Are Stairs Like This Dangerous?

[mozzicat]

Hello everyone!

First time cat servant here with lots of questions. I adopted my cat this year, he was a stray in a redevelopment area. He’s currently living with me in Korea but is eventually going to live with my family in Germany. My place in Korea is quite small so there’s no dangerous places, but today when sitting on the windowsill my boy got spooked and kind of fell when trying to jump down.
This worries me because the stairs in my home in Germany look like this (see attached pic) with open spaced in between and the stairs leading to the basement right below. There are also stairs leading to the attic right above and there is one part where you can theoretically drop something from the attic into the basement -> if ‘someone’ got in between the railing, he could fall *very* far.

My question is, do you think this setup is dangerous? Would it be dangerous if he got spooked and fell down, like today?
I know nothing so any info is helpful. Thank you!!

 

[ArtNJ]

I personally wouldn't worry with a solo adult cat, but there was a thread a while back where some did report bannister (at the top of the stairwell) problems which surprised me, since I've never had any issues with that. So its good you are asking; maybe others have experience with those same stairs.

Make sure you have researched getting a pet into Germany. In many countries its quite onerous.

 

[fionasmom]

Very pretty staircase....when I lived in my two story house, my adult cats would sit on the bannister at the very top of the stairs. It was a house with cathedral ceilings so the drop would have been about 30 feet if anyone fell. No one ever did and, to be honest, there was no way to have blocked or altered that part of the stairs.

 

[mozzicat]

Thank you for your replies!

 

[neely]

How soon do you plan to move back to Germany? Cats are pretty agile so I wouldn't worry ahead of time but once you return home keep an eye on him to see how he acclimates to his new environment. Good luck!

 

[mozzicat]

How soon do you plan to move back to Germany? Cats are pretty agile so I wouldn't worry ahead of time but once you return home keep an eye on him to see how he acclimates to his new environment. Good luck!

Thanks!
I’m not sure yet. I want to keep him here with me for as long as possible. Even if I do leave him with my family in Germany i’d stay with him for at least 2 months before going back to Korea.

 

[1 bruce 1]

It shouldn't be a big issue, but if you are really ambitious you could call a contractor about putting something like plexiglass plastic behind each step. It would still look open but there would be an invisible barrier there.
If you have a railing that runs up top, you could do that area in large sheets. We did, and it's invisible and peace of mind for safety.