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miss rhea
08-04-2003, 11:57 AM
Hi -
We need to put a gate at the top of our stairs but the litterbox is also upstairs and we don't want to keep the cats out. Any suggestions?

Thanks

cara1
08-04-2003, 05:28 PM
I've posted about this before. For regular gates, I've posted them 6 inches off the floor. This allows the cats under, but DS doesn't try to go under (though he was over a year before we ever tried it). In our new house, however, we did this at the top of the stairs. DS now sits on top the stairs and tries to slither underneath. It's pretty scary. I have no idea of a better alternative. Best I can say is that the gate is a deterrent, not a preventive perfect solution. But if DS takes off running down the hall, he can't make it down the steps. But I can't leave him playing in the hall. Good luck, let us know if you come up with something better.

AbbiZ
08-11-2003, 09:43 PM
We had to put baby gates up around our house when we got our dog, so he wouldn't get into the litter box or the cat's food that we always left out for him. If the cats have to "go" or are hungry, unless they're really old, they can hop the gate. Our cat is 12 yo, and weighs about 18 lbs...not a small, lithe kitty and he manages just fine! Posting the gate a few inches off the floor also works well too. Ultimately, we just moved the stuff to the laundry room, put a cat door in so he can come and go, and the dog can't get to it.
HTH.

~Abbi

jvorhis
09-04-2003, 01:20 PM
We actually cut a small square hole in the bottom of the gate. Big enough for the cats to easily get through. Our one cat is also 12 and we did not want to have to make her jump the gate everytime she had to use the litter box or eat. This plan works great for us.

alleyoop
09-08-2003, 05:02 PM
We have three of these gates throughout our house, and the cats just squeeze through the slats, or between the first slat and the wall on the hinged side. Our petite kitty(7lbs) can run through while chased, without even stopping. The larger cat(15lbs) has to suck it in, but still makes it without issue.

http://www.babygates.com/WebComponents/Catalog/Public/showproduct.asp?id=201&cat=Childproofing


Good Luck!

annex
09-19-2003, 04:55 PM
I was looking at the KidCo Safeway G20
http://www.kidco.com/gate_dis.cfm?Gate_ID=g20
for the top of our basement steps (no door.) Sine the kitty's litter box is in the basement, I wondered if anyone else with cats owns this gate. Can a slim kitty (mine's 12 pounds but skinny) fit through the slats? I'm worried about him going over and hurting himself by falling down the stairs. I really want a super-secure gate for this location, and would prefer this to the wood one mentioned above.

Thanks for any help!

Updated to add: We ended up buying this gate, cat couldn't fit through slats. So we installed it 4 1/4 inches up off the floor, and the cat can fit under (looks unhappy and squished, but does do it.) We decided that 6 inches was a little too much space for our baby. 5 would probably have been a better compromise for the cat's comfort, but DH wanted to see what the lowest possible height was...

jenniferdcforum
11-02-2003, 09:08 PM
Hi, we did what other posters here did (in fact I got the idea here) and bought some hands free First Years gates and bent the bar (closest to the wall, opposite the latch side) slightly, enough so that both approx. 10 pound cats can easily get through but the baby can't get his head stuck. We've had these up for about 3 weeks now, no problems. Jennifer