Some Tips To Make Sure Your Cat is Safe at Home

Written and verified by the lawyer Francisco María García

Last update: 21 December, 2022

If you want to know if your cat is safe at home, you need to be aware of all the potential dangers and get rid of them to avoid anything bad happening.

If you can’t just get rid of any of the dangerous things, you’ll have to keep your cat from getting near them.

Making sure your cat is safe at home

Having pets isn’t really that different from having kids. You should take as much care to avoid accidents with your cats or any other animals you own as you would with your own children.

Cats have a very active, energetic, curious, and daring nature. They try to explore all the places they can, but don’t always understand the underlying danger. This is where you come in: you have to make sure to prevent accidents at home.

Dangerous places that make your home unsafe for your cat

If there’s a dangerous area or place in your home that you don’t want your cat to go near, the best option is to keep the door closed.

You should also put any chemicals or toxic products out of their reach. They’re curious and try to smell and taste everything they can. That’s why you need to make it impossible for them to do that with dangerous substances.

The kitchen is definitely a dangerous area for a cat. They aren’t always aware of the consequences of their actions and want to be everywhere. But in the kitchen, they can burn themselves on the stove, cut themselves, etc…

If your cat truly needs to be in the kitchen, you should just keep a close eye on it.

Windows

If you want your cat to be safe at home, you need to close the windows. The danger potential is huge with them. There are too many stories about cats falling out of high windows. Even though people say they always land on their feet, that’s far from the truth. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, so just avoid keeping the windows open around them.

Cables and other things that make it so your cat isn’t safe at home

You definitely shouldn’t leave electric cables and cords where your cat can reach them. They could become their new plaything. It’s extremely dangerous for your cat to bite on them and play with them. It could even cause a serious, or fatal accident. Fix the cables to the wall or keep them hidden, out of your cat’s reach.

Small bags, packages, and other plastic objects could cause your cat to choke if it starts to play with them the wrong way.

Don’t leave things strewn around the floor, either. Your cat is curious and will always try to figure out what they are, which could be dangerous even though it doesn’t realize that.

Just because cats can have fun with just about any “toy” you give them, doesn’t mean all toys are safe.

Instead of giving your cat some random thing to play with, try going to a pet store and finding safe, non-toxic toys that are made especially for cats.

Even plants can be dangerous! The main reason for this is that they might be poisonous, so it’s a good idea to learn what plants are safe for them.

You should always close the doors to home appliances like the washing machines, dryers, and dishwashers. Cats are small and could get through openings if they got curious enough.

Don’t forget about curtains, either. Cats often think that the curtains are there to be climbed, but they’re not made for that and generally can’t support a cat’s weight.

You should also be careful around small objects like rings, jewelry, and other trinkets you might have lying around the house.

Drawers

Like we said at the beginning, you should generally treat a cat like a small child. So, never leave open drawers within their reach. This is especially the case if the drawers have dangerous things like appliances, cleaning products, chemicals, etc. You always have to be very careful with your drawers and cabinets.

Forbidden toys

Yarn balls are a classic cat “toy.” However, there’s a big risk with these because when the thread starts to fray your cat could ingest it and cause major harm to its teeth and stomach.

Last of all: make sure any toys you give your cat don’t have any paint on them.