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HOW TO KITTEN AND CAT PROOF YOUR HOME

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It's finally time to bring your new kitten or cat home with you!! While the event itself is very exciting; it is also a huge change and trauma for the feline, no matter how loving the new home and family. Being prepared ahead of time will greatly ensure that the actual transition for your new furry family member is as quiet, calm and comfortable as possible. Kittens and cats are by their nature VERY curious about their surroundings, so you will need to make sure there are no hidden "escape routes" that lead outdoors for your indoor-only kitty

Kittens and cats are by their nature VERY curious about their surroundings, so you will need to make sure there are no hidden "escape routes" that lead outdoors for your indoor-only kitty. If you have young children, or any concerns about the cat getting out, you can even make and post small signs at each doorway reminding the family to close them carefully and watch for kitties!

1. All windows, including bathroom and kitchen must have screens. A leading cause of accidents and death in house cats is a fall from a window. Passing birds are a great distraction for a cat. Cats don’t know if they are on the 1st or 10th floor of a building and will lunge after them with deadly consequences. Even if the fall is from a low floor, the cat often distracted and petrified will run out into traffic or be unable to find its way home.

2. Keeping your toilet bowl closed after use is a must for small kittens. If you take baths check to make sure the kitten are not in the bathroom and close the door before turning on the tap. Small kittens can easily drown in a toilet bowl or bathtub. They become exhausted from trying to get out and will drown in very little time. Move glass or breakable treasures inside a locked cabinet, or use special anchoring clay to keep them secured from being knocked over by an inquisitive paw. Always keep your washing machine and dryer doors closed, and check carefully before and after each use to make sure your kitty hasn't somehow gotten inside. For some reason, all kittens seem to love exploring underneath the refrigerator - make sure that they cannot get all the way under or behind the refrigerator by filling up those spaces or putting boards or other material there to keep the kitties out.

3. Move all toxic materials so that they are out of reach (or better yet, safely locked in a secured cabinet) for your cat. All human medication, including pain killers and vitamin pills are poisonous to cats. If you drop a pill be sure to find it and place it where your cat can’t find it. Remove all poisonous items from your home. This includes household cleansers, especially those with pine, car products such as anti-freeze, small sharp objects, poisonous plants, etc. Cover outlets and hide or heavily cover with tapes or plastic conduit electrical cords as cats and young teething kittens like to gnaw on such items. Watch for lightweight table lamps that can fall over; heavy irons that can fall off ironing boards; reclining chairs where kittens and cats can get up way inside and suffocate, or get trapped and badly injured or killed when someone unknowingly sits down at the wrong time. If you have a sofa bed make sure the kitten/s or cat/s are accounted for before closing it. Never allow a guest to close it. A cat or a kitten can get into the well of the sofa bed, closing it with the cat inside can break their back and kill them. Keep all paper shredders turned off and unplugged. Never leave the machine unattended while operating it.

4. It's best to keep real houseplants in a separate, closed area, away from any contact with your cats. Silk plants make an attractive, safe substitute. This way, the cat does not come in contact with any poisonous plants, nor have the opportunity to ingest or come in contact with any potential parasites in the soil. Be sure to remove all strands of spaghnum moss, to avoid having your kitty ingest them. A professional veterinarian should be contacted immediately if your cat suddenly collapses, has repeated vomiting or severe diarrhea, or shows signs of excessive irritation (red, swollen, blistering or raw) of skin of the mouth or throat. Any cat or kitten who becomes lethargic and loses interest in their food for a day or more may also have ingested something potentially dangerous, and professional help should be sought. If you actually see your cat eat something that you suspect to be poisonous, do not attempt to make the cat vomit yourself. Take the cat to the vet with a sample of the plant (a plant label or means of identification would also be most helpful). This will help the vet to find a treatment or antidote to the poison. Keeping notes of the time of eating and any symptoms may also be very helpful to your vet, as sometimes several days can pass between the ingestion of the harmful material and the actual effects showing up in your cat. Contact with the leaves, stems or sap of certain plants can cause rashes and hypersensitivity to sunlight resulting in sunburn. In cats these plants may cause blistering or itching of the mouth and gums, which can sometimes be misdiagnosed as gingivitis. Sneezing and eye problems can also be caused through contact with these plants. For a listing of toxic plants, go to:

5. Be very aware that not all cat toys are safe - be especially careful about leaving any string, yarn, thread, dental floss, needles, safety pins, rubber bands, small pieces of a toy like eyes or bells that can easily come off and be ingested. Unfortunately, having a feline swallow a foreign object is a fairly common and often fatal event which almost always could have been prevented. Make sure that any toys you make or purchase have no small or sharp pieces that can poke or be chewed off and be swallowed. Cats seem to love household items such as twist ties for plastic bags, but these can be deadly. Twist ties can be swallowed and perforate intestines. You can make aluminum foil balls that your cat will love because they are easy to bat around and make a nice noise on hard floors, but be sure to wad the foil up very tightly so your kitty can't chew off and swallow bits of foil, and also be sure the ball is large enough that we can't swallow it.

Other types of potential hazards for kittens and cats include anything with loops on them, such as grocery paper or plastic bags with the carry handles still on them; litter box liners of the drawstring type if they are pulled closed and the loop is left where kittens can get stuck in them, and even the vertical pulls for window blinds. All of these can be deadly if the kitty gets his or her head caught in the loop. Keep ALL plastic bags safely away from kitties.