PDA

View Full Version : Cats and baby gates?


mousemom
06-24-2009, 11:03 AM
We are needing to gate off some parts of our apartment that our cats still need easy access to (their water/food bowls are in the kitchen and their litter boxes are in the bathroom). Our one cat could probably jump over a baby gate with ease, but the other is older and will definitely not be doing that. We're thinking that we might be able to mount the gates in such a way that there is space on the sides or bottom for the cats to get through (but not enough, obviously for a baby). Just wondering how others have handled this situation. Thanks for any suggestions!
JdrKuhnert
06-24-2009, 01:19 PM
We mounted our gates at the recommended height and my older cat was still able to squeeze underneath it. She looked really funny doing it, but it didn't seem to bother her. She would also jump over it. We had one at the top of the stairs and one at the bottom. At the bottom, they just went around it and through the banister slats. At the top of the stairs, they jumped and squeezed.
justincase
06-24-2009, 01:29 PM
I worried about this, too. Our cat was older and wasn't a jumper even in her youth. She was a little unsure for a couple of days but ended up being just fine jumping over them once she realized she could do it. She would actually jump up *onto* it, with all four paws lined up across the top of the gate for a split second. IIRC, we even had the bright idea to put a little step stool on either side for her, but she totally ignored them.

I would be paranoid about leaving any kind of space on the sides. A little head could slip through so easily. I'm sure they make the gates with the only spacing that's safe for kids, kind of like crib rails can't be any more than a certain distance apart.
3blackcats
06-25-2009, 08:43 AM
I bought one of these, but have not installed it yet:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2755234&keepsr=0
scmama
07-07-2009, 12:43 AM
I bought one of these, but have not installed it yet:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2755234&keepsr=0

I have this exact one, although we got before DS was here to block our dog from coming into the hall in our old house. It worked great!!! Now it's going up again soon.