How to keep cats out of the crib?

One of my cats has peed and pooped in my dd's crib several times. Last night was my breaking point. WHILE my dd was sleeping in her crib my cat must have climbed in and peed (on the other side of her crib at least). Im literally at my breaking point and really wish I could just give away my cats at this point ugh

Obviously I'm going to make sure I close her door from now on but between me, my dh, and my ds- we go in and out of her room a ton during the day (and night unfortunately) and sometimes forget. Not to mention my cats tend to slip in rooms behind us and the last thing we want to do is lock the cats IN her room by accident.

Has anyone even dealt with this? What did you do? Someone suggested to me a crib tent but I just found out that they were recalled I guess.

Re: How to keep cats out of the crib?

I had this concern too when we brought ds home. Our cats like to climb on anything and everything so we couldn't keep the, out of the crib, so we are super vigilant to keep them out of DS room. We had to make it a habit to shut the door behind us each and every time we go in and out of the room. For us it was the only way

Re: How to keep cats out of the crib?

That is so annoying. Last yr my cat started urinating in one room of the house, it was after we returned from vacation.

Definetly keep the door closed (we couldnt in this room there was no door),
put the cat in an area for a few days, we kept him in the basement for a few days.
Make sure you clean the mattress well so there is NO odor.
Give the cat a lot of attention. Get some toys like the ones on a stick and play with the car at as much as possible.

Hth

Re: How to keep cats out of the crib?

I had a problem with my cat jumping in the crib.

I read online that cats don't like tin foil and double sided tape so I tried this: Anytime my son was not in the crib, I put tin foil down with double sided tape on top of the tin foil. When the cat jumped in, she landed on the double sided tape on the tin foil.

I only had to do this for 1-2 days. Now, she doesn't jump in the crib at all.

Hope this works for you. Good Luck!

Re: How to keep cats out of the crib?

How to keep cats out of the crib?

i have to keep the door shut all the time

Re: How to keep cats out of the crib?

We don't have this problem specifically, but we have 4 cats and a newborn so we want to keep the cats out of his room just in general because we don't want them all over his things (mainly the crib). We found success with putting a baby gate up on the door of his room. The cats COULD jump over it but none of the four cats have realized it and its also extra tall (we bought the tallest one we could find). We put it up as soon as we set up the nursery and started spending time in there with the door open and while they have looked in curiously, they have not tried to get in. Now with our baby home it's the same. It's a good solution for us because it keeps the cats out of his room and doesn't force us to leave the door closer 24/7. The cats pretty much know that room is off limits to them now. Most of the time we are in there with him, they will look in at us but then go do something else. I should also add they LOVE the baby, but still don't try to get past the gate.

Message edited 9/7/2013 8:29:03 AM.

How to keep cats out of the crib?

I would be SO mad if my cat went to the bathroom in DS' crib!!! I feel like they enjoy small spaces, which was my concern when we first got DS' crib.

We kept the door closed as soon as we made the room a nursery. Our cat still tries to slip in there, but he's getting better. We just make sure the door is always shut - we really are very diligent about it. I don't know if we'd still have a problem if we let him in though. The cat stays far away from DS now that DS is on the move and chases the cat everywhere!

Re: How to keep cats out of the crib?

We put a sheet over it when the baby is not in it and keep the door closed when the baby is in it. Looking under the crib for the cats is actually part of our bedtime routine cause they are sneaky.

How to keep cats out of the crib?

We keep the door shut 24/7. Of course then my cats started to scratch and scratch AT the door. So we bought something called a Ssscat, which you can pick up at pet smart. It's motion sensoried and will give a puff of air out if they come to close to where ever we don't want them to be. Eventually they learned to just stay away.

Re: How to keep cats out of the crib?

The first thing is narrowing down which cat is doing it. Then getting them to the vet to rule out anything medical.

How many cats do you have? It sounds like this is the dominant cat and they are letting the others know that the baby and the room is their space. Like a pp suggested, you can try correcting with isolation...keeping the cat in a small contained area with a litter box.

If you can "stalk" the crib and catch the cat about to do their thing you can spray them with water and make them associate the crib with something bad.

Or the easiest way, assuming that your cat is not marking anywhere else is to just keep the door closed.

The cat may also have anxiety with the baby and is trying to get your attention. You can ask the vet about some antianxiety medication.

How to keep cats out of the crib?

Try not to give up on your cats. Having a new baby in the house is anxiety provoking for them. You have to make every point to keep the door to the nursery closed. It will become part of your routine.

We have 3 cats. When we brought our first son home from the hospital we had the pack n'play set up in the living room at first. After about a month, one of our cats jumped in and urinated in it. He NEVER urinated in the house before. Called our vet immediately and she recommended putting him on prozac, which we did. Kept him on it a few months until he got adjusted to the baby. never had a problem since.

Also, try Feliway (sp?) hormone plug-ins for cats. It helps with their stress level. Be patient and good luck.

Re: How to keep cats out of the crib?

My friend had one of those nets on top of the crib
It looked like a dome

Re: How to keep cats out of the crib?

Re: How to keep cats out of the crib?

#1 my very strictly indoor cats have collars with bells. I hate not knowing where they are....... those little ninjas. It has always been this way. They'd hide under couches, beds, tables, etc. I couldn't find them. Or they'd run around your feet and trip you up. So bells were our solution. That or just their tags on their collar (or both tags and bell combo). I don't want to stop them from being cats, but its nice to know I get some warning!

#2 her room was ALWAYS closed. It started before she came home. They were allowed in her room twice with supervision and sprayed when they got close to the crib. To this day they are NOT allowed in her room. I'm allergic to dust then cats.. and I ADORE my cats.. but it seems AJ is also sensitive. So even tho cat hair gets everywhere it is 'less' in her room.

#3 cats peeing or pooing outside their box is a sign. I'd talk to the vet.

Best of luck.

How to keep cats out of the crib?

yep pee/poop out of box = the cat is informing you something is wrong. It might be that the litter box isn't being cleaned enough, it's sick, it's not getting enough attention or it might have anxiety over the new baby. It may seem like a lot of work to figure it out but it's well worth it in my opinion since the cat isn't trying to harm the baby, it just knows you go to the crib and you pay attention to baby there.

if you have zero time (which I am sure you don't with a baby) while nursing or feeding baby if you have a free hand it might be worth it to get a cat whip toy and play with the cats or fishing line to get them to get all that pent up energy out and feel like your still paying attention to them. I know a mommy who did that and the pee/poop stopped.