# How to block off an inside door to keep the cats away?



## redfishsc

There are a lot of parents on this forum, and my wife and I are expecting our first child in a couple of months. We're in the process of getting the house ready. 

One thing I am dogmatically going to make sure of is that the two cats we have STAY OUT OF THE BABIES ROOM. I have heard the back-and-forth squabble about whether cats can suffocate a baby, and I've never heard of it happening, but I'd at least like to have one room in the house that doesn't have a covering of cat hair. That, and I want to persecute these cats every opportunity I get.

I need to do something similar to putting a screen door on the door jamb. Just, I don't wanna put a screen door inside-- would look really tacky. I have searched all over for an extra-tall partition (like you use to keep kids out of rooms or IN rooms). Can't find it, and I can't figure out how to make one myself that is easily removed. 


So here are my options. 

1) Shoot the cats now and find a good divorce attorney. 

2) Let them in the spare bedroom, get cat hair everywhere, catch them peeing ONCE in the babies room, shoot them at that point, and then find a good divorce attorney. 

3) Find an extra tall extendable partition to block off the doorway. 

4) Build one somehow. Ideas are appreciated! 

5) Duct tape. Now there's one I'm shocked I didn't think of earlier.


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## kirkfranks

As a recent (one year) cat owner I would say that you would probably having a challenge keeping the cat out with anything less than a full length door.  Of course I don't see you wanting to keep the door fully closed either and I agree about the screen door inside being "percieved as" tacky.

Perhaps the best alternative is to teach the wife how to shoot (after the baby is delivered) and then see if a modified version of option #2 presents itself.
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Just kidding.


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## airrat

What about a dog? :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:  sorry had to be the first.


Look for one of those screens that you can put velcro tabs on the door.  That might work if you can figure out the bottom.


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## spitfire

I just got a kitten for my 2.5 y/o. You will have to atleast make sure your partition ill go half way up the door. Dang things can any where. I would(will be myself) use melamine, nice and slippery and nothing for the cat to attach itself to. Just put it on hinges and a nice little knob and you are good to go.


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## RonSchmitt

First, congrats on the baby,
Second, your best option is number 1.
Having been married 21 years to a woman whose 3 cats came with her (we have one of them still that is *22 years old!*) They can and will get in ANYWHERE they want. 
Ours have learned to open doors by jumping at the knob til it turns, gotten into the tv stand through the hole in the back for the cords, 
on TOP of the china hutch (still havent figured out that one)
And because this is a family site, we won't go into too much detail about what one of them tried to use as a scratch post after getting under the covers in our bed one night.....
The only "cat free" zone in our house is near the Parrot cage. (they all lost their respective fights with the bird:beat-up


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## Jarheaded

invisible fences work inside as well as out.


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## txbatons

Jarheaded said:


> invisible fences work inside as well as out.



Yes, but sooner or later your child will be leaving the room and venturing out to the rest of the house and interacting with the cats. I'd suggest just closing the door to the baby's room. Use a baby monitor while the child is in there and keep the door closed when he's/she's not.

Oh....congrats on the baby! They're a joy. Until they turn 16. :wink:


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## scoutharps

You do know that babies exposed to pets, etc, as in a not too sterile environment, despite what everyone tries to do turn out to have healthier immune systems, less allergies, etc don't you?

Now as to the problem.  Instead of a cat free room, go for a cat free bed.  I did this with NO woodworking experince, and 6 months pregnant for my first child.  I found half a dozen long sheer curtains at a garage sale for a couple of dollars.  sewed them to a piece of fabric same size as crib, overlapping them generously.  Made a frame of dowels or something (this WAS 22 years ago!) same size as crib and solid piece, attached a short very light wt chain in each corner so curtains hung down, chains went up.  Hung the whole thing over the crib--VOILA!  bugs and cats were kept out, I could drape the curtains however, whenever  I wanted, and it all looked like a very elegant canopied bed!  Worked like a charm.  BTW, both of the kids turned out to be die hard cat people--sigh.


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## Nick

Congrats on the new arrival!!
1  Try reasoning with the cat, explain the alternatives, if that does not work. 
pick one of your 5 options..
Nick


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## marcruby

Keep the cat, get rid of everyone else.  At least with a cat you always know your place.


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## ScribbleSticks

Apply duct tape to cat....problem solved


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## Randy_

Inside doors  are pretty cheap.....especially if you have a salvage yard close by.  You might even get one for free if you can find someone who is remodeling a home.  Then you could turn it into a Dutch door without too much trouble.
 
