gate for cats?

[karenmac60]

My cat has epilepsy and he insists on sleeping at the top of the stairs. Twice now he has had a fit when he's been sleeping there and has fallen all the way down the stairs and I'm worried he's going to seriously injure himself. The only thing I can think to do is do fit a dog or baby gate at the top of the stairs so that if he has another fit when he's there he won't fall, but the only ones I can find have bars which then causes the problem of him getting his head jammed while fitting. Does anyone know of any other gate type things available that don't have bars or any other ideas of what I can do? I can't lock him in another room at night cos he's a mischievous wee so and so who clambers up and knocks everything over - he's already tumbled a tv and broken a dvd player and the toilet :)

Thanks,
Karen

[boxtops]

My friend has house cats and she's made a door out of fly-curtain fabric, so she can open the French door but the cats can't get through. You might have to custom-make something - chicken wire on a wood frame? Or buy a normal baby gate and cover it in light fabric?

[karenmac60]

It has to be fairly sturdy cos he thrashes about a lot when he has a fit - the other night he caught my foot with his and slashed through the top of my foot and left a lot of bruising. I think you might be right about having to make something myself though, but I'm not very handy with that sort of thing...

[boxtops]

Buy a garden gate, karen, a solid job, and fit it as if it were a baby gate! Hard luck for the little fellow - our tabbies lie on the stairs at night along the treads, disguised as the stair carpet. One day we will either stand on them or trip on one..... It must be hard to see him fitting, thankfully I've no experience of that with our great hairy boys.

[what..the?]

http://www.argos.co.u...guards%7C14417615.htm

[karenmac60]

The hot water pipes go under the floor there so the two of them love to lie there as it's always cosy. It's weird when he has a fit - I can tell by the sound exactly what's happening and they are almost exactly every 3 weeks, it is really hard to watch but within about a minute of coming out of it he's back to his normal self, purring away and looking for something to eat. I'd just hate for him to get hurt because he fell downstairs. I've already had to ban him from going out on the veranda cos he likes to sit up on the railings and I'm terrified he'll go into a fit and fall off.

[vegasmad]

Not sure if this would be any good?
http://my.page-flip.c...13/00053406/&page=128

[Andyvon]

Hi Karen,

I made an indoor aviary for our budgies last year. The aviary occupies a corner of our lounge and it has a large walk-in door for my wife to go in as she looks after the birds. I'm sure you could make something from the same materials.

I used 1" (25mm) square posts for the frame of the aviary but 18mm square lengths for the door. The mesh is 25mm x 13mm aviary mesh. Basically you could just make a square framed gate for the top of the stairs covered in mesh. Then mount it to the wall with hinges fixed to a length of wood screwed into the wall and a latch on the other side, also fixed to the wall. I painted the aviary with white emuslion and it looks nice and blends in well.

You can get everything from Wickes. I know you need some basic tools and proficiency at making things but if you don't then perhaps you know someone. It would only take an afternoon or so if that.

Good luck.

[karenmac60]

Oh, they might work! I'll give them a try anyway and if they're not strong enough then I'll see about getting something more solid. Thanks all :)

[karenmac60]

Just found the Kleeneze one on ebay and bought it :)

[vegasmad]

Excellent!! Hope it works okay. :-)

[what..the?]

how do you open it to get up and down stairs yourself do you have to re install it every night?

[karenmac60]

Sorry Andy, I never saw your post. I'll try with the one I've ordered just now - I can't have anything I'd have to screw to the wall either cos the plaster is shot and nothing stays in my walls at all, but if the one I get doesn't work I'll use your idea as a general template and figure out something along those lines. Thanks.

[what..the?]

http://www.amazon.co....id=1294964483&sr=1-41

expensive but it is the only material one which has an opening gate so you can walk through and close behind you and don't have to reinstall every night like the kleeneze one and this one I recommended:

http://www.argos.co.u...guards%7C14417615.htm

There was this one, but I can't see how this would fit at the top of the stairs and the cat still be able to sit on the top step above the hot pipes.

http://www.argos.co.u...guards%7C14417615.htm

Just thought I would give you some other options just incase....

[what..the?]

plus the last one has some vertical bars so not not really suitable

[wolf63]

I looked into something like this when I had my last cat. He was blind and also a little senile and I wanted to keep him upstairs during the night.

My only concern was that he would try and leap it and fall down the stairs and hurt himself. If your monster is a climber he might try and leap over the gate.

I must admit that I am the type of person who sees every negative aspect of every situation.

[karenmac60]

Hi what the, I don't mind putting the gate in place every night - it'll just become part of my night time routine (walk the dog, lock him away, chase the cats out the living room, give them some food etc.) But if the one I've ordered doesn't work, that gives me plenty of choice. Thanks :)
Wolf, I think you can adjust the height of this one and I don't need it to be high, just enough to stop him rolling off the top step, so if he jumps over it I don't think it'll be a problem.