Safe Luxury

how to make home safe for kitty?

me and my bf are about to get a kitty. we live in small place where kitchen and the main room are not separated; there are two pcs, souvenirs on low shelves and kitchen bar. we are afraid that a kitty could hurt his self by biting cables or throwing things on himself by jumping on selves and bar. how could we make our place safer for a kitty? or is it already safe?

Public Comments

1. just move stuff around, my cat tends to weave threw everything he walks through. the cables i think will not be a problem unless them move alot. move the sovinies back a little or a little higher and that's about it
2. awwww a kitty! i don't think you can stop the kitty from playing with the cables and other souvenirs just hope that it won't hurt itself? why don't you get the kitty a toy so that it keeps off the other things?
3. Well I have 4 cats. 2 are considered feral. And 2 were adopted by us. We got each of them when they were young. First. Baby safe your house. A kitten is just as bad as a young child, if not more so. Put baby locks on the cabinets. Make sure that you have non breakable knick knacks on the lower shelves and the top shelves of cases. (They tend to like those two places and mine do not seem to bother with the middle ones, so put breakables on that.) Second. Get a squirt bottle. Do not hit a cat. Squirt it. Your hands give it love, the squirt bottle gives the discipline. Other than that, just keep an eye on it for a couple of days and make sure that it knows where it can and can not go. Hope you enjoy! They are such wonderful animals! Hope it helps! -K
4. That's a REALLY good question that not many people bother to ask! Good for you. My main concern when cat-proofing a home is to make sure the cat can't get at anything that could hurt him if he ate it. That means ANY and ALL kinds of string: gift wrap string, kitchen twine, a little scrap of string from who-knows-where, etc. This also means houseplants within the cat's reach, a bouquet of cut flowers in a vase, loose safety pins or pills (fun for kitty to bat around, but the cat might try eating them afterwards) and little tiny items like that. I wouldn't worry about a cat chewing on any wires or cords - it's very unlikely that he will even notice them. I wouldn't be worried about pictures and knicknacks on shelves getting knocked over. Your cat will probably amaze you with his ability to jump up onto things without knocking one item over. I don't think my cat has ever knocked anything down, ever. Cats have superb balance, too, and are generally able to get into precarious little spots without falling. If your cat jumps up onto something you don't want him on (the new dining room table, for example!) spray him with water from a trigger spray bottle. (Get one of those empty spray bottles from the drugstore - don't reuse an old Windex bottle or something!) One squirt is usually enough, but some cats freeze after the first squirt (in sheer horror, no doubt) and need another squirt. Make sure you squirt them WHILE they are in the process or else within 3 seconds of them being naughty. Otherwise, they won't understand.
5. If your things are breakable I would say put them away because kitties get into and on everything. Give your kitty plenty of things to play with and spend at least 15 minutes a day playing with him. Get a scratching post or Kitty cavern to use. You can get them at any pet store and are worth their weight in gold. Train your kitty to only scratch on these as early as possible by putting catnip on it and taking his little paws and showing him how to use it. It won't be long before he gets the hang of it and you'll both be happy! Good luck with your new kitty.
6. Just make sure anything valuable or of sentimental significance is kept in a cupboard or somewhere safe! I have my PC and laptop in the lounge and Gizmo or Chumba very often 'help' me type by walking over the keyboard. In the many years I have had cats, I have never known one of them bite cables. Anything on a shelf, on top of the TV, shelves, cabinets is considered fair game to my cats! although they do try their hardest not to knock things over. If you are getting a kitten, curtains are wonderful climbing apparatus as well, many a time I have had to rescue mine from almost the top of the curtains. Christmas trees are also considered fun to cats, although it does get a little ridiculous with 5 fully grown cats trying to climb it. And I totally agree with 1024, elastic bands, string etc should be kept out of a cats way. Have fun x
7. Your home is pretty much safe. But you may want to consider running your cables through pieces of pipe or hose, and meanwhile teach the cat not to chew cords and cables. And do something about the souvenirs because cats will jump. Perhaps you can invest in a shadow box for your keepsakes: The cat won't jump in that! The biggest thing to watch out for when making a home safe for a critter- any critter- is poisons. Whether plant or household chemicals, you'll want to be very sure your kitty won't get into that. Good luck!
8. just move some stuff around where it wont get it or something
9. lock doors, put the toilet seat down, and close your bin lid! lol xxx