October 9, 2008
Baby-proofing your home for pets
There’s nothing like getting a new kitten or puppy to remind you how unsafe your house is. Let’s face it, our older pets have gotten used to the place and don’t bother things but bring in a new pet, especially a baby or young one and you get a new appreciation for those older pets!
Just last night I was reminded of that fact when I went to make some toys for our latest acquisition, a kitten who found us. I tied a mouse toy to a piece of string and put it up on top of her cat climbing post I just put together. I forgot about it, and we had put a little bit of kitty kibble up there to entice her to use it. My husband asked, “What is she eating?” I said, “Oh, that’s just some kitten food”. However, as I looked at her, I saw her gnawing on something and got closer to see her working on the end of the mouse toy, with the entire string INSIDE of her!
I gently pulled on it and out came about 18 inches of string! If my husband hadn’t said anything, I may not have noticed. Cats eating string is deadly. It doesn’t always pass. My old cat Fuzz used to like to get into my sewing area and he became sick one day, over the weekend, began vomiting and by the time I got him to the vet, he was in very bad shape. They didn’t find anything, took some blood, and kept him overnight. When they called me the next day, he had died in the night. The only thing they could attribute his death to, was some thread that was wrapped around a tooth. When they ingest thread, it can strangulate the intestines and cause the symptoms he had. We didn’t know. Fuzz was only one year old.
Animals get into EVERYTHING. Trash for instance; forget all the bad stuff that’s inside your garbage, the wrappers of trash are deadly. Plastic bags and even a potato chip bag with an enthusiastic pup snarfing down the crumbs can cause suffocation and death. It’s happened to some friends of mine.
If you have a trash hound, put your can away where the dog can’t get to it, inside a cabinet, closet, or pantry. Remember to take out your trash every night before bed, so your little adventurer won’t have anything to get into. We tried putting the trash can on top of the kitchen island, which worked for a while until I caught my cat working in cahoots with the dogs and knocking it over for them. I went to Pamida and bought a cabinet for the trashcan and that works. Nobody is in the garbage now.
You can use baby gates to block off areas that are off limits. You can also use a crate to keep your pup in when you can’t supervise them. You need to get on your hands and knees and crawl all around your home looking for things that harm your pet. Electrical cords, things that have been eaten by your couch but you can’t see like pens, pencils, small toys, marbles, coins, etc. There is no end to the number of seemingly harmless things that are deadly to your pet.
Want some incentive to put away your laundry? Wait until you get a puppy that eats socks and underwear that you have to pay a few hundred for surgery to save.
Veterinarians are constantly trying to help animals that get into foreign things. Pets are JUST LIKE TODDLERS. If you have kids or grandkids you know that you have to watch them constantly and keep harmful stuff locked away right? Well guess what, you have to do the same thing for your pets. If your pet gets into something and gets sick or dies, whose fault is it?
Even food items can be deadly, onions, macadamia nuts, walnuts, raisins and grapes for example, you should never feed to pets. Many pets have died from those as well as ingesting pills that have fallen on the floor that you lost. Aspirin is toxic to cats! Aspirin is okay to give to a dog, but a cat can go into seizures and die.
I know that I have taken my house for granted for several years now, because I’m used to older pets who don’t feel the need to get into everything, but no more! We have made it a family rule to all get on our hands and knees, inspect everything, and get things up off the floor we don’t normally see. We will move furniture and leave no stone unturned!
Guess what’s coming up soon? I know, I really hate to admit it, but the season to be jolly is coming up quick and oh boy, a new kitten and a Christmas tree! What was I thinking? Oh my gosh, ornaments and those hooks! I can already see disaster in my house. I know I have to keep a few ornaments put away until this kitten grows up and learns to leave things alone. Well, if I want to keep the ornaments and the cat. I’m sure I can come up with some kitten safe stuff to decorate the tree. I know what is likely to happen; kitten will climb up the tree and knock stuff off. It may as well be stuff that can’t break and cause shards of glass to get into your feet, or hers. I’ll put that on my list of to do’s before the big event. Cat’s can climb over anything, but if you have a puppy, you can put an x-pen around the tree, it effectively blocks off things or you can confine your puppy to it when needed. A child’s playpen can work too, believe it or not, to put the Christmas tree in to keep the puppy away from it, if the tree isn’t too big.
What if your puppy eats a glass ornament? This is what to do: get some cotton balls, the real cotton type, not the synthetic, and dip them in milk or half & half and feed them to your dog, the cotton will pick up shards of glass inside your pets stomach and intestines so they cause less damage, of course then take your dog to the vet immediately!
Of course, since Halloween is upon us soon, be sure to keep the candy put up away from the pets! Artificial sweeteners in some candies are deadly to pets. Remember cats can climb on top of just about anything, and chocolate, especially the dark chocolate or bakers chocolate can make your pet very sick, and can cause death too.
Okay, well that should be enough to scare the wits out of you. Who needs Halloween, just let me scare you! I hate to be the grim reaper, but if you don’t already know this stuff, and something happens to your pet and I hear about it, then I’m going to feel guilty that I didn’t warn you. If you have a puppy, kitten or even a new adult dog or cat that isn’t used to your home, take heed of these warnings. If you have older pets that never get into things count your blessings and give them a big hug! Just remember even the most obedient pets get into things they aren’t supposed to occasionally. Keep them safe. Dig out your kneepads and get to work!
