Kitten wont stop jumping into elderly ferret's cage

Here is a photo of the cage when i first set it up. I keep the outer doors open all the time so my ferret can always have access to the play pen. My ferret is 9 years old and is very feeble. Mocha(the kitten) jumps in there mainly to eat her food. But sometimes she jumps in there to get bat at her and has even jumped in there directly on top of her! This can't keep happening, its so dangerous and my boyfriend and i constantly have to get in there and fish her out. She has no problem jumping in there right in front of us and has even jumped in while i was in there! We put a large stand up cutout  on the left side to deter her but it has not helped. We put things on top of the cage so she wouldn't see it as a shelf to jump on. Didn't work. She just jumps on top of the things and jumps directly over the gate. We used to put her in a separate room everytime but now i've found out that cats don't see that as a consequence. Recently I put an extra food bowl of heres next to th cage and it hasn't worked at all. We really need help, it's such a strain on our time off, we can't rest bc we are constantly having to get up and crawl in there and get her out in which she will wait give minutes and jump in a agian. It seems like not a big deal but it's ALL day she does this. I just had to put her in the bedroom bc she was in there batting at my poor ferret trying to sleep and once she saw me coming in to get her she ran straight to the food to eat as much as she could before i got her out. sigh. I'm just so tired of this please help me.

I'm so sorry for you. The only thing to do is to get a screed door or some kind of screen/fence and lay it across the top so the kitten can't get in. Now that  she knows there is something interesting in there she won't give up. Maybe you could get a used rabbit cage about the same size as your other, and use that as the play area, just push them together at the door area. The only way to keep your ferret  safe is an enclose pen. All the luck, and post us when you get an answer!

Di and Bob said:

 
The only way to keep your ferret  safe is an enclose pen. 

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I'm sorry to say; but I agree with this 100%.  A kitten's nature is going to have them after your ferret constantly; even just to play or look for food.  Really; she is just being a typical kitten.  She may lose some interest when she gets older; but it's unlikely she will lose total interest in getting in there.  I like the idea of another pen that you can connect at the openings.  Otherwise; some kind of top of the larger pen is going to be needed.  I just think trying to keep her out of your set-up is futile.  It's already frustrating for you and her frustration may only make her more determined.  Most deterrents (citrus scents for one) wouldn't be something I would want around the ferret. 

Thanks for the quick replies guys. I am really low on money right now. My town was hit with major flooding and I lost over 500 dollars worth of work supplies that I'm having to rebuy to make the money back...so i don't really have the means to go out and buy screens at the moment. I have lots and lots of blankets. Do you think tying blankets over the play pen would work? I'm going to try it today and see how it goes. 

Blankets might be too heavy. Do you have any semi-sheer curtains you could stretch taut over the pen? Flat sheets?

Funny you mention that. I have exactly that, a semi sheer curtain. I've put one up but I think i may add the other just in case. So far she's tried to jump on it twice and it slows her down enough for me to get her down before she can get in. If this works, it'll be annoying to remove at the least, twice a day to give my ferret her medications but it'll be worth it since for the past two months i've been having to get up to remove her countless times a day..will keep you guys updated.

Okay so this is not working. Put it up, the first few times she didn't like it and walked away but now she's just jumping into the middle of it to knock it down like its a fun extra.... :/

How about some lightweight fencing material or fishing net? Chicken wire might work, but she could injure herself on rough edges. Is there anybody you could borrow baby gates (or the like) from?

Update:  I work at a petstore so i was able to get a discount on a cage cover. One just like this:

 
The tarp only covers half of the pen bc of the way i have it set up. But so far she's tried to jump on it twice and it obviously makes her uncomfortable and it's given me enough time to stop her. I am going to my mom's house today to see if this painting tarp she has will work better and cover the whole thing. If it doesn't work out then I'll just be buying another play pen tarp from the pet store and sew them together or something. She's keeps looking at it and meowing...like how do i figure this one out haha