Cat-proof gate?

[chinsNdobermans]

So Mike and I are buying his great grandmother's house, and she is going to be living there with us until she passes or goes into a nursing home (both of which I hate to think about). We're trying to keep things as "normal" as possible for her and so we are moving into the upstairs and we want to confine the cats up there with something at the top of the stairs.

We were trying to find a tall gate that a cat couldn't jump over or get through that we can just walk through but I don't know how tall a gate would have to be to deter a cat from jumping over it. Our older cat, Tyler, wouldn't jump a normal baby gate but the kitten is, well, a kitten.

Does anyone have any gate suggestions?

 

[Spoof]

Install a screen door, or build one. Think chin cage, with mesh.

 

[chinsNdobermans]

That's what I want to do, but the hubby would like to do a gate if we can. I'm trying to convince him.

 

[Spoof]

Kittens are like baby ninjas. They will go where they want, when they want. Not much you can do about it!

 

[chinsNdobermans]

Victoria certainly fits that description!
And she'll love having the huge house to roam, when 98 year old gram isn't wandering around in it, but until then, I'm not providing Gram with another reason to trip and fall and Victoria will have to lead a somewhat subdued ninja life!

 

[tskoffina]

I can't think of any gate one won't jump. I have a rather tall gate in the hallway to keep the dog from getting to the litter box and cat food, both cats jump it. If I need to block them, I have to put a second gate above it, and they can still jump it if they really wanted. My one cat can jump from the top of the litter box over the plywood that is my door (long story), which is 7.5 feet high.

 

[Spoof]

Yea, the sneakiest thing about kittens and baby gates is that they come up with the idea to climb it - then they've learned that skill for life.

Since yours will be an anti-cat gate you can try a regular 3' high one with a part at the top that slops towards you.

 

[ABBY W.]

Honestly, I think a door is going to be your best bet. Anything that has an opening at the top, you can bet your little one will figure out a way to get through it.

 

[Rickman]

Make a temporary "cat play room!" Make it so cool, they won't want to leave - use your imagination, plywood and carpet remnants! [cheap]
I used to tie rubber bands together with a rubber mouse and hang it about 4 inches from the floor, in a doorway, and procede to laugh for hours, as they didn't understand the power of rubber bands!
Then keep the door closed 'til Grandma goes to bed!

 

[chinsNdobermans]

Thanks guys. I think we're going to Lowes to look at compact fridges (so we can keep our essentials upstairs) and we'll look at screen doors too. Until we have something set up I'll just keep them blocked in our office/cat room where their litter and food will be.

 

[Jenn]

My cat can jump 5-6 feet high onto a high ledge in our house. She is a small sized cat with a powerful jump. I don't think a gate will keep any cat out. I don't think a screen door will work for you unless it is without exposed mesh or if your cat is declawed. My cats have destroyed more window screens than I care to admit.

 

[chinsNdobermans]

Well I think my grandparents have some with plexiglass over the mesh part toward the bottom... I am wondering if they have an extra one around, because my family has all sorts of random crap around. If not, I know they have plexiglass I can use to keep the mesh from exposure to Victoria (neither of my cats are declawed and never will be).

 

[equus_peduus]

My cat can jump 5-6 feet high onto a high ledge in our house. She is a small sized cat with a powerful jump. I don't think a gate will keep any cat out. I don't think a screen door will work for you unless it is without exposed mesh or if your cat is declawed. My cats have destroyed more window screens than I care to admit.

I keep my cat's nails trimmed short. She frequently has access to open, screened windows - and when she reaches up to get a better look at a bird or something, and I notice a nail is getting caught - they get trimmed again. She has not done worse than put a couple *tiny* holes in window screens. I have been renting apartments her whole life, and I have never been charged for window screens. She does not use them to scratch - she always has scratching posts available. So IMO, if the cats have not learned to scratch on the screen, it will probably work.

 

[Nancy]

A gate will never keep a cat out. A door is the best thing to use. Depending on what the top of the stairs is like a bi-fold might work. If you used a ventilated closet bi-fold door, the ones with the louvered slats, you could cut every other slat out and it would provide ventilation and still be cat proof.

We have a screen door on our hedgie room to keep the cats out and still allow ventilation. We built it out of 2" x 3" and used plastic/resin hardware cloth for the screen. The hardware cloth is 100% cat proof and provides much more ventilation than regular screening.

 

[JennyBug]

I know that to build "cat-proof fences" they have to make the top curve inward (think about barbed wire at a prison, except safer). Maybe you could attach something to the top of a baby gate that curved toward the room she is allowed to be in, that way she can't really climb it. If what I said makes absolutely know sense (and after rereading, it probably doesn't), google "cat-proof fence" and you should come up with something.

Good luck!!

 

[TinaM]

I was winging it the other day but ended up finding something the cat won't jump. It's my fabric cutting board.

oops, too close

 

[Jenn]

It depends on the cat, but my cat can jump much higher than that...

 

[chinsNdobermans]

We decided to send the cats to my grandparents' house for the summer. I didn't feel right keeping them confined upstairs because they've always been able to roam at will, and my grandfather is the best cat keeper I know so I know they're in good hands. Plus I can still visit them whenever I want. I miss them a lot though

Now I can just get a tall gate for the dog, who will jump a baby gate.

 

[Jenn]

That's nice of your grandparents to cat-sit for you. What kind of dog do you have? We have a doberman and use a 3 foot gate and he hasn't tried to jump it. But he doesn't have the room to make a run for a jump - he is confined in a small space like a kennel, when he's dirty from outside or needs to be penned up for one reason or another.

 

[chinsNdobermans]

I have a little beagle/toy terrier mix and although she is older she still clears a 3-foot jump without a problem. I used to joke that I should have done agility with her.

I don't mind getting a bigger gate though, as it will be nice to have for the base of the stairs in the future when we're trying to keep the dogs downstairs.