Ideas for a Mom with Cats

we put the litter box in the basement and put a cat door in the basement door, so the cat and come and go (and hide from the over zealous toddler :).

We have our cat's food up high on a mantle that he jumps too. It doesn't sound like that's an option for you. I know that some baby gates have a pet opening, maybe check one of those out.

Hi I have a 9yr old cat, we had to adapt too, and this is what we did.

We raised the safety gates high enough off the floor that the cat can go underneath but the child could not.

We keep our cat box in the basement (basement stairway is block with gate -reason to raise gate) and our cat box has a lid - its called a booda box available at Petmart I think - not expensive.

I moved my cat plate that I serve soft food from our kitchen to the hallway in the basement.

I have the dry cat food and water dish on top of our dryer and the cat got used to it - when he was hungry enough he learned where the food was and now has no trouble plus in my forgetfullness states I am able to notice the cat is out of food since I do laundry almost daily and the cat will come hang out with me too.

I did put away the cat toys when my daughter started crawling. Now they are back out, at 18months my daughter is not interested in chewing on the cat toys.

Good luck!!
M.

Hi there! I had the same issue and ended up hiding it behind a couch in my office. The couch was too close to the wall for my little lady but perfect for my Banjo to access her yummies! Good Luck!

R.,

My cat has no problem jumping over any of our baby gates and we have a lot of them! He's 12 years old so no spring chicken. You're cat shouldn't have a problem unless they have some physical disabilities. Another idea: To be on the doubly safe side, we moved our cat box and cat food/water into the laundry room and installed a cat door. The cat can get in and out as he likes but the baby can't.

Hi R.,

I have 2 girls (Kaley 26 months and Macey 10 months) and also have 3 cats - we keep their food and litter boxes in our semi-finished basement that has a wooden door at the top of the steps. We installed a cat door in it and they can go up and down freely without having to jump over anything and the girls can't fit through it. If the basement scenario wouldn't work for you, maybe you could sacrifice a hall closet?

Good luck ~ A.

We found a baby gate that had a small "kitty door" at the bottom through Foster and Smith's online site (a pet supply store). It's a nice gate that has a swinging door (which can be locked) for both people and pets. Good luck!

I also have 3 cats. You could maybe try putting the gate up just high enough for the cats to crawl under...but still low enough that your baby cannot.

I am expecting a baby and currently have 3 cats aswell. I have no advice for you. I just want to tell you that I am glad that getting rid of your cats wasn't an option for you. A lot of people have critized me for keeping my 3 cats even though I'm going to have a newborn in the house. They don't understand that having a pet is a life-time commintment. Thank you for deciding to be a responsible pet owner.

Are your cats still able to climb up and down stairs easily? I have a cat and we keep her litter box in the basement. We had to put her food on the counter but I'm sure you could put your cat's food downstairs. Just and idea.

There are gates with small doors to let senior cats thru here is a website that sells one for about 70 Dollars. Untill we got our gates we put the cat food and water in the bath tub, not a good long term solution but it worked.
www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=13...
0Step%20High-Guard%20Gate&ref=3475&subref=AA&GCID=C12188x004&ctt=61
Hope this helps!
A.

my neighbors had a kitty door (like a doggy door but smaller) that lead a cat walk down in the basement. I don't know if a kitty door would be all that much more baby proof, but I think it would be done and it could lead to any small room the baby doesn't go to like a pantry or something. Something to consider.