Pets eat weird stuff. They are, by nature, curious about everything (especially cats). Taste testing is one of the ways how they explore their environment. This blog will give you my (tried and tested!) common sense hacks to pet-proof your home. And cope with mess, fur, snags … sound familiar?
#1 Technology.
Use cable covers to hide TV and computer cables from nosy puppies and cats that are happy to have a munch, especially when they’re teething. Batteries can smell and taste interesting… briefly, until they poison unpleasantly. Keep batteries in a closed drawer, where curious paws can’t scoop them out to play with.
#2 Kitchen traps
As soon as I open one of my kitchen cupboards, you can bet one of my cats will be in there, having a nosy. Lots of interesting dark nooks and crannies – that lead to the back of the stove and my dishwasher. And household cleaning stuff, including dishwasher pods that can be scooped out and sampled…. If you’ve got a clever explorer that can open doors (we’ve all seen the video clips on social media), it’s worth putting magnetic closers on your kitchen cabinet doors, or child locks. Always check tumble dryers and washing machines, if the doors have been left open.
Plastic bags – lovely, rustly, interesting – and, even if they look very funny, pets can get panicky when they can’t escape or get tangled up with bag handles. Which, of course, makes it even more difficult to extricate them. The more you chase after them , the more they flee from you and this rustling monster that won’t let them go. I have a plastic bag full of plastic bags stuffed onto a high shelf in a cupboard. As we move away from using plastic bags, this will become less of a problem, but we need to be mindful in the meantime.
Human food – my cats love cheese, mayonnaise, yogurt and butter. So far, they’ve not come to harm with the tiny amounts they’ve been able to snaffle – but they’re sneaky, and I have to be careful about leaving lids off containers and jars! Other common foods that are toxic to both cats and dogs are:
- Chocolate
- Chives
- Coffee (grounds, chocolate covered beans, sweet coffee essence)
- Salt (very tempting)
- Avocados – Do you season your avocado with salt and vinegar?
- Garlic
- And fruit pips and kernels
- Grapes for dogs
- Alcoholic beverages – dogs like the sweet taste of the hops in beer. Not a good idea!
- Yew branches and berries at Christmas
#3 House plants
Cats eat grass (perfectly normal), and may be tempted to sample leaves of houseplants. Dogs may also be tempted – and I have a friend whose dog will eat any houseplant. Flowers that are toxic to both dogs and cats include lilies, daffodils, tulips, crocus, oleander, chrysanthemums, English ivy, cyclamen and peace lily.
The pollen of tiger and star lilies is particularly poisonous to cats. In any home arrangement, I always snip off the heads of the stamens as soon as the lilies open, pop them safely in the bin and then wash my hands so there’s no risk of transferring pollen to my cat when I stroke her.
#4 Anything that can be climbed!
Precious ornaments and trinkets could be at risk from waggy tails and scooping paws looking for a toy to play with! Got free standing bookshelves? Make sure they’re not top heavy as they could possibly be toppled over by a climbing cat. And don’t forget the Christmas tree – very tempting to any cat. (One of my cats sicked up green sparkly gloop from tree decorations she’d snaffled and sampled)
#5 Home office and other random nicknacks
It goes without saying that anything small and a potential toy should be out of reach of cheeky pets. My son’s dog will grab remote controls, kids’ small toys, anything he can find that he can tease his humans with, while having an interesting chew. My daughter’s dog raids hubby’s sock draw…..
#6 The toilet
Yep – not the most attractive trait of our beloved pets, but they will slurp from the toilet bowl. If your pet is small it could potentially fall in – again a very funny sight, but a panicked pet can drown.
Top tips that I’ve found work
Pet hair – all sorts of products are available to remove pet hair from surfaces. It’s a pain but that’s part of the trade off for their unconditional adoration – even cats! Prickly balls in a washing machine drum can help with pet hairs on duvets covers and cushion covers, clothes, pillow cases etc etc
Cat flaps – by law all cats in the UK must now be microchipped. Cats being cats, they are nosy about other people’s homes, shameless snackers on other cats’ food and will even have a snooze if they find a cosy spot and they need a quick nap. Interlopers can be aggressive too towards your cats, so keeping them out with a microchip catflap is the answer.
Feliway diffusers for introducing new cats or when moving to a new house – or any other strangeness that might upset your pet. The dog equivalent is Adaptil. Catnip toys for cats can be a game changer for anxious cats – I got some Kong catnip toys for my cats when I brought them home from the rescue centre and it was the best thing for them (magic with the diffuser)
Stress incontinence as well as house training – animals tend to go back to the spot where they’ve been before because it’s their smell. Stains can also be very hard to get out of carpets. Try Simple Solution (on Amazon) – for either kittens or puppies. I’ve tried this and it works really well. Pet doesn’t repeat soiling in that area and it saves you from lingering odour in fabrics
Cat scratching furniture – almost impossible to stop unless you have furniture guards (which I personally don’t like – they’re unsightly). Having a scratch pad or scratch post can help. My leather sofa is worse for wear – so I have throws draped over the worst parts. It looks good, and the cats have completely lost interest in scratching. (Maybe I should have done that from the start!)
Dogs chewing furniture – boredom can be a factor, so lots of chew toys, exercise and interactive play with you will help.
Have you got any tips and hacks that we can add? Let me know!
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