eBaby Store

KidCo Extra Tall Center Gateway

***** (5 Stars) Item is well made and has a wide door which works better than others that you would have to go in sideways because it was thin. Pricier than some other gates, but well worth it. I would purchase another gate like this if in the future I need another. Very satisfied... -- Sturdy gate & very well made

It's a baby gate, and despite other reviews about using it for cats, I had some concerns about skinny cats fitting through, but first...

Getting to what most people want addressed: Yes, it installs easily. No tools needed but the supplied toy wrench. The white one we got isn't bad looking at all. It's quiet in operation and firm in fit. The gate mechanism swings both ways and works pretty well, requiring you to push in a button while lifting the handle (so it helps to have two free hands, though I've gotten good at one hand operation.) It comes with small extensions in the event your door frame is a bit wide (so you don't have to order and pay for them seperately). Our doorknob did not stick out so much that it interfered with the gate's position and we are able to close the door (with the gate open or closed) with no issue. The gate's permanent vertical bars appear not so wide apart that a cat can get through. We're good. Except for a few things we learned as we went along...

We had a peaceful four cat household that grew to five when a good friend died leaving her five year old cat, Kali behind. We were fine with bringing her to our house. Despite the presence of many outdoor cats where she came from, Kali was used to being inside as an only cat and "plays well with others" was never on her report card. When she first met him, Kali gave my sweet skinny 16 year old boy the bum's rush, jumping and rolling him though he posed no threat. We then knew it was critical to make slower, safer introductions.

Hence this gate. At 42" it was the tallest I could find. It fit the door perfectly with no extensions. I put it in myself, and was psyched to show my husband. I stood back to admire it, and that's when Kali put her head through the space between where the bars end and where the door jamb began. They say if a cat's head will fit, so (unless the cat is overweight) will the rest of it. I don't know if it's true and I didn't want to find out. I knew adding the extensions would provide more bars and less gap, but despaired, knowing the addition of the extensions would make the gate too wide for the doorframe.

Enter the husband, who, thinking further outside the box than I could, realized only ONE extension at one end of the gate would work. He put it on, it filled the gap, we easily reinstalled, and stood back to admire the gate. Within 15 minutes, Kali jumped up and stood swaying on the widest top part of the gate, the handle, her four feet in a tiny row. I gently pushed her back down, closed the door and begin to try to think like a cat.

How do you make a gate not look like a good place to jump? I laid old mushy bed pillows across the top which would interfere with her ability to land and might visually discourage her, but did not trust the scheme. We thought about getting a second gate to put above this gate, but vetoed it as creating too much hassle when trying to enter or exit. I soon wearied of hanging around the door to make sure Kali didn't try again, when it occurred to me that if I were a cat, I probably wouldn't jump if I couldn't see how high I had to make it. One tension rod, some pinchy clip hooks, and an old folded sheet later, the top part of the door was closed off only with fabric, and allowing it to drape on the side facing the cat, Kali couldn't see the gate's top. So far, she hasn't tried again. I can sweep the curtain to one side before entering easily.

We still don't know if the gate will help us accomplish the task of letting the cats get accustomed to one another in a non-threatening way, but if it fails, it's not the gate's fault. Of the four cats, two are coming around and sitting within a few feet of the door. The old fellow who got jumped by Kali is still avoiding the area when the door is open. The shyest one who doesn't come upstairs much is starting to be curious. We are cautiously hopeful this product will help the transition. As gates go though, this one's easy to put in and work, is tall, looks acceptable, and does what it's supposed to do. Wish us luck!

ADDITION, AUGUST 22, 2010 - Kali got out of the room early in the morning on this date. We are not sure if she managed to leap over the top of the gate, or if she squeezed through the bars, but clearly this gate alone is not enough. -- Excellent gate, easy to put in, had some cat issues...

Solid and good looking, and our cat didn't even try jumping over it! We leave the latch open which makes using the gate much easier (it's still secure and won't open by pushing. The latch is probably needed for children 2 years or older). One issue with the item we received was that it was supposed to have 2 extension vertical bars but it only had 2. The box seemed half open. Might have been a customer return or something. Amazon offered us to return the product but we couldn't wait again for the new product to arrive and we didn't need that bar since we had purchased the 12.5" extension kit (excellent product as well) -- Excellent product!

I bought this gate to see if it would keep our 5-year-old, 10-pound cat out of a room we had just remodeled. We have lower gates the keep our two dogs in one area of the house and the cat jumps them with ease, which is OK, but we knew we needed something different if we were going to be able to keep the door open on the new room. This gate works. Installation was easy. After the gate was installed I took some cat food into the new room where the cat could see it and watched to see if he could jump over it. He got his front paws over the top, but he couldn't get traction with his back legs on the round uprights and he just hung there until I rescued him; I laughed my head off. If he can't clear it for food, he won't be able to clear it at all and the new room is safe. That's good; my wife had threatened to run the cat and me both off if the cat marked the new room. We have foot-operated gates on other doors, and those are much easier to use, but I think we will get used to the handle on this gate, and it did seem to be the best of the available choices in tall gates. -- Great gate for cats