If you’re thinking about bringing home a new furry bundle of joy, it’s well worth taking the time to give your home a good going over to ensure everything is safe for your new pet – and minimize the potential damage a curious kitten or playful puppy can do.
Get down to business
You don’t have to spend a mint on expensive pet products just to make your home friendly for a new addition to the family. Sometimes simply reorganizing and changing a few habits can make all the difference. You may feel a little silly doing this, but the best first step is to get down to your pet’s level – crawling on hands and knees, that is – and take a good look around your home from that perspective. Anything that looks or smells interesting is going to arouse an animal’s curiosity, which means dangerous and delicate items should be moved higher up, well out of reach.
The American Humane Society offers some excellent tips: ensure medications and cleaning products are placed on a high shelf, purchase a latching garbage can or place the garbage container inside a cabinet, block off small spaces, store knickknacks and small toys that could be broken or ingested, move houseplants out of reach, and make sure all vents are securely covered.
There are also habits you’ll want to get into, such as: check the dryer before turning it on to make sure a curious kitten hasn’t climbed inside, keep the toilet lid down to prevent drowning or the ingestion of cleaning chemicals, keep wires – especially electrical ones – tucked away, and make sure clothes and shoes are stowed inside the closet since buttons and drawstrings can be dangerous if swallowed.
Break out the power tools
If you have a particularly determined pet, you may need to break open the toolbox to install a few basic safety features. Toddler latches can be used to keep cabinets and drawers closed, especially if your pet has learned how to pry them open. Baby gates are useful for cordoning off any puppy-free areas in your home. You can also, as the New York Times suggests, invest in new flooring if housebreaking is destroying your rugs. Hardwood or grouted tiles make for an easy clean up, but if you prefer or require carpeting, try carpet tiles; that way, if the rug gets soiled, you can remove and replace just the damaged tile.
If you get a cat or kitten, you’ll want to provide a sturdy scratching post. But sometimes a post alone isn’t enough to keep felines from clawing up the furniture, so you may need to purchase some repellent spray, although special double-sided tape applied to problem areas can also keep the claws at bay.
Being a new pet owner is a big responsibility, and it’s never going to be possible to make the world 100-percent safe for your furry new friend, but with a bit of time and elbow grease, you can ensure your house is pet-proofed, and save yourself the stress of ruined belongings, while keeping your furkid happy and healthy.
Crédit photo: FreeDigitalPhotos.net