Cat-Proofing Your Home: A Safe Cat is a Happy Cat

Cats are chock-full of mischief and curiosity -- which means that they're prone to getting into all sorts of trouble! For peace of mind, you may follow the simple guidelines listed below for transforming your house environment into a safe sanctuary for your cat. These tips aim to help reduce potentially dangerous temptations in the hopes that kitty will keep all nine lives intact.

Fire/shock hazards
+ Place plastic protectors over unused electrical outlets so that your cat won't be tempted to stick claws into sockets.
+ Use burner covers on your stovetop, and train your cat to stay away from the oven -- and the dryer!
+ Wrap twist-ties around groupings of electrical cords (so that, to a cat's eye, they no longer resemble fun black pieces of yarn), or slide cardboard tubes over the cords to hide them completely. Empty paper towel tubes work well for this purpose.
+ Candles and incense should never burn unattended. Likewise, keep close watch on hot objects like irons, curling irons, kettles and glue guns.

Water hazards
+ Don't trust a cat in the bathroom with a tub full of water. Many cats fear water, but some are actually quite fascinated by it! Avoid taking that stereotype for granted.
+ Make it a habit to always lower the lid of the toilet seat.

Poison hazards
+ Never feed a cat grapes, raisins, tomatoes, onions, garlic or chocolate!
+ Find out whether or not your houseplants are poisonous to cats. There are many websites which offer information of this sort. If your plants are poisonous, give them away to cat-less friends or place them where kitty will be unable to snatch a leafy nibble.
+ Crafting items such as glue and paint must be stored out of reach.
+ If your cat is prone to opening cupboard doors, install child-proof latches on any cupboards which contain products full of toxic chemicals, such as cleaning agents and makeup.

Other hazards
+ Many cats love to chew on plastic grocery bags. Stash these away so that kitty can't find them, as they should not be ingested and also pose suffocation risks.
+ Pointy objects like knives, scissors, nails, needles, safety pins and thumbtacks must always be inaccessible to your cat.
+ Keep an eye on glassware (such as drinking glasses), because they are very tempting for cat paws to bat at and knock over.
+ Display your breakables sensibly -- not on a lightweight floor shelf which kitty could easily climb and tip over. I'm speaking from experience here! Unfortunately, we learned this particular lesson the hard way in my house and had a broken music box to show for it, along with one very frightened (but thankfully unharmed) black cat.

A note on kittens
While it's true that kittens, owing to their smallness, rarely attempt to climb or leap onto high surfaces (such as the aforementioned wobbly shelf), their miniature size creates unique problems. My first cat, Penguin, managed to wedge himself into the base of my loveseat when he was about ten weeks old, and I spent a frantic hour racing around the apartment trying to find him. Finally, he meowed, and I was able to set him free -- by cutting the loveseat open and more or less destroying the inside of it. When you have a young, small kitten, just remember that they can squeeze themselves into just about any cozy niche they find appealing, so if you have holes in the walls, patch them up, and block off the narrow cracks beneath furniture and appliances.