Problem with Gate at Top of Stairs-animals Can't Get Downstairs Either

You've got some great suggestions. Raising the gate so the cats can go underneath seems a good idea for these independent souls. A couple of additional thoughts...hang a bell (short string so no strangulation risk) and teach the dog to ring it ...dogs love to learn tricks and it will give the dog some feeling of control. Take a team approach (with 2 and 4 legged family members) to making the home a safe environment for all. Also, start teaching the baby (under close supervision) how to crawl up and down stairs (going down backwards)...still use the gate, but being prepared for times when maybe someone forgets to shut the gate. I believe the team approach helps kids and animals learn to be considerate of others needs.
Deb

I don't know how big your dog is but if he's small a gate like this might work for you:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=27552...

They do make a dog gate - that looks exactly like the baby gates - but it has a cat door. Try a larger pet store. I know I've seen them on their web sites. We have the same problem with our cats and planned to look into this. This won't help your dog though - sorry. He'd still have to ask.

We have a gate with a small door at the bottom of it for small dogs or cats to get through. You can find them at Drs. Foster & Smith on line. Good luck!

Hi N., I myself have the same type of house and the same collection of animals. They too, eat/poop downstairs!! The only thing for them upstairs is the water dish. I put a gate at the top of the stairs- and I mean the stairwell, not the cellar doorway, (sorry, can't remember the name of the gate) it is not one of the ones you step on to open, you need to press a little button and at the same time lift the leaver to swing open the gate door. The space in the cellar stairwell is wider than a doorway and you have to put in an x-tra post that comes with the gate, My husband just eliminated the post that was closest to the wall!! the cats fit perfectly and can come and go whenever they please. the dog on the other hand ( mine is a bullmastiff mix) is much too large to fit and must wait to go down to eat when he is fed am and pm. He literally wolfs his food down, so as soon as he is finished, he just comes back up with us. We are not currently using the finished room in the basement as a family room, so I think you will be having more trips to let the dog up/down than I but the simple removal of one post was the soloution for us. the kids never even attempted to squeese through!! best of luck!! L. C.

Keep the pets downstairs. Anything you create for the pets to get through, the baby will figure out. You'll never forgive yourself if he falls down the stairs. Cats are agile-- they will likely figure out how to jump over the gates and get where they want to go anyway.

Our gate was mostly just closed at night since we have a two level and we just have one cat. We made it so she could go under the gate. Yes, the kids went under too but they would just slide when they were younger as they escaped and I would hear the gate rattle. We had a wooden swing gate taht we bolted to one side of the stairway and was open all day since we were downstairs. Hope this helps.

A.
www.southernnhfamilyfun.com

Hi. We installed ours a few inches off of the floor. Both of my cats (and one is quite big) are able to scoot under the gate but my children cannot. They can squeeze their legs through but nothing more.

We have the extra tall stair gate w/ walk through door and our cat jumps over it no problem. I'm shocked that your cats aren't able to do to the same are they old or overweight if not they will jump it if they need their food/water/box. We have 2 dogs and they just bump the gate w/ their heads to make a rattling noise when they want us to let them up or down. Your animals just need to get used to it.

Hi, my husband recently cut a "kitty hole" in the gate (the part of the slat he cut he used and nailed horizontaly over the cut area) it took a few days for the cats to get use to it and us putting them through it - but now they are using it all the time! (we have a 3yr old and 6yr old so no worries about any little ones putting their head in the hole or anything.....) I know your litte one is still very young but thought i'd offer you the idea of what we did...

We mounted our gates 4-5 inches off the floor. Cats can go over or under, and not enough clearance for the little one to go under.

We have our cat food on a tv tray and we have a litter box that has a cover on top, but there is a hole so the cats can get in and out!we've had ours for years.
hope to have helpped!

Hi,

we have the same problem, and we haven't really had to deal with it because our 10 month old daughter just started crawling so even though we've had the gates up we haven't been keeping them closed.

So two suggestions. In our house we have a gate across a wide opening for a step down to the great room. The other side is the kitchen. I don't plan to leave her unattended in the kitchen so we have our cat scratching post against the gate and the top is the same height as the gate. So they do have to jump as high as the gate, but not up and over.

The other suggestion is some type of platform at the top of the gate. Again, they will have to jump up to it but not up and over. I think that should be safe for the baby.

I don't really have any suggestion for the dog.

good luck

I live in the exact same style house, and we had to install a half door at the top of the stairs so our 9 month old daughter would be safe. Our cats can't get over it they just whine and cry until we hear them and let them up or down. The animals will have to adjust they will eventually get used to it. I would definately avoid putting more holes in your walls.

N. - Would it work for you to keep the pets downstairs during the time that your baby is cruising around and the gate is in place?

I don't know if this will work for you - but what we did was install a wooden baby gate - the kind with wooden slats like a railing. And then we moved one of the slats over so that there was enough room for the cats to squeeze between the railings, but not enough room for a baby's head. I think another alternative is to install a door with a cat door in it.