Baby Gates (or Pet Gates) That Will Work For A Small Kitten?

[fiorya]

Hi there!

I recently posted about a new kitten I have. She's only a few weeks old, and because she's a kitten, she loves to get into everything. I've pretty much cat-proofed my apartment, EXCEPT for the kitchen.

My kitchen is absurdly built. There are gaps under all of the cabinets and appliances where a cat or baby could crawl in. When I first moved in with my adult cat, she easily slid under and I had to stuff the areas she could get into with cardboard boxes. But I can't do that for the kitten. There's really no way I can find material that will fill up that entire space. It's ridiculous that they built the cabinets that way. Such a safety hazard.

So instead of cat-proofing the kitchen, I've decided a better alternative is to install some kind of baby gate or pet gate, so that the kitten can't get into the kitchen at all. (It has an entryway but no door.)

I was thinking something like this, that has vertical bars so she can't climb it. But it looks like the bars are too far apart, and she could easily squeeze through them. I'd need a gate with bars that are maybe 1 inch apart, just in case. I can't seem to find one.

Has anyone here had success with a pet gate? Do you have any other tips for keeping her out of the room? (Besides using a spray/other deterrent like Ssscat that scares her away from it. My sister tried that with her cats, but now they are afraid of any objects that make noises.... And anyway, they still managed to get past it....)

Thanks!!

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I didn't have too much luck with baby gates keeping the girls out of places when they were kittens. Our old house had a long hallway I'd gate them in to run around when we couldn't supervise them. I had 2 baby gates stacked with the top one angled in toward them. Otherwise they'd just climb the gates.

I was looking at garden fencing this afternoon. I saw some that had rectangular shapes; but I still think she could climb with that.

I have seen people use screen doors inside their homes to cat proof or separate cats for introductions. One person used tension rods to hold the door at the end of a hallway. I'm not sure if that would work with your home. Your kitchen does sound really frustrating! Can you possibly get a board of about the right height and cut it to the length of the cabinets? I know some home improvement stores will cut things down to size for you too.

 

[betsygee]

How about something like this MidWest Wood/Wire Mesh Pet Gate with smaller mesh?

 

[MeganLLB]

You couldn't do two baby gats one on top of the other? I put in a screen door for one of my rooms, but that was a bit of a project...

 

[Kieka]

Zip tie cardboard over one side of the gate is the quick and messy thought.

We had two orphaned kittens at one point. 3-4 weeks old. One of them started nursing on the other and was causing welts. We had to separate them while keeping them isolated from the rest of the house (mostly because our older cat hated them; he'd avoid them but they followed him). Absolute nightmare because they figured out a way over, under or ghosted through almost any barrier we put up. What finally ended up working was cardboard about 3 feet high across the doors held in place with chairs or boxes on the non-kitten side. Even that though when the kittens were really determined didn't work 100%. The cardboard between the two kittens to keep them apart until the one stopped nursing on the other (they had supervised play time frequently, it was mostly night or when we were gone) eventually was about 5 feet tall as they got older. It wasn't until they were about 3/4 months old that we felt comfortable letting them together without supervision and throughout the rest of the house. But cardboard is a quick, messy and cheap temporary option.

 

[susanm9006]

How about something like this MidWest Wood/Wire Mesh Pet Gate with smaller mesh?

Kittens would enjoy climbing this, really any kind of mesh is easy and fun for them to scale. But maybe you could use this as a base and somehow attach lightweight plexiglass or plastic sheets to it. Those would be unclimbable.

 

[betsygee]

Kittens would enjoy climbing this, really any kind of mesh is easy and fun for them to scale. But maybe you could use this as a base and somehow attach lightweight plexiglass or plastic sheets to it. Those would be unclimbable.

Oh, you're probably right. It would be more of a climbing wall for them than a barrier.

 

[fiorya]

Update: I decided to tape some poster board in the entryway with some painter's tape. It's holding up well so far. I'll just have to be careful taking it down, so that the wall paint doesn't come off.

I've now started introducing Iris (the kitten) to Daisy (the queen-- er, I mean, the resident cat.) Lots of hissing so far. I'm trying to increase the amount of time Iris can use the entire apartment, because she hates her little bathroom. Daisy will allow her in a room with her, but hisses and growls when she comes within 3 feet. Trying positive reinforcement with treats, too. But I don't think Daisy understands.

Anyway, thanks for all the tips!! Hopefully everything will work out.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Good luck!! Let us know how it goes.

 

[fiorya]

Good luck!! Let us know how it goes.

Going well! Iris and Daisy are friends now. No hissing, and they love to play with each other. Daisy has even started to clean Iris as a mother would. So sweet

The poster board worked great! I was actually able to take it down a couple weeks ago. Iinstead of blocking the kitchen off completely, I decided to cover the cracks under all the cabinets with packing tape, so Iris can't get in them. (The cabinets are wooden with no paint. The packing tape won't ruin them.)

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Thats great!! Good idea for blocking the cabinet. I really don't remember what my mother did when one of her cats was a kitten. But they only had a small space to block.