Cat proofing your home: Interesting things you need to know
Cats are lovely to have around. However, they can also be a handful around the house. This means you have to put in some work to make sure the cat, and your home are safe. Here are some tips to guide you.
Protect your vinyl blinds
Cats naturally love to play with the bats and cords on blinds. It is therefore important for you to tuck into the top of the blinds or tie them off. This will help you prevent bite marks on the handle of the cords, or them getting pulled down.
Buy catnip and furniture covers
Catnip is effective in diverting the attention of your cat from one piece of furniture to the other. Don’t forget to partner it with a carpeted cat scratching post that is tall enough for your cat to stretch out on. Rub the catnip on the post and have it placed at the corner of the furniture you intend to protect.
While your cat is still young, it will be able to hang from furniture by its claws. This means that some of your leather furniture could suffer. To make sure this doesn’t happen, cover the living and dining room chairs with chair covers. Also cover the arms and backs of leather recliners and sofas with blankets or throws. Any good furniture outlet should have more information on these covers.
Protecting your cat from cleaning products
After you are done cleaning a particular area, it is important to make sure you don’t allow your cat get onto the space. If they do, they can lick chemicals form drains, faucets, sinks and surfaces. So, always make the area out of bounds to your cat until the place is free of the cleaning products; close the door. Always store the cleaning products, and any medication, in closed separate containers in locations totally inaccessible to your cat.
Protecting your plants
As you consider bringing home a cat, you need to consider if you have any plants that would be bad for their digestive systems. Some plants, like ferns, can be deadly to your cat if they chew on them. Remove all those that are harmful, or move them out of cat-reach. To aid the cat’s digestion, bring in some cat grass around the home. Here are some common plants that could be harmful to your cat.
Protecting your breakable stuff
Cats enjoy climbing and jumping, and it is possible for them to mistime a jump or two from time to time, and crash into your glass figurines, or wine cabinet, sending everything crashing to the floor. To prevent this, you need to move all your breakable objects to spots that will naturally be too high for the cat to jump to them, and provide your cat with a safe environment for their inevitable acrobatics.
Protecting your rubbish
Cats get bored pretty quickly, so you can be sure they will find things to play with. Where best to get fun and excitement than in your rubbish bins? They can play and chew on store bags, cotton swabs, candy wrappers and eat scraps. All of these can be dangerous for the cat and also leave you home filled with litter; the phrase “like a bomb hit it” comes to mind. You should replace all the open bins you have all around your home with those with secure lids.
With these tips, you can live happily with your cat without having to spend a lot of money on repairs and replacements, and time on clean ups!