Did you hear that this is National Poison Prevention Week? It’s a week to raise awareness of poison prevention for the whole family, and we all know that our cats are an important part of the family. Every day of this week has a different awareness focus, and today is Home Safe Home day.
We live in our home with cats every day and don’t think about the trouble they can get into until a breakable vase is knocked on the floor, then we realize that the vase was in a dangerous place all the time. Things that may be poisonous to our cats in our home are like that, too. We live alongside them all the time without thinking about them until something unfortunate happens. Take a few minutes during this awareness week to look around your house at a cat’s eye view.
Has your cat ever gotten into the attic or basement? Many attics and basements have moth balls, rat bait, or ant poison in unprotected locations because you don’t expect a cat to be in there. Putting these items in locations that are accessible to moths, rats, or ants rather than cats is always a good idea, just in case a cat visits the area.
Does your cat know how to get into cabinets? What about drawers?
Take a look in the cabinet under your kitchen and bathroom sink. What do you store there? Cleaning products and detergents? If your upper cabinets are like ours, they probably have bottles of vitamins, human medicines, and veterinary medicines. If your cat is as adept at opening cabinets and drawers as Pierre, you might want to look into baby latches intended to keep children out of cabinets. They’re not expensive, and can keep curiuous cats out of the cabinets. We have posted previously about solutions for securing pantries and other storage areas that have bifold doors.
You may have houseplants in any room of the house. Some houseplants are toxic to cats, while others are fine. A good resource to check about the specific plants in your house is the Pet Poison Helpline list of poisons. This resource includes plants and many other poisonous items found throughout your home, so you can find out about their potential effects on your cat.
Does your cat have access to your garage? Walk out there and take a look at what you’re storing there. Are there slug baits for the garden? What about weed killers? If your washer and dryer are in the garage, the dish washing detergent and fabric softener sheets are toxic, too. (Though not related to poisons, don’t forget to be careful to always check the interior of the dryer before putting in a load in case a cat gets inside!) Automotive chemicals such as oil, gasoline, and antifreeze are also toxic. It only takes a teaspoon of antifreeze to kill a cat.
Take a few minutes to move poisonous items out of your cat’s reach today to make your house a safer place for your cat each and every day.
Great post! Our “babies” no longer need the baby latches, but we left them on because the cats would have no problem getting the cupboards open. And they are constantly trying! Thank you for spreading the word
We have never tried to get into cupboards apart from the fitted cupboards in Mum’s bedroom and she has now given us a shelf all to ourselves with some old jumpers in so we can make nests in there! The only downside is sometimes she forgets one of us is in there and shuts us in – she has good radar though and soon finds us when we
shout!
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx
Mum is good at making the house safe for us, and she’s dreaming at making the outside safe too ! Purrs
Lita is definitely a cabinet opener! That’s why I keep all of my chemical cleaners on the top shelf of a closet the kitties cannot access. I don’t even store anything cat-related in the same closet as the chemicals. 🙂
Thank you for the very important reminders!
Yes, safety first! I have 2 sisters that like to open cabinet drawers so they have safety hickies on them now.
I am loving this series on Poison Prevention. I am learning a lot of new things and thinking about stuff around my house that might be harmful that I just have never thought about before. Thank you
So important! momFOD has a sanitizing agent for her brewing that she keeps under the sink, but she keeps it behind the trash in a locked plastic box just to keep us safer. Many people don’ tthink about it and it only takes a moment for bad things to happen. Especially with spring coming – watch out for lilies!! Thanks for the great reminder. – Crepes.
Our house is pretty safe, I think. The peep is always ‘keeping us out’ of stuff we would like to explore. I guess we keep her on her toes but, I think, that’s sort of her job. You know…. ’cause she loves us and all.
EXCELLENT post.
Purrs,
Nissy
Good advice…mom says having a cat is like have a perpetual 2 year old human in the house.
Hugs madi your bfff
what a great post! you know my biggest fear is that I will drop a prescription pill or even a supplement pill and not see it and Savannah will get it…terrifies me as I would never know why she was ill nor what she had ingested.
We will remind TBT ta take a careful look around the whole house and lock up anny bad stuffs!
Whipple and pepper recently found out how to open the closet for the washing and drying machines. And that place has all that laundry detergent, etc. So now we keep that place locked by putting something over the knobs that prevent them from opening the doors. Thank you for letting everyone know about poison prevention. Our cats’ safety and health are important and we must be conscious of things they could get into at home. -Whipple and Pepper’s mom