Here is something simple to try in advance to see if it would work.  Take a piece of cardboard as long as the door is wide and about a foot wide.  Cover it with duct tape-sticky side up and then place it on the threshold sort of like a cattle guard.  The cat is not going to like walking on the sticky surface.  I don't know if they will be smart enough to figure out they can jump the sticky mat??  That is something you would have to find out by experimentation.


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## rjwolfe3

please dont shoot the cats - send them to me - I have lots of recipes to try, errr I mean my wife loves cats.  you might try one of those mats to keep animals off of counters and couches.  just put it vertical on a half door.  it delivers a mild shock.  and yes it's legal.  look at drs foster and smith catalog.  can't remember the website.


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## jedgerton

*Expanding on option #1*

You might consider shooting the cats AND the lawyers.  Start with the lawyers because you may run out of ammunition!

Seriously though, have you considered the merits of outside cats?

John


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## redfishsc

airrat said:


> What about a dog? :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:  sorry had to be the first.
> 
> 
> Look for one of those screens that you can put velcro tabs on the door.  That might work if you can figure out the bottom.




Hey, man, I'm a beagle fan, and if it weren't for the fact that I'd have to walk him 2 to 3 times a day, I'd have one right now!


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## redfishsc

RonSchmitt said:


> The only "cat free" zone in our house is near the Parrot cage. (they all lost their respective fights with the bird:beat-up



Well now there is an option I hadn't thought about. A guard-bird. A big cockatoo that has an axe to grind might do well at keeping the cats away!


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## redfishsc

jedgerton said:


> Seriously though, have you considered the merits of outside cats?
> 
> John




John, not to sound huffy or anything, but I personally believe that having an outside cat is a very irresponsible thing to do. I grew up in the country and our neighbors outside cats killed off all the quail that we had in our area. For a year, we'd find little piles of quail feathers here and there, and then they were totally gone--- all because of cats. Then comes the shotgun! Feral cats do not belong outside (I also believe they don't belong INSIDE either!:wink because of the damage they can do to native animals.


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## turned_for_good

A good option that we have in our church nusery is a full size door that is two pieces.  A top and bottom half.  Just close the bottom half when the kids in there and you can close the whole thing when guest are there and the babys trying to nap.


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## DocStram

Cats suffocating babies is an old wives tales ..... now, I guess, we'd call it an urban legend.

However, what you do need to be concerned about is toxoplasmosis. For starters, DO NOT let your pregnant wife come into contact with cat litter.   Just google "toxoplasmosis" for more information.  Here's a starting point:

http://www.2ndchance.info/toxoplasmosis.htm


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## Daniel

well here is some info you don't want to hear. Half way up is not even half what you need for cats. have you ever seen one go over a 6 foot fence? In my case I have a shelf over the washer and dryer that is 6 feet above the floor. all three of my cats can jump from the floor to the shelf. The oldest is 16 years old and still is not challenged with it. A full screen of some type. A screen door they will simply cut there way thorugh if they want in bad enough so I don't recommend that one. I have to replace my front window screen annually because my cats get tired of asking to get out. My recommendation is that if you do not want cats near your baby, don't have cats. sorry but that really is pretty much the way it is. there is some stuff you can get that is a chemical deterent for cats. but it does not smell real good in the first place. you could try to put something like that across the doorway of the room and see if they will stay out. I don't put much stock in the idea but it is the only other thought I have. the real truth is you will only be worried about the cats and the baby until you find the baby chewing on a cats tail for the first time.


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## redfishsc

Big 10/4 on that, Doc. My wife hasn't ever changed the cat litter for that exact reason (though I didn't know it was called toxoplasmosis). 

Of course, that means I'm the one that changes the cat litter.


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## OldWrangler

Hey, what's a good attorney?????????  Is there such a thing, sounds like an oxymoron!


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## flcad2000

ScribbleSticks said:


> Apply duct tape to cat....problem solved


How about Shellac? Would that hold up or do you need a more durable finish?


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## RonSchmitt

Is the crib set up yet? If so, get some mousetraps, set them and put them UPSIDE DOWN in the crib, GENTLY cover them with a layer of newspaper. 
Cat jumps into crib, setting off mousetraps, making LOUD noise scaring said cat, doesn't take too many landings for the cat to realize that is not the place it wants to be.


