I need to procure baby gates to stop my baby from falling to his death. However, they need opening(s) big enough for my cats to get through, to stop them jumping over the gates onto the stairs and breaking their legs.
I can't find gates wide enough for my stair openings or if I can find them they will cost an absolute fortune as I need 5 gates.
So my question here is, does anyone know any brand of baby gates that have gaps that are wide enough for kitty cats to slip through but not toddlers?
agree, doesn't sound safe.
how fat is the cat that it cant jump over the normal size gate?
I think you've discovered a lucrative gap in the market
My advice is get tinkering and make millions
Sell it on Dragon's Den, 1% share for 14 million dollars, based on a valuation of 140 million babies born per year and a profit of $10 per baby.
‘ I am out’
Regards
Barbara
you could always add some kind of scratching post type board to the gate so the cat can climb it, rather than jumping over it, or just set the gate further back so it's not right at the stars and the cat can jump safely.
Good suggestion
Put the gate a little bit higher, so there is some space where the cat can crawl under.
This is what my son did to block off the laundry from the toddler, cat could still access his litter tray and food without being molested by the sprog.
Jumping from baby gates height breaking cats legs? For real? I quite often see cats scaling standard1.8M fences and they don’t seem bothered by it.
I think the gates are going to be installed on stairs, so the jump isn't likely just over the gate, but then down even further onto a lower step - idk how cats go with landing on an uneven surface perhaps?
My grandma said cats always land on their feet so it should be all good.
There's been research on this. They didn't drop cats from heights to see if they'd be injured, they looked at the statistics from cats falling out of the windows on various floors of tall buildings. They found that if the cat landed on its feet, it was rarely seriously injured. If the height is only small they don't get injured because they don't break anything no matter whether they fall on their feet or not. And if they fall from very high they have enough time to flip over so they land feet feet first, and don't build up enough speed so their feet can absorb enough of the impact that they don't do fatal damage. But there's a range of heights that don't give them enough time to flip over to the feet down position but the impact is still enough to damage something vital, like their spine, if they land on it.
Print off the International Cat Standard Width form and email it to baby gate suppliers, they'll sort out the rest.
Just measure across your cat's whiskers. That's how THEY decide whether they are going to be able to squeeze through a gap and not get caught By whether their whiskers fit.
Buy whatever you need for baby.
Cats are liquid.
Interested in this as well. Been looking for a gate that would let my cat get to its litter box but not my baby.
Google “baby gate cat flap”.
There is a gate on catch of the day and Dick Smith
https://www.dicksmith.com.au/da/buy/100cm-tall-baby-safety-s…
We use this one https://www.bigw.com.au/product/childcare-assisted-auto-clos…
The gate is extendable and our cats can fit between the door opening and the first bar.
Cats are pretty nimble so they'll probably be ok jumping over, unless they're old and senile I guess… Could always try a standard gate and see how they go/adapt to it.
Build some cat shelves over the baby gate if you own the property, or have permission. They don't have to be too wide if they are just going to use it as a bridge, assuming your cat/s is/are an average size. You could use picture rails + glue some fabric down for some grip (if you think they will need help). If you are worried about your toddler hitting their head, you could add something like this to the edges of it.
Otherwise a couple sisal mat or a jute table runner (or something strong and grip worthy) that you could secure to the top of the gate so they can use it to help them climb over. It can be simple, like with cable ties through a hole in the fabric, or gap in the jute, and then securing it to the top rail.
If they are an older cat that can't jump or climb that well AND you don't have permission (assuming you rent), you could build them a ramp over the gate. It wouldn't have to be wide (a couple pieces of timber (10<20cm should be fine). Just make sure it has 3 points of contact, or secure it to something (like the bit next to the gate) and steep enough so your toddler won't be able crawl over.
Just make sure you glue down sisal or jute, or carpet on for something the cat to grip to. If you are feeling crafty and care about aesthetics, you could wrap (+ glue + staple) twine around the wood (like what they do with cat scratchers) instead.
Our cat jumps one 50 times a day lol, no stairs though.
cats can jump over gates?
Consult Mark Rober on youtube. He must be the only guy on earth to beat squirrels to their intelligence.
Generally if a cat can fit its head through a gap, it can fit its whole body through. The gaps required are often smaller than expected if that helps
Yeah, we got some nanny panels to fence off a spot that a baby gates weren't suitable for. Left a gap for the cat until we noticed her squeezing between two panels one day.
We had the same issue with blocking off the laundry for food/litter/water. The cats could jump over the gate but prefered not to, so we just bought a normal gate and cut out one of the bars at the top and bottom so the cat could still fit through but bub couldn't.
How wide do you need it? Bunnings have the Perma Child ones that go up to 107cm and they sell extension panels if your need it wider. If you installed it off the ground the cats can go under it, the bars are too narrow for them to go through it though.
Overfeed Bub to make her/him super-tubby, so much wider than kitty cat.
Friends tension their baby gate slightly off-centre so that the first bar next to one wall is wide enough for their cat to walk through. They did have to show the cat quite a number of times that it was an easy access point to walk through as it initially treated the gate as a hurdle challenge.
If cats can fit through, a toddler might not fit through, but might try and get stuck. Toddler might want to mimic the cat when you are not watching.
Imo, if they exist, I doubt they are safe for toddlers use.