Disability friendly baby gates?

Discussion in 'General Advice' started by idiomie, Jun 3, 2020.

  1. idiomie

    idiomie I, A Shark Apologist

    We're looking to get some baby gates to keep our cats out of the kitchen/bedroom hallway. However, I have Bad Wrists and poor grip strength - many baby gates require hand strength or twisting motions that I can't always do, and that are usually quite painful even when I can. Are there any brands known for having easy to use to handles, or a type of handle that I should be looking for?

    If anyone wants to rec a specific baby gate, keep in mind:
    1. Our cats are excellent climbers, so it can't be anything with a lattice like structure. We're only looking at close together bar style gates
    2. I also can't bend over very well, so we're looking for tall options (33+ inches)

    If you have something to rec that doesn't meet both of those nbd it'll still be a good place for me to start! But those are the other considerations
     
  2. HonestlyVan

    HonestlyVan a very funny person who never tells jokes

    There's a type that won't turn unless lifted out of the about inch tall socket at the wall or the floor which is not very secure for babies but might work better for a creature without opposable thumbs. Unfortunately I have no idea where you'd go about buying one, but if you have access to a power drill and some batten I can probably get you instructions for how to build it.
     
    • Informative x 1
  3. idiomie

    idiomie I, A Shark Apologist

    It's worth looking at? I think I have an idea of how to go about building that, anyway. We were hoping for something with minimal construction/assembly needs, tho - we live in an apartment, so if it's something where we need to cut materials to size, we don't have access to tools like that.

    I don't know what batten is tho

    (Possibly my aunt and uncle have those and would let us use them at their house but also... Don't wanna ask them :( )
     
    • Like x 1
  4. Emma

    Emma Your resident resident

    Sometimes hardware stores will cute things to size either for free, of for a small fee, in case you do go this route.
     
  5. HonestlyVan

    HonestlyVan a very funny person who never tells jokes

    You can also make it out of PVC pipe, although wood is preferrable just b/c it holds shape better and can stand to kitties trying to jump up against it. The upside is that if you make your own, you can make it just about any size you need.

    I did some quick Googling and while I didn't found the model I remember seeing, a very similar one is marketed under "No Trip Gate" over here (over here it's marketed by Clippasafe, and in the UK by Argos), although it apparently comes with some kind of a lock you need to press down on to lift the gate. Looking at the pictures you can probably disassemble the lock mechanism or use a separate cradle entirely to hold the gate loosely in place to make lifting it out of the way easier.
     
    • Informative x 1
  6. idiomie

    idiomie I, A Shark Apologist

    This is true! However, about a year ago I wanted to do something like this*, and none of our local ones will. (Technically one of the home depots will, but they are... Not great. I had two different projects, and they fucked the cuts up so badly I had to scrap both. Evidently, if you need something with an error of margin less than one inch per cut, they can't help you. I am. Still a little salty about this, honestly)

    Sorry, this is solid advice, I've just tried this previously

    Thanks! I watched a few installation videos and I think I can just... Not attach the clipping part, since it's the very last piece of assembly - if I was using this for babies, I'd need it, but it shouldn't be a problem for cats

    *Only similarity was needing things cut to size, technically
     
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