How to Keep Cats From Going Up the Stairs

It's one thing to keep a toddler or even a puppy confined to one level of the house: all you need is an expandable gate at the top or the bottom of the flight of stairs. Cats, however, are a different breed. Hardheaded and intelligent, they will climb over gates and around other obstructions you put in their way. This isn't usually a problem, though, unless you have a cat that will tear up your possessions or make a ruckus at night. If you want to keep your cat on a lower level, as in a cellar or on a ground floor, you must be creative and determined to keep your cat down the stairs.

Things You'll Need

  • Tape measure
  • Plywood
  • Hand saw
  • Strips with nylon hooks and pile
  • Jigsaw
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Instructions

    • 1

      Measure the width between the walls or the railing and the wall at the bottom of the stairs. Cut out a piece of plywood that is the same width as the stairway. The height will depend on your cat; measure the tail and multiply by seven. A cat will be able to jump as high as seven times its height.

    • 2

      Place strips of tape with nylon hooks and pile along the side edges of the plywood, and give each strip a partner on the wall, or on the bottom post on the other side. Slide the plywood down so it joins the tape and seals the stairway.

    • 3

      Add in some of the modular fencing available to keep toddlers out of stairways and other dangerous places, if your stairway is open on one or both sides. Thread it from bar to bar in the railing, up to at least the height of the plywood you used for the stair entrance.