So, how? I have a 10 month old, we live in a small apartment. We have a cat (we aren't getting rid of her) and I don't want ds to play in the kitty litter. Mostly I just keep my eye on him and if he detours into the bathroom I swoop him up. But any other brillant ideas?
We keep the cat box in the utility closet with a kitty door cut out. You rent, so I'm going to guess that you don't have a space like this, but if you do, maybe you could just replace the door if you ever leave?
Originally Posted by Blucactus
we have our litter box in the bathroom, too, and just keep a baby gate across the doorway so kitty can jump over but baby can't get in.
a gate! of course! its so obvious now! LoL
whats wrong with my brain?
know any good gates for a larger opening? my DD also likes to dump the kitty water all over the floor
I have friends who put a narrow side table along one wall of the bathroom and put all the cat stuff up there. Easy for the cat to jump up but not easy for baby to reach. A shelf would do the same thing.
Originally Posted by fate5000
a gate! of course! its so obvious now! LoL
whats wrong with my brain?
know any good gates for a larger opening? my DD also likes to dump the kitty water all over the floor
We keep a big dish of water in the bathtub for the dog and cats... that way they can just hop in for a drink but if my 20mo old manages to reach in and dump it, it doesn't make a mess.
We have the food, water, and litter all in one bathroom with a baby gate. I figured that there are enough other temptations in the house for him to learn to ignore, I'd just plain keep him away from that one. Besides, the cats like having one "safe" place.
We have a baby gate blocking off a closet where the litter is, that way baby and the dog don't get into it. When we lived in a house with no closet for the litter I always put it up high on something. You could get a high shelf to put it on.
My sister had a brilliant suggestion for me awhile back (we don't have inside cats, but we were watching a friend's cat for a couple days, and needed to keep it inside).
Since we don't have cats inside on a regular basis, our 2yo would NOT leave the cat box alone. And since it was just for a few days, I didn't want to spend $ on a gate or anything. So, my sister had an awesome idea--find a cardboard box that's big enough to fit over the litterbox. Turn it upside down and cut a door big enough for the cat to get in/out easily. Place the litterbox on the floor (preferably in a quiet corner or at least near a wall) and place the box over it. Face the opening into the corner or towards the wall (with enough space for the cat to go in, obviously) so that the opening is not obvious to the child...now it just looks like a plain, boring box.
Essentially, you have a covered cat box, but without paying the price for it, LOL! And it doesn't seem as enticing, especially if you stack a few books or something on top of it. Actually, I think that's the key--making it sorta disappear into the landscape, KWIM?
Anyway, it worked great for us as a short-term solution; the 2yo never even glanced at the box, although we still had to keep him out of the food and water dishes....but gosh, I just can't find it in me to get too worked up about him eating a bit of cat food now and then, yk?
Originally Posted by fate5000
a gate! of course! its so obvious now! LoL
whats wrong with my brain?
know any good gates for a larger opening? my DD also likes to dump the kitty water all over the floor
One Step Ahead makes one with a pet opening. We'll get that one when my daughter becomes mobile to block off the master bedroom/master bath where the cat litter is.
We may also gate off the kitchen so that she can't get to the cat food.
Originally Posted by fate5000
a gate! of course! its so obvious now! LoL
whats wrong with my brain?
know any good gates for a larger opening? my DD also likes to dump the kitty water all over the floor
We gate off our bathroom and kitchen too for the same reasons ... I'm just not up to 24/7 baby chasing to keep them out of the litter and food dish.
The kitchen is a wide opening ... I think we have a Summer gate, and it seems really stable. They're mostly just a "you get what you pay for" kind of product though ... pretty much anything that's not clearly bottom-of-the-line cheap should be fine.
I used a baby gate for about a week and hated it! It is such a pain when you have to maneuver a baby gate every time you need to do laundry and you are carrying a laundry basket. I found this video online about a product called Door Buddy. I have been using for a week now and it has really helped to keep my son out of the laundry room with the litter box. It is so easy for me because it just unhooks which makes it so convenient to get back into the laundry room when I need to. Check it out, you can get it on their website at thedoorbuddy.com. Definitely worth looking into before you go spend over $100 on a gate like I did. I did re-purpose it for the stairs though which is good!! :smile:
Google kitty litter furniture. That was our solution. Took awhile to set up but with multiple animals and baby & toddlerhood it worked best in our house. We baby gate off the water bowls and don't free feed (all animals have meals 2-3 times a day at scheduled times) which cuts down on mess and the baby/toddlerzilla destruction.
You could get like an enclosure type gate you know, with like 6 panels where the litter could be in the middle with the gate surrounding it!
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