Safe Dog Crate To Keep A Cat In?

[maddies momma]

Hi there!
Before anyone panicks about my question please read everything first. So overall my question is does anyone know of a dog crate that is safe to keep a cat in when unsupervised? Safe as in can't get a leg stuck in it or get hurt by it. Here is why I am asking.
About a year ago I found a cat out on the streets. She was acting afraid and feral, so for a long time i was only able to feed her. Then one day she actually approached me and all of a sudden was totally friendly and social. So i was able to get her in to a rescue group. She ended up being pregnant, so she was fostered with her kittens. After all of that I found out that she had ended up being sent to another shelter. When I found out she had been in a shelter for a month I knew I couldn't let her stay there. So I ended up adopting her. Now I am just out of college and therefore livng with my parents at the moment. I was NOT planning on adopting a second cat until I had my own place. But it happened. Now the resident cats are my male cat and my parents female. The new cat is getting along fairly well with my male, but she is not getting along with the female. They will fight and hurt each other. So they are being kept separate. I have been keeping the new cat in the sunroom as her own room. So the other cats don't have to he around her all the time. The sunroom is the only room in the house that I can keep her separate in. Unfortunately my dad is VERY careless about the room. He will just leave the door open and let her out which is really dangerous with the other cats. She also needs to be supervised anytime she is out because she will tear open garbage bags and misbehave. So it's really bad that he is so careless about letting her out. I go to work usually when he is so home. So it's going to end badly if this happens while I'm at work. I would keep her in my bedroom but that is my male cats room to stay in, and although they are getting along they are not ready to be alone together. So I have been considering putting a dog crate in my room and keeping her in there when I am not home. That way she is safe in my room, but not able to get to my male to cause problems. I am just wondering the safest and most reasonable way to go about this. I know it's not ideal to keep cats in cages and that the wrong cage could be dangerous. That why I'm looking for recomendations. Thanks in advance.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! maybe @marmoset could give you advice on that;
Can’t Get Tnr Cat Back Outside

 

[susanm9006]

Long term a cat isn’t going to be happy living in a crate. If you have to do it for a few hours a day she will probably be okay but if it is most of the time for weeks then it isn’t the fairest thing for her. Would your dad let you put a lock on the sunroom so that it isn’t inadvertently opened? Have you tried reintroducing your new cat to the one she doesn’t get along with? If you do it slowly, they might get along better.

 

[susanm9006]

Oh, as far as safety. The large dog crates I have seen have small enough bar space on the top and four sides that a cat couldn’t get caught in. But the bottom of the cage may have larger holes that a smaller cat might fit through. There is usually a tray that sets on top of this but there is a risk a cat could lift it up.

 

[foxden]

maddies momma

Most large (36" +) dog crates are big enough for a bed, litter box, and food and water bowls.
Some members here "crate train" littens and younger cats

kittens mom
has a VERY long post in the Ferals and Rescues section about finding a preg cat and the resulting kittens. Tera + 2 - 4
this is very sad in some places.
The mother was placed in an excellent shelter organization and was eventually adopted. She kept the 2 kittens so her older cats would be more likely to accept them.

Around page 36 in the post she says the kittens go into the crate for the night at 10:30 pm and stay until 6:30 AM.
Tera + 2 - 4
I believe her kittens became very comfortable with the crate as their nest every night.
I don't recall the crate size they used and I'm not aware if her 2 young adults still spend nights in the crate as they are now over a year old. There are at least 137 pages in the thread, and a lot of information there.

This is a bit off your immediate topic, but I believe there is a lot of useful information in her experiences.

 

[Q2U]

Critter nation crate: super safe A+++ IMO...

Critter Nation

We made our Andy a “triple”; he actually likes it and he’s safe in it...

 

[amethyst]

Although the cat might not be too happy with it, it should be safe. I had my last two cats in dog crates before introducing them to the rest of my cats. Tux was in a crate for about a month, and Nessie was in a crate for several months (she was sick and had to be quarantined). Both had time out of the crate to run around the room they were in, and locked up when alone.

 

[kittens mom]

maddies momma

Most large (36" +) dog crates are big enough for a bed, litter box, and food and water bowls.
Some members here "crate train" littens and younger cats

kittens mom
has a VERY long post in the Ferals and Rescues section about finding a preg cat and the resulting kittens. Tera + 2 - 4
this is very sad in some places.
The mother was placed in an excellent shelter organization and was eventually adopted. She kept the 2 kittens so her older cats would be more likely to accept them.

Around page 36 in the post she says the kittens go into the crate for the night at 10:30 pm and stay until 6:30 AM.
Tera + 2 - 4
I believe her kittens became very comfortable with the crate as their nest every night.
I don't recall the crate size they used and I'm not aware if her 2 young adults still spend nights in the crate as they are now over a year old. There are at least 137 pages in the thread, and a lot of information there.

This is a bit off your immediate topic, but I believe there is a lot of useful information in her experiences.

Thank you. It was a learning experience for sure. I had one of the extra large wire dog cages but Tera started out in a large dog crate. I had room for a nest box ( stackable storage bin) and a litter box with food and water bowls above the babies reach at that point. It sufficed very well for the first 3 weeks. Tera the mother had access to the master bedroom for several hours a day. The kits were caged at night while I slept until they were about 6 months old. They are very well adjusted and I believe as a result of the very gradual immersion of them into the household all four of my diva cats get along and play together. If I had to do this all over again there is very little I would change. On the large wire cage pictured on this thread I got the dense foam pipe insulation and used it on the edge of the bottom tray. It stabilized the pan nicely. looked better and removed the gaps that could have been dangerous to the kits. Our resident snot BabyMook does not like other cats. Using the crate and cage with the kits when not supervise allowed us to mitigate the stress she felt and as a result she first ignored then investigated the new babies at her own pace. I'm sure some felt it was unfair to the babies but doing it our way helped insure that we could keep them forever.

 

[kittens mom]

maddies momma

Most large (36" +) dog crates are big enough for a bed, litter box, and food and water bowls.
Some members here "crate train" littens and younger cats

kittens mom
has a VERY long post in the Ferals and Rescues section about finding a preg cat and the resulting kittens. Tera + 2 - 4
this is very sad in some places.
The mother was placed in an excellent shelter organization and was eventually adopted. She kept the 2 kittens so her older cats would be more likely to accept them.

Around page 36 in the post she says the kittens go into the crate for the night at 10:30 pm and stay until 6:30 AM.
Tera + 2 - 4
I believe her kittens became very comfortable with the crate as their nest every night.
I don't recall the crate size they used and I'm not aware if her 2 young adults still spend nights in the crate as they are now over a year old. There are at least 137 pages in the thread, and a lot of information there.

This is a bit off your immediate topic, but I believe there is a lot of useful information in her experiences.

They are two now and no they are not crated anymore.