Cat Proof Your Home from These Five Problems

Everyone who gets a cat hears the usual ways to help cat proof your home. This would include moving the plants and plastic bags, and keeping items such as pet food off of the floor. But there are a few lessons you don't learn until the cat shows you. Here are five of those lessons.

The Refrigerator

I found this out one morning when I came into the kitchen to find an open cereal box and cereal on the floor next to the refrigerator. I use the top of the fridge as storage. Alley my old orange tabby and Bandit my gray/white American longhair, both showed me it was possible to get up onto the refrigerator. Lesson number one - use plastic containers with resealable lids to help cat proof your home for any food item in plain sight.

Seal Off All Holes

This would include holes in both walls and furniture fabric; unless you are willing to let your cat have a hiding spot in a wall or couch. If you have partial walls make sure to cap them off. Jack taught me this when he climbed up onto the water heater in the bathroom, then on top of the partial wall which separates the shower from the water heater; he then fell in between the wall and the shower. I spent half a morning ripping out a wall to get to a crying cat. If you have an exposed opening in a wall, your cat will find a way into it but may not be able to figure out how to get back out.

Don't Leave Dishes Around

Yes this seems simple, but people do forget about dishes in the sink. Something I found out from my cats, all three so far, is that if you leave dirty dishes in the sink the cats will find them. I tried filling up dishes with water to get the crumbs loose; one day I found that Alley will drink from dishes in the sink, then I found out months later that Bandit does the same thing. So lesson three - if you have cats, help cat proof your kitchen by doing the dishes daily or something you didn't want your pet getting into will be found. On a side note, don't fill up dishes with soapy water and leave them around either, soap is dangerous for cats and not all cats will know to stay away from soapy water.

Make Sure Hinged Windows and Doors Are Locked

If you don't want a missing cat, or a hidden cat, lock anything which uses hinges. Jack, my tuxedo cat, is the one who taught me this. He has a closet which he hides in; he can open the door, climb up onto a shelf, and stay there all day. He also found a way to open an old hinged window one morning and I found him crying outside trying to get back in because he fell out of the window. As a side note, keep your window and door screens repaired also. Alley once knocked out a screen in my kitchen and I couldn't figure how she was at the front door waiting to come in when I woke up one morning. Lesson four - maintain your windows, doors and screens when you have cats.

Tape or Replace Worn Electrical Cords

Jack gave me a scare when he was four months old. I had an old toaster/convection oven which I hadn't used in months but never got unplugged. The cord was frayed in one spot by about 1/8^th of an inch. Jack, being curious, bit into the cord at the fray and almost got electrocuted. Luckily I was nearby and spotted him. The lesson here - to help cat proof your home, repair or replace cords and plugs before bringing home a cat.