Kids and Cats

Have you thought of a litter maid litter box? that way the treasures are hidden and the kids can't get to them, the only thing they could get to is the litter and I don't think they would want it if there were no treasures. Also, have you thought of putting a pet safe door in the closet or wall of the closet so the cats can get in and then you can close the closet doors so that the kids can't get in? Also, since your cats can't jump, maybe you could put a baby gate up but leave room at the bottom for the cats to go under but not enough that the kids can? I hope at least one of these ideas helps you.

One more suggestion...we used an entryway closet (an unused coat closet, but you could use any closet you have) and installed a cat door at the bottom. It was great (but we also had a window in there cracked :0) The only problem was "out of sight, out of mind," so we added a second litter box. That helped immensly. You can get the doors at any pet supply store. Unfortunately you'll have to cut part of the bottom of a door, but doors are easy to replace if ever required. And have you tried any "alternative" litters, made of paper or corn I think? They might not hurt your cat's paws (that sounds horrible!) since they don't get stuck inbetween toes and have all that dust. Try Good Mews...or ask at the store.
Lastly, please try to keep the cats indoors...it will be less expensive (no vet bills for cat fight injuries, FIV, or flea treatments). Good luck, and remember, your kids will eventually grow out of this phase.

I'm hoping that you know that pregnant women should have nothing to do with kitty litter and it's poop. All I know is that I've heard that there can be something in the poop that can cause birth defects.

I think that I've seen advertized a self cleaning box that has something that slides thru the litter and scrapes out the poop and pee after it's deposited. Seems like it's fairly expensive or I would've paid more attention to it. It does still leave the litter there. I saw it first in a catalog, don't remember which. I think I may have seen it at the pet store near me. It's named Pets on Broadway. It's at N.E. 28/Broadway.

Hi, lol, that is an interesting question. I have a question for you: why can't your cats jump? It really doesn't matter *why,* I suppose, it's just that my cats jump over and onto everything, so the babygate situation works really well for us.

Anyway, you do have a bit of a dilemma. Surely there has to be some sort of a babygate out there with a pet door, like you asked, or maybe you could make one. I have these lovely babygates that only have vertical bars (so the wee ones can't climb over them). Maybe if you found some like those, you could just remove one of the slats so the kitties could fit through (but not the kids, of course). Hope that helps... because other than that, I have no idea. Oh! Actually, do you allow your cats outside? I had an outdoor/indoor cat that didn't even need a litter box; he was fully trained to go outside. I think he was the exception rather than the rule, however. If only all cats could be like him....