Sophie, the cats, crates, & xpens...any suggestions?
 

My hubby is going to petsmart or petco tomorrow to get Sophie a crate so that she can be in the bedroom with us at night and so she can have somewhere during the day to go. Many of you know my concerns about having an xpen with the crate in it during the day since we have 3 cats. Our oldest cat has taken to her well and they play and chase each other having lots of fun. Our middle cat doesn't hiss or swat at her (yet); he just sniffs and runs away even if she doesn't bark. But it's my youngest cat (who was the baby before Sophie) that I'm worried about. He has shown a LOT of hostility toward her by hissing and swatting every time he sees her. He's getting a little better but not much. We've discovered that Sophie is a pretty tough little girl so I'm not as worried as I was about them really hurting her, but my husband is. She can run and jump as good as the cats! LOL She even jumps off the couch and chair with no problems at all (I was concerned about her possibly hurting her legs, but apparently she knows what she's doing! :p LOL)

DH wants to get a bigger crate (which I had a thread about before), and put her bed, pads, and toys in there during the day, but I would like to get her an xpen that is a taller one (48" high) so I can put the crate in it with her pee pads, toys, etc. But I'm concerned about the cats getting in there with her while we're not at home during the day.

Do you all think that the cats getting in there would be a big problem if I got the xpen? They can jump REALLY, REALLY high.

And also, I worry about her being able to jump on top of the crate and then getting out of the xpen. Would you be concerned about this?

I know I'm sounding overly paranoid, but I don't want them to get in there with Sophie and then get her around the neck (which is what they do with each other) and hurt her. Any suggestions?:confused:

I too have cats, 3 of them:D After a little time things will calm down. Max had to get his nose hit by my 1 cat and then they learn. I have baby gates in my house not to keep the cats out (like I could) but so the dogs don't get into the living room. It sounds like things are calming down in your house one will be the boss thats all. Good luck;);)

i have two cats. they HATE jerry - he always barks at them and chases them. they swat at him and hiss any chance they get. and one of them even chases jerry sometimes if he looks at her the wrong way. BUT luckily my cats had been de-clawed when i "inherited" them so i guess i cant help you. all I can say is they will get used to eachother eventually. I had a 120lb Doberman Pincher before Jerry and the cats just adored him. ofcorse he was a gentle giant. I miss that dog! him and jerry would have looked so cute side by side. okay getting off subject, sorry!

I don't have any cats, so I can't help you with that, but I too was concerned about Pixel jumping ON his crate and from there getting out of the pen. I'm sure he could have too because since then I have seen him jump a lot higher than that! What I did to alleviate this worry, was attach the ex-pen TO the crate. I have a big wire crate that I bolted the ex-pen to. It also gave him some additional room, as the ex-pen is an extension of the crate. I just took the door off, so it's always open. It's really worked out well for him and he loves having his very own "room." :D Good luck!

Oh and P.S., I clipped a tarp (with binder clips) onto the top of the pen so he can't climb out at all. It isn't very pretty, but it works great. ;)

I wouldn't put the crate in the xpen. I did that and learned the hard way. I wish my xpen had a door though, Capone can't go in when he wants to lay down or rest. The xpen with the crate is a good idea, but could be $$$. I think either one would be fine, if you can find a good x-pen with a door.

Kristy if Sophie is anything like her mother she will learn to climb over the xpen even without having her crate in it. I bought an x large crate for them to be in while I was not home and at night. I put a plastic box with the puppy pad (in our case a towel) in the back of the crate and their bed and toys in the middle and food and water in the front. She had a cat brother when she was at our house. He would play with them than when they got to rough get up on the table so they would leave him alone.

Betty

I don't like the x pens that Petco sells. Petsmart has the nice ones. They have doors and they sell tops that clip on. The downfall to getting the top (sold seperately of course.) is that you have to set it up in the shape of the top. But it would keep your baby safe and you wouldn't have to worry about the cats getting in.

I wouldn't want her in a crate all day or one in the xpen. Couldn't you just put the xpen with Sophie or the cats in a seperate room when you are not home?

Thanks for all the advice, everyone. We ended up getting the 36" high Midwest crate & a 24" all wire Midwest brand crate (with a bottom) that we have inside it right now. She hasn't tried to jump up on the crate yet, and I crossing my fingers and hoping that she may not. But as Betty said, if she's anything like her mom, she may get out eventually. I'm hoping that she is not realizing that she can get on the crate since it would be uncomfortable and hard to stand on the top anyway. The cats have pretty much ignored the xpen and just look at her through it but don't swat or anything. I'm figuring that they are just glad she can't get to them. I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes!

I'm hoping that the 36" high one might deter her from doing that, but I've definitely noticed she's a jumper! We may end up with the big crate anyway, but at least we can use the small crate and xpen when we travel and use the xpen outside. So at least I'm not thinking we wasted the money on it. I'll keep you updated if she becomes a little monkey and climbs out! LOL:p