Giving Pet Access Thru a Baby Gate?

my brother's cat jumps his baby gate at the top of the steps.

I have 2 cats and they jump over our gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. The gate should not be a problem for them.

Our cat had no problem jumping over the gate.

The cat can't jump over the gate?

If you cant raise the gate up so that the cat can squeeze under, you can attach a carpet piece to each side to help in jumping over. Our cat was fat and this helped. I bought a small amount of carpet runner (that went with the room) at a discount store.

I have our gate installed also but have it about 6 inches off the ground so our cats can go under. Hope this helps!

Our cat is able to fit under our baby gates, and has preffered that to jumping over them, mostly.

We have always had numerous cats (sometimes up to 10 indoor cats). We have always had baby gates for one reason or another, a baby, another animal to keep quarantined (my step mother was the savior of any moving creature in need). The cats have always made their way to the cat food, cat litter, or where ever they wanted to be. They just scale the gate. It has never slowed them down. Give it a day. Bet the cat acts like it isn't even there!

Hi, D. --

We had this issue with our 2 cats - we just babyproofed the house for our now 11-month old and had to figure out a way for the cats to get to their litterbox w/out the baby getting in there. We put the litterbox in the closet of a room (nobody sleeps in there) and put up a gate, leaving enough room so that the cats can sneak underneath it. Eventually, when Annie (the little miss) becomes more agile, she'll probably be able to get underneath, but it's in an area where she wouldn't really be (especially alone) and there's nothing else that exciting in there. So if she ever decides to try, we would be able to catch her in time. So far, so good. My suggestion - can you put the litterbox in a closet like this? Good luck!

Believe me, if you cat is able enough to climb stairs, he/she is able enough to jump over the gate (provided it is less then 4 feet tall).

Cats are amazing in what they can scale if they really want to, so unless your cat is old or otherwise incapable, he/she will manage.

Worst case scenario- you "lock" him at the top of the stairs when you lock the gate...always better he have access to the litter then the food )maybe set up a small water dish up there for him/her as well.

D.,
Not sure what an angle on the gate has to do with anything ;) but you might get a litter box for upstairs if it is too crazy to be letting cat in/out all the time. We have 2 gates, and until DS is mobile (aka toddler bed)during the night, we'll be leaving the gates open at night when we go to bed. Dog and cat currently yodel to be let anywhere when they are closed, so that's that.

I read a few responses, and have to laugh at the fact that if I left the gate off the floor for the cat to get under - my son would fit under there before the cat would. :D

Good Luck!
M.

I was wondering the same thing. I want to install a gate so my son can't get near the litter box. We are in a 1br apartment for another 6 months so there is nowhere that I can hide it from him and he just started crawling. I know it's only a matter of time before he wanders in that direction.

We placed our gate about 4 inches off the ground. The can can flatten and squeeze under it. She is really fat too. I tested that she could get through by putting treats on the other side before I fully screwed it in. And it is low enough that the baby can't get her head stuck.

Hi D.~
I agree with everyone else, the cat should be able to jump over the gate.
But you didn't say if you are preparing for your baby or is he/she here already? The reason I ask is this...almost 2 1/2 years ago, my niece, who is also a self employed dog and cat groomer and vet assistant (at an emergency vet ctr) had her son and was bringing a new baby into a home where 2 cats and a dog were the only babies. After the baby was born, she sent home one of the receiving blankets the baby was swaddled in so the pets had the time to get used to the smell. If you haven't had your baby, then you should do that.
Good luck...
J.~

I had the same situation and believe it or not both of my cats (including my old and overweight cat) simply jump over. Good luck!!

Hi D.,
Many cats can jump over a baby gate. If not, the cat needs to stay on the other side of the gate (downstairs?). Or if you feel it's safe enough depending on your baby's age, install the gate with some space on the bottom for him to get under, as long as it's not enough space for your baby's head to get entrapped under.
Good luck

Hi...I'm not sure what you mean when you say you have an angled gate, but when we had baby gates and pets, we got the gates that were made of metal bars and swung open like a regular door. Then we bent two of the bars slightly to allow our cats to be able to just walk through the expanded opening between those two bars.

My cats all jumped right over it, no problem.

The cat will jump over it. Ours do.

Nanc

We put a gate up at the top of a set of 3 steps that lead down into the kitchen - I thought - oh - the cat won't be able to get to his food or out of the kitchen if he's in there when the gate gets closed. I pretty much just let it be and figured he'd figure out how to do it - he jumps over it (and in my case - over and down a couple steps even!! LOL). Don't worry about it - if it were a dog - another issue - but a cat will just jump over it.