You may have heard of kid-proofing your home, but pet-proofing is just as important and some of the tools designed for kid-proofing can also work for pets.
Cats in particular have a curious nature and tendency to get into things that could either be harmful to them or annoying to you. Sometimes it seems they want to get into things just to prove they can.
For example, your pet may bang on a closet door, bedroom door or kitchen cabinet in the middle of the night until they manage to get it open. By installing a device meant to keep children from opening doors or drawers, you can get a good night’s rest.
Keep the garbage located in a place they cannot get into because they will rummage through the garbage and may ingest something harmful to them. When it comes to chicken bones and other obvious dangers, wrap them in a plastic bag and put them in the trash in the garage where there’s no chance they will get into them.
Keep the toilet lid closed. If you leave the lid open, pets will drink the toilet water and could possible ingest something dangerous to them such as hair or dye. Besides, open toilets really are an unattractive decorative item and should be closed anyway. Your pet is training you to have good taste in home décor.
Don’t leave dirty dishes in the kitchen sink and remember to rinse the sink afterwards. Cats jump in the sink and lick the bits of food left after rinsing dinner dishes.
Use pest control that isn’t harmful to pets. If you must use toxic cleaners or formulas, keep the pets away from the scent and/or open the windows for proper ventilation.
Keep medications and cleaning supplies under lock and key. The best place for medicines is the medicine cabinet and you should not keep your cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink unless you put a child-proof latch on them.
Make sure screens are in and doors are latched. If a handyman or somebody who may be going in and out of your house frequently, keep the pets in a safe room where they cannot accidentally get out. Also, when entertaining, you may want to keep the pets away from the guests because people sometimes stress pets by giving them too much attention—especially if they are strangers.
If you have overnight guests, you may want to instruct them on being careful not to let the pets out. You can set your home security alarm to “ding” whenever a door or window is open so that everybody can be aware of somebody going outside.
Be careful when you cook with foodstuffs that are deadly for pets. For example, you may not even want to cook with mushrooms and other ingredients that would harm your pets if swallowed.
It’s important to take extra care to keep your pet safe and healthy by preventing careless accidents.