Anyone have luck blocking cats from going upstairs?

terestrife · Jan 11, 2020

We're trying to make the upstairs cat free for my nephew. But the cats scale every gate my niece puts up, and she cant afford the more expensive gates.

Is there anything that can actually be done?

di and bob · Jan 11, 2020

I keep the doors closed that I want to keep cat free. When they realize they aren't going to get access, they rarily go that way any more. Of course when I go in there, all three are reaching under the door and waiting for me on the other side!

terestrife · Jan 11, 2020

di and bob said:
I keep the doors closed that I want to keep cat free. When they realize they aren't going to get access, they rarily go that way any more. Of course when I go in there, all three are reaching under the door and waiting for me on the other side!

we dont really have a door we can use. we have the upstairs where all the bedrooms are, and the downstairs where the living room is located. The downstairs is completed open. The picture below is there the cats hang out in the living room. You can see the stairs in the middle, and beyond that is the kitchen. And a small laundry room at the end of the house.

lol this is an online picture i found from when we bought the house, too lazy to go down to take a pic at 7 am lol. Their litter box is near the laundry room, so they need to be able to walk around downstairs.

Screen Shot 2020-01-11 at 6.55.10 AM.png

di and bob · Jan 11, 2020

I meant the doors on the bedrooms. That would be the easiest solution. Unless you want to spend a lot of money constructing a door at the top of the stairs that would involve building walls to enclose it. My husband would do it in a minute, I have to watch what I say around him or he builds something. LOL

FeebysOwner · Jan 11, 2020

Hi. How big is the area at the top of the stairs? If not terribly wide open, you could make a easy-to-move DIY gate out of shelving from a home improvement store. The shelving, which can be purchased in lengths up to 12 feet - or even higher, is set on its side and hooked together with zip ties to create a makeshift folding door - see example below. It can be easily hooked on both edges of the wall to secure it in place, and all it takes to move it is to unhook one side and fold it open for access.

Jem · Jan 11, 2020

I would first put the blockade at the top of the stairs instead of the bottom, It seems like that works better as a deterrent, at least in my experience. I think it has to do with their perception of the landing spot (the other side has a closer landing due to the stairs) and the size of their jumping point (they can back up and assess, where as on a stair, they can't).
We built a tall locking gate with hinges that we could easily open and close, and attached it to the walls. We made the posts vertical so it was more difficult to climb. The only horizontal ones were the very bottom and top to hold the posts. Baby gates I found were very easy to climb because they had places for them to grab hold.

If necessary, you could make the gate out of a flat solid material and affix an angled top piece. This acts as a deterrent because they can't figure out how to get over the angled part, and can't see where they are landing, so they won't jump.