How to let my cat poop but keep the baby out of it?

July 19, 2007 7:39 AM

Has anyone found a doorway gate that would allow a cat to pass through but keep a baby/toddler out?

Our cat's litterbox is in our laundry room, and we've always had the door open so he can come and go. Now that our son is crawling, we need to block this room off so the kid can't play in the litterbox. However, we have a few obstacles:

1. The cat may not be able to jump over a regular baby gate (he's in decent shape, but 12 years old).

2. We rent our house, so we can't cut into the room door to make a pet door.

3. There really isn't anywhere else to keep the litter box.

Has anyone found any kind of solution to this? I've searched One Step Ahead and the websites of many gate manufacturers but haven't found anything that will work. Thanks in advance!

posted by justonegirl to pets & animals (14 comments total)

Maybe this?
posted by moosedogtoo at 7:41 AM on July 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I have a baby gate on my laundry room (for the dog), but I have it so the bottom is ~9 or 10 inches from the ground. The cats can squeeze under, the dog can't.
posted by blackkar at 7:46 AM on July 19, 2007

I have the gate that moosedogtoo linked. It works really well. Of course, it depends on the size of your cat...I could see a huge fat cat not fitting through the small door.

--FCOD
posted by flyingcowofdoom at 8:07 AM on July 19, 2007

What blackkar said. We have a baby gate at the top of our stairs, but we have it set about 6 inches up from the step so the cat can crawl under it but the baby can't.
posted by Andrhia at 8:15 AM on July 19, 2007

Just buy a cheap compression gate (the kind with rubber edges that stays in place by friction) and try it out.

We used a cheap compression gate that wouldn't go over our 1920's wood moldings, leaving a 4" gap at the bottom.

The cat could get under easily. The baby could get under it if she made like a special forces commando, but that took some time to navigate and baby gates are more to slow the kid down, not stop them completely.
posted by mrbugsentry at 8:18 AM on July 19, 2007

Ditto blackkar, Andrhia and mgbugsentry. One of those 'duh!' moments I had as a parent.
posted by cocoagirl at 8:29 AM on July 19, 2007

Why not get a regular plastic baby gate but cut a hole in it for the cat?

Or perhaps you can remove one of the wooden dowels from something like this.
posted by desjardins at 8:33 AM on July 19, 2007

Google for something like a microchip controlled pet door.
posted by yoyo_nyc at 8:57 AM on July 19, 2007

Another option is to buy a cheap, hollow-core door to fit that opening, and cut a kitty hole in it. You can then safely store the original door. Bonus for keeping the entire laundry room off-limits to your kid by keeping the door shut and perhaps even locked with a latch too high for kid to reach.

If you price out doors vs gates, you might be surprised at the cost. You might even find a used door on Craig's List, or a salvage yard.
posted by Corky at 9:21 AM on July 19, 2007

I made a "cat" gate by cutting one of the slats on a typical wooden baby gate, rotating it 90 degrees, trimming it to fit the opening, and attaching it with little plates and screws.
posted by O9scar at 9:30 AM on July 19, 2007

put the box on a table.
posted by Gregamell at 9:56 AM on July 19, 2007

Please be careful with the gap/hole approach. Code in Canada limits the gap on stair railings to 4" because anything larger is a strangulation hazard.
posted by Mitheral at 10:56 AM on July 19, 2007

we have a privacy top thing with a door for our cat litter box. the bottom and top both came from walmart. it's kept our 8 month old from crawling and playing in the litter, and keeps the cat from "missing" or throwing litter everywhere.

then again, our 8 month old stays pretty much out of the bathroom when the lights are off.

on a side note: literally as soon as she started to crawl, she started chasing the cat. :D
posted by sxtxixtxcxh at 11:46 AM on July 19, 2007

Thanks so much for the great suggestions! I did end up going with the gate suggested by moosedogtoo, it seems like it will work out well!

(sxtixtccxh...I can totally relate to the baby-cat chasing! Well...not personally, but you know what I mean.)
posted by justonegirl at 2:27 PM on July 19, 2007