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## bitshird

Congrats on the new arrival!! what caliber guns do you have?  :wink: I agree though with Scoutharps on the allergic thing, finally science is recognizing that exposure to allergens at the beginning allows antibodies to form.
I hate cats, we have 3 one I like never comes in the house, I've had 4 children and none were suffocated, the third one would have been a good choice though  darned cats can't do any thing right. 
I got them to stay off the kitchen table by placing mouse traps (about 20) on it and it worked very well till I removed the traps, I think cats are basically smarter than we mere humans so it's difficult to keep them out of any place, (a pellet gun might help)


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## GoodTurns

redfishsc said:


> Big 10/4 on that, Doc. My wife hasn't ever changed the cat litter for that exact reason (though I didn't know it was called toxoplasmosis).
> 
> Of course, that means I'm the one that changes the cat litter.



you ain't seen nothing yet!  diapers are a whole new level!!!!

as far as the cat...practice, with a straight face..."honey, have you seen the cat?", then implement any of the fine suggestions already posted!


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## great12b4ever

There are companies that make a retractable screen door that might work for you. It can attach to the inside frame of the door way and will look like a long slender tube against the doorframe. You then pull this across and "hook" it into the receiver on the other side. Yes, when it is closed it will still show as a screen door, but will not swing like a regular door, and when open will not be that noticeable. 

Also, cats do not like the smell of citrus. We have kept cats out of our flower beds by spreading orange and lemon peels in the beds, but they have to be constantly removed. You might try using heavily citrus scented sprays on door jambs and on floor for a distance inside the babies room and see if that works. You can try this in other areas first. It worked for us to keep the cats out of certain rooms/areas in our house. Congrats and good luck.


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## randyrls

Daniel said:


> well here is some info you don't want to hear. Half way up is not even half what you need for cats. have you ever seen one go over a 6 foot fence? In my case I have a shelf over the washer and dryer that is 6 feet above the floor. all three of my cats can jump from the floor to the shelf. The oldest is 16 years old and still is not challenged with it. A full screen of some type. A screen door they will simply cut there way thorugh if they want in bad enough so I don't recommend that one.



To join the thread;  Attach a "flap" of cardboard like the top of a box to the top of a child screen.  Point it outward.  The cat will jump up on the cardboard, and the cardboard will collapse and dump the cat back outside. 
All the bedrooms in our house have doors.....


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## railrider1920

Again, congrats!!

I know that you don't like the idea of the screen door, but it works well. I went to Goodwill and bought a hollow core door that would fit. I cut a big rectangle out of the top part of the door. Then lined the sides and top of the opening with a 1x something that fit. On the bottom of the opening I put a piece of 1x4 or 1x6 and made a shelf like thing then somehow covered the opening with screen. It worked well. I'm sure that our cats sat on the shelf, but it kept them from actually climbing the screen (that and a squirt bottle with acetone....I mean water in it). When the one cat started to hiss and make swiping moves at the baby, it found a new home after I scraped it up off the wall.

Hope it helps you out.


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## redfishsc

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I have gotten some great ideas and laughed my tail off in the process. 


BTW the bedroom has a regular door already, I guess I didn't clarify. I am looking for something we can leave the wood door open but still see/hear the inside for when the baby gets hungry, cries, etc...


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## Daniel

The mouse trap idea is an excellent one and the cats won't get hurt. I have an orphaned bird that I brought home and hand fed. it now lives in the house with a cage that is open. of course one of my cats eventually decided it looked better as a snack than as a pet. I watched as the cat got itself all coiled up for the jump. then flipped an old magazine across the room just over it's head. non of my cats have tried to get to the bird again, they must be able to talk to each other. the only thing the cat knows is that bird has some really vicious self defense tricks. It can actually get down and walk around the cats now and they will not even give it a sniff. so it worked really well.


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## wudnhed

*Harriet Carter*

http://www.harrietcarter.com/index.cfm

Go to "household gadgets" and then "screen door"  it's on page 6

Use extra velcro on sides and bottom?


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## toolcrazy

A friend had a inside cat before they had a baby. She was very attached to the cat. When the baby came, she said to herself that she would deal with the cat if it became a problem. The first time she caught it in the crib, she threw it outside and the cat ran off, never to be seen again. So, your wife will loose attachment to the cats when the baby comes. Especially when they start messing with the baby. Her priorities will change. I think spending money on gates and screens isn't a good idea. As said before, you can't protect the kid from the cats forever. Teach the cats manners or they go outside.


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## OldWrangler

I can send you 4 good Oriental recipes for cat barbequed. The one with snow peas and water chestnuts is our favorite!


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