Kitten proofing

[Rosella moggy]

Draping a blanket over railing?

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

 I TOO THINK YOU ARE RIGHT TO BE CONCERNED AND PROBLEM IS THAT ALTHOUGH NOT STAYING KITTENS FOR EVER SOME JUST GROW UP TO BE PLAIN NORTY CATS.......................NOT NAMING ONE HERE LOL.

I ALSO HAVE OPEN GAPS LIKE THAT ON STAIRS AND EVEN WORSE THEY CAN LOOK DOWN FROM RIGHT AT TOP TO SEE THE FLOOR.

I HAVE SOMETHING WHICH IS NOT PRACTICAL ON STAIRS LEANING AGAINST THE SLATS............A LADDER AND BEGIND THAT HAVE GOT HARDBOARD.................DOESNT STOP HIS NIBS LOOKING AND SCARING ME!

COULD YOU TEMPORARILY PUT A HARD BOARD BARRIER UP ON THE STAIRS SIDE UNTIL THEY AE OLDER? OR EVEN FROM TOP TO HALF WAY DOWN.

I WORRY ABOUT SOFT THINGS TO BREAK FALLS COS THEY POSSIBLE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO LAND PROPERLY ON A SOFT SURFACE.........HAVE TO SAY THERE ARE MULTIPLE DETERENTS IN MY HALL LOL SO THINK NORTY CAT HAS FIGURED OUT THAT JUMPING DOWN WOULD NOT BE A GOOD IDEA 

HOWEVER THE ONE THAT REALLY BOTHERS ME IS AT TOP WHERE ON MY STAIRS YOU CAN LOOK DOWN BETWEEN THE STAIRS AND SIDE WALL RIGHT TO FLOOR AND IS A KITTEN SIZE GAP.....I DONT KNOW IF YOU HAVE THAT BUT IF YOU DO SOME TEMPORARY BLOCKAGE MAY BE GOOD...........AND OLD CURTAIN, TOWEL OR SHEET MAYBE, TO STUFF IN TO BLOCK.

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

I think its really sensible to think about this, as we had a kitten who did exactly that - fell through the spindles. 

Thankfully, because of how our house is configured, we had a sofa to break his fall, but my heart was in my mouth when it happened.  I think if you can't temporarily block up the spindles (we tried bits of hardboard but it wasn't very successful) then I'd try and put something at the side of the stairs to cushion any mishaps.  When I say the side of the stairs, I mean where the kitten would potentially fall if slithering through.  We've only ever had one kitten who did that, but it was heart-stopping.   

Kittens are very resilient, but its not unknown for little uns to suffer broken limbs from falls. 

The good thing is, they're not kittens forever. 

[Judecat (Paula)]

Sorry V, I have never been in that position, always had solid bannisters so of no use whatsoever, I can see both points of view being valid, but kittens climb so they would probably just climb a bumper and then they would be higher.

[Banksy12]

Morning,

Our two tiny kittens are exploring upstairs. We have a landing with a banister along it but the banister has spindles with big gaps between. A few times the kitties have poked their heads through and we're a bit worried in case they fall as it's a big drop to the hallway below at the bottom of the stairs! I wondered about using a cot bumper type thing but my husband thought that make them even more inclined to explore around and potentially climb over or play with the barrier.

What do you guys think?

V