything but camping supplies etc...

WE bought a kitty cat door from lowes or HOme depot or petsmart (cheap) and installed it there leading to the closet...Schooner's food, water and litter are in there. And the best part is a litter we found called "Pinefresh", it is a natural product that is made up of wood and resemble rabbit food, it turns to saw dust once "done" and needs changing. No smells at all with this...we are thrilled with this scenerio!!!

[pshontz]

Thank you for posting this question and for the responses! We have been trying to figure out the same thing -- 2 indoor cats and a baby due in 2 weeks. We installed the Evenflo Secure Solutions Gate and our 8-lb cat could walk through the slats, no problem, but our 20-lb cat couldn't fit through it, couldn't fit under it (at the recommended height from the floor) and wouldn't even consider jumping over it -- he's not a very coordinated jumper. We ended up returning the gate and have been trying to figure out what else to try. We probably should have tried raising the gate from the floor but were worried that a baby could try scooting under the gate ... same worry with pet doors -- we think we would need the pet door for a 40-lb pet rather than the 12-lb pet size, and had read that infants can get their heads caught in these doors. Maybe the latch idea that some people mentioned would work!

Thank you! Priscilla

[ct]

I too have a 'large' sized cat who is uncoordinated as well. We keep his box/food in our basement, but have several gates throughout the house. Although it took a while, our cat did learn to jump the gates. I think what really got him going was when he was napping upstairs and I brought the vacuum up there to do some cleaning - that cat leaped 3 gates to get to the basement to hide!! He now has no problems at all jumping the gates. Guess he just needed a bit of incentive! Best of luck to you all...

ct