How can I baby proof my cats' litter boxes?

August 15, 2019 11:18 AM

My daughter has mastered crawling and also developed a fascination with our cats' litter boxes. We'd rather she not enhance her culinary experience by eating anything that comes out of our sweet kitties. What is a good way to baby proof our litter boxes, or are there good boxes on the market? Thanks!
posted by Fister Roboto to Home & Garden (13 answers total)

When mine kid was small I put the litter box in laundry room and set up a hook arrangement. The hook was on a chain and allowed the door to be open enough for the cats to get through the gap, but not the baby. This might work for you if you had a small room or a closet that you could put the box in. Alternatively, you could put the box in the bathroom, also with the hook on a chain arrangement.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 11:23 AM on August 15, 2019 [2 favorites]

We keep our dog out of the litterbox by having the box in a room with a babygate across the opening. If the box isn't in a room with a doorway to be gated off, those freestanding baby-play-area folding circles of fence would likely work as well. Cats jump over gates quite well, babies (and basset hounds) do not.
posted by AzraelBrown at 11:23 AM on August 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

Do your boxes have hoods? It's easier to keep babies out if the box contents aren't right out in the open.
posted by dlugoczaj at 11:39 AM on August 15, 2019

Litter box furniture and litter box enclosure will give you some good hits for things you can diy or buy. My big advice is to put the cat entrance high up and have a ramp that helps get the litter off the cats feet before the cat exits.

If you go with a low side entrance, face it toward the wall with enough space for cat to enter but not toddler.

Also go with a design that requires you to lift lid or open door for cleaning. Padlock lid or door if needed to keep kiddo out.
posted by bilabial at 11:52 AM on August 15, 2019

Supervision and redirection of the crawler, plus keeping the box(es) in a separate space.

Our kid crawled when we lived in a teeny tiny apt. and our catbox was in the kitchen, facing a wall at an angle that allowed the cats access but somewhat limited the consequences of having it in a general-use room. She never really noticed the box. When we moved, we put the box in a utility room, which was a pain (would have been nice to use the room for more than just cat litter) but we were able to enforce a "no cat room" policy for her as she started walking.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 12:05 PM on August 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

Yup, if your cats will tolerate a litter box in an enclosed/covered space, that's the best option. You can buy pre-made litter box furniture, but I just purchased a cheap wooden trunk and sawed an arched kitty doorway into one end. The litter box goes inside, and the top swings open for easy (human) access.

This would probably eventually be a toddler issue as well, if they try to open the trunk, but you can put something heavy on top, or pick a model with a latch, or otherwise make it difficult to access.
posted by karayel at 12:10 PM on August 15, 2019

We also used babygates to physically keep baby away from litter box, and cats had no problem jumping over.
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:29 PM on August 15, 2019

We have a baby gate with a small cat door- easy to find on Amazon or the retailer of your choice and a good solution if your cat is not an enthusiastic jumper (mine is fine getting *up* on a thing but does not want to go *over* a thing, cats are weird).
posted by charmedimsure at 12:42 PM on August 15, 2019

We put the litter boxes in the laundry room and put a Cathole cat door in the door. The cats hated the brush for some reason, so we removed it, but they use the door just fine.

Had we thought about it, we'd have bought a cheap door from the hardware store and hung that with the cat door in it, and stored the much nicer laundry room door to re-hang when we moved, but c'est la vie.
posted by telophase at 1:10 PM on August 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

I used a baby gate with a hole cut in it - kitty could get through, not baby or dog. And put it upon top of something, too.
posted by theora55 at 2:20 PM on August 15, 2019

There are a lot of different types of litter box furniture (like this one, for example). They're a bit pricey and bulky, but I find that they make the litter box significantly less likely for kids to get into.
posted by kdar at 3:48 PM on August 15, 2019

Our litterbox has a hole in the top for the cat to enter. She transitioned to it from hooded one with a door pretty quickly but it probably depends on the cat. But it’s pretty baby proof for us!
posted by like_neon at 1:43 AM on August 16, 2019

You can also raise a baby gate so it is hard for baby to crawl under but easy for cats too. That's what we did for our senior cat who jumping is more of an issue.
posted by AlexiaSky at 2:10 AM on August 16, 2019 [1 favorite]