7 Month Old Will Crawl Any Day, and I Have an Indoor Cat....

I also have old, set in their way cats and a toddler who gets into everything. I have put the catfood and water on a tray on top of the dryer (I actually had to do that to keep the dog from eating their food). The litter box has a lid that she can't open and the opening faces the back wall where she can't get to it. I, unfortunately, don't have any better ideas for the dog's food and water so she does get into them quite frequently. I buy several canisters of antibacterial wetwipes at a time and always have them handy.

I put our cat boxes and food, etc. in the utility room and installed a cat door at the bottom of the door. Do you have a room you could do that with? Laundry, utilty or mud room?

My son would get in my dog's food and water bowls all the time. He'd eat the dog food and splash the water all over the place whenever you weren't looking. We ended up rearranging our dog's food/water space, but he didn't mind. Now that we've moved to a new place and can't use the same idea, I feed the dog when my son goes to bed and put his food/water bowls away after he finishes. If you're cat doesn't respond well to change, I'd say gradually moving the bowls little by little to a destination that's not accessible by your baby. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Depending on where the cats things are and depending on if you have an area that has an entry way to the cats things there are very short baby gates that only come up to knee height. The cat can easily jump over. My suggestion is to place the litter box and food somewhere in a second bathroom, laundry area, etc. and pick up a small/short size baby gate. The gate I am talking about actually doesn't swing, it has an arm that adjusts to nearly every doorway and locks down tight to keep it snug once in place. They are just a plain light wood color. This is what we used.

Forgot one thing, make sure you keep the entry/exit area on the baby side of the doorway where the cat will be going in and out wiped down everyday with a disinfectant cloth or cleaner. Your cat will track litter or litter dust over the gate, especially if jumping and your baby will be putting his hands in his mouth. Cats carry parasites not to mention the remnants of ammonia and fasces from their litter box trip.

If you don't want him in the Kittys stuff the only way to fix this problem is to put a gate up to seperate the room from your baby. If that isn't feasible get yourself one of those round portable play yards and put Kittys stuff in there.

Hi Sarah,
I completely understand your dilema. My sister has 3 cats and my daughter just loves to play with them so my husband and I got her one of her own. Ashley is 20 months and is running all over the house and the litter box used to be her favorite toy. I don't know your living situation but we have a finished basement in our home and since my daughter can't get down the stairs because of the door being shut all the time. My husband and I just moved all of the cat stuff down stairs. During the day we leave the door open and put up the baby gate and phantom (the cat) can get over the baby gate and go downstairs and do his thing. At night he is downstairs with the door closed and we set up the baby gate in the morning.
It seems to be workin gout pretty well so far. Hope this helps.

I don't mean to be nosey but I am also a stay at home mom looking for something part time to do from home. Any direction you could maybe point me in?
Good luck with your kitty.
K.
South Bend, IN

We have our cats food and water on top of a small "stereo cabinet" type thing with wheels (something you could buy super cheap at Target or Walmart). As far as the litter box, can you put it in a closet or room that the baby won't have access to? You could put a hook on the door frame and tie a ribbon around the hook and door knob so the door will only open about 6-8 inches. We have our litter box under a computer desk that we use as a book shelf. It has solid sides, and we put a baby gate in front of it (the original reason was that our got liked to get into it). Hope this inspires some ideas of your own.

We faced the same problem at our house. What we did and it has worked with both our boys (3 and 13 months), we put the cat food and water up out of reach on a small table in the kitchen. The table gives our cat enough room to sit on and eat and keeps the kids out of her food. I'm not sure what to tell you about the litter. We have a basement with a cat door leading to it so the litter is on a floor that the kids aren't. You can buy cat doors that go on your interior doors. You could place the litter in a room that you keep closed off or a closet.

Forget the gates!! Just go with putting the food and water up on a higher level (dryer, counter, etc...) and we put our liter box in a closet with a sliding door and keep the door cracked... It is also one of those enclosed litter boxes with the swinging doors as the others stated...
The best advise I can give as a new mom is never take your eyes off of him... they love going where you tell them not to go and they love exploring those "prohibited" animal items...
I went through it for months and when he started walking, he was still in all of it... Your eyes are the best prevention, and a good distraction item always helps too!! Best of luck!!

You have to have a baby gate to restrict that area while you may not always be right there 100% of the time. Of course the cat can easily jump over the gate whenever necessary. I still use them for the animals and my daughter is 5. Of course she is able to step on it and get through, but these days, it is to give the animal room from the rest of each other or other children that may want the cat to the point of irriation to the cat. The gate that we have is a white metal. The brand is "The First years". I think I originally bought it at Babies R Us, but have seen some at hardware stores. It is about 50 bucks and you can buy extensions to match for about 15 bucks (I found it at Home Depot). The nice part about these gates is it doesn't look cheap and too baby-ish. You are not constantly removing it and trying to relock it securely in place over and over again!! They blend right to your home without sacrificing the look and feel in a decorated home and are so easy to use. They are wedged into the spot (hallway in our case) and the frame is stationary, while the door swings when a peddle is stepped on...hands free. We think it is a very good investment for years to come. In fact, I have found them at Salvation Army's for 20 bucks, and both times they have taken 10 when I talked to them about it.

Good luck,

A.