Hmmm. That entryway....

[kyrielle]

I should have stopped and formally evaluated it before I opened my mouth. dormouse_in_tea asked for photos to look at, and I went to take some just now. And was struck by three things:

1) It's wider than I thought, at the narrowest point. That will make the baby-gate solution very, very hard.
2) It's deeper than I gave it credit for.
3) It does NOT go clear to the ceiling, there is an area of it that is only one story high and then it opens up.

Which means that a baby-gate solution may not work (unless they make those very wide), but a construction solution WOULD. Adding a wall with a door in it might work okay. (Probably need to involve glass somewhere to not make the entry area miserably dark, as it has no light of its own.) Of course, that means arranging for, living through, and paying for the addition of same. But, we'll see. A short-term solution may be to baby-gate the hallway prior to the garage door, and come and go through that (again, making sure the garage door's closed before coming in, in case they DO scale the baby gate).

Right now I just want to wail to the universe. I shouldn't have to be doing this. These cats should be staying at home with Dad taking care of them. I love them and I'm glad to take care of them, but they ought to be there and none of this to have happened.

Comments

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

I know. *hugs*

[the_rck]

The baby gates we have actually can go quite wide, up to 42.5 inches. They're screwed to the wall with a hinge on one side and pressure mounted on the other side. There's a handle in the top that lets a person open the gate by pushing a button to release the pressure (it requires some strength and coordination since one has to push and lift simultaneously). We really like them, and I'd recommend them if they fit. The brand is The First Years.

[kyrielle]

Thanks, but the entryway is 60 inches wide. :/

If we end up using the gate-in-hallway (to the left of the entryway) and enter through the garage, 42.5 inches would be enough, but not for that entryway.

[canyoncat.livejournal.com]

I don't suppose you could just buy the materials and construct a custom gate that would fit perfectly?

[kyrielle]

I've never done anything like that. My Dad was a tinkerer; I'm not much of one; and just now I can barely cope with doing the things that are in my skill-set....

[canyoncat.livejournal.com]

Too bad I don't live closer, I love doing stuff like that. :\

[the_rck]

You might be able to find baby gates that wide, but I think you'd have to search pretty hard, and I'm not sure you'd find much.

Also, be wary of purely pressure mounted gates. Sharp blows or steady pushes can dislodge them or shift them so that they're at enough of an angle to allow something over or under them. A cat jumping at them and hitting them might be enough.

[cloverbee.livejournal.com]

They may sell a solution online for just this thing. I saw one once, some kind of divider and they would cut it to your specs. I also saw a outdoor "kennel" for cats where you would put in a cat door and instead of it opening to the outside, it would open into a wire tunnel that led to a bigger room so they could go outside when they wanted and still be safe. The only problem is that if you actually put it in your doorway, it would be hard to use the door. Most people who purchased them, attached them to a window or cut an opening through the wall, which is pretty major work. Don't know anything about your living space and even if you have a ground floor or not, but thought I would throw it out.

And my offer still stands. We have a huge home and three acres of fenced in yard. We have about 10 cats now and three dogs and live in a very rural area around no roads. If you end up as a last resort, needing to find them a home, I'll pay for flying them here and give them a place to come and go as they please. Anything I can do to make this time easier for you. I know if it were me, I'd be hard pressed to give my parent's pets to someone I didn't know, so I know what that must be feeling like. But I have to offer just in case you reach that point where you need someone to help with them.

[kyrielle]

I'm not actually interested in letting them go out - and I think in time they will learn not to want it. (Basta actually seemed to have adapted in the days since Dad's death, when I wasn't letting them outside there; Babe still darted for the door sometimes, though.) I'm interested in making sure they don't escape when we're going out.

If they can't adapt, I will look into the options to let them out like the one you describe, but considering that their definition of 'out' means 'roaming freely'...it might not go over so well.

And I deeply appreciate your offer and I do have your message saved in case it's necessary. I hope it won't be. It's not so much not knowing you - it's that I want to have them here. They're my family too; I brought Basta home (sort of inadvertently, I was trying for her brother and we got her first - they were semi-feral) twenty years ago. Babe is younger and was born after I moved out, but is still family. The idea of not having them here / nearby / with family is heartbreaking. If they can't adapt, I may have to look at it. So far, I think it will be okay. Scott thinks I am over-worrying about even blocking the door, but...I'd rather over-worry than under-worry. :P

[capnbuckle.livejournal.com]

Just an idea, and again it would require a custom-build...but perhaps not as intrusive as framing in a wall, and thus considerably cheaper if you need to hire someone else to do it:

• Use something similar to hurricane fencing...but for this size opening, more flexible. Some variant of chicken wire or that orange construction barricade mesh might work...but preferably something not quite so ugly.


• Frame out the "gate" part of it, higher than the cats can jump. I'd go with five feet unless they are elderly cats.


• I'd go with two light-weight rectangular frames, with two picture-wire cables going corner to corner, on both of them. The wires, when properly adjusted, should keep the gate square. Then sandwich the mesh material between the two frames.


• Ensure that the mesh material is about 1.5 ft. taller than the frame, with the excess sticking out the top of the gate. attach an additional piece of wood to top of the "non-cat-side" of the gate in such a way that it will cause the excess mesh material to always lean back over the "cat-side" of the gate.


• The mesh material has to be strong enough that it won't be hanging straight down in three months, thanks to gravity. That's why I think chicken wire or something like it will be better than that construction barricade stuff.


• using some of the same light-weight wood (mainly to keep the hardware as unobtrusive as possible), securely screw in boards on either side straight into the door jamb or the edge of the wall. This is to support a hinge on one side and a latch on the other.

There are many options for both the hinge and the latch, so I'll leave that to whomever does the job.

This design keeps the cats from climbing over the gate. They can still climb the gate all they want, but when they try to climb the floppy part, it just gives with their weight and folds over on top of them, leaving them to either grab back onto the more "solid" part of the gate, or to drop to the floor.

The other benefits are that the gate is light, and easy to open and close; You can easily see and hear through it; and of course, it should be much less expensive to construct.

As canyoncat said, I wish I were closer and could help you with it. For that matter, it might not be hard to build and ship...though it might be better to ship it in pieces and let you assemble it, since I don't know how it would hold up to the abuse of transport. Unfortunately, though...with my in-laws living with us while they look for a new house, I don't think I'll be able to see my tools (or even the garage floor) for at least the next six months. :(

Hope that suggestion at least gives you some more ideas on what you can do for them.

Anyway...

The hours have been few when you or Scott haven't been in my thoughts. As others have noted, words feel so inadequate, right now. So please forgive me if I don't comment, often. There are plenty of supportive friends in your friends lists, but if you ever just need one more attentive ear, or just a different listener: call, email, or IM me; throw me a non-sequitor comment on my journal...whatever works.

[kyrielle]

Thank you...I'll keep it in mind / see what we come up with. Sigh. There are actually pet gates wide enough, but they are designed to block dogs - not tall enough. Ah well, we'll keep looking. If we have to, I suppose we can shut them in the one room when we leave for the day. Not ideal, but....

Moot for now anyway: must get the alarm re-worked before they can be loose when we're gone, regardless of the status of the front door.

[capnbuckle.livejournal.com]

*grin* The funny thing is that I already refined the design in my head to make it more reliable. (A 45 minute long commute home from work is good for that sort of thing.) Unfortunately, it's a little bit more complicated, and I'm not sure I would be able to describe it, clearly.

*sigh*

I want my garage back! ...then I could just build it and ship it to you!

:p