How To Get Your Kitten To Stop Destroying Your House
Kittens can have so much energy! And, they can get into nooks and crannies that you simply didn’t think it was humanly (or, rather, feline-ly) possible to explore. Of course, you care about your little kitty and you do not want them to get stuck anywhere they can’t get out, or eat something out of curiosity that might make them sick. Kitten – proofing your house is actually pretty simple, and to show you some of the main things that you can do to keep your house safe for a kitten, we have laid out some easy steps that you can follow below.
Utilize high shelves
Kittens are nosey little critters, and they will often sniff or lick substances that they find on the floor. Even a small taste of a dishwasher tablet or some laundry powder, however, can leave your kitten feeling sick for days. So, make sure to clean up any spillages right away, and to use high shelves as much as possible to keep harmful or irritating substances (such as household cleaners) out of your kitten’s reach.
Keep the doors shut
That back yard may seem a mighty tempting place for a kitten to explore – but, if you live near a busy road and/or your little cat has yet to have all of their vaccinations, then it is important to keep them within the confines of your home. So, make sure that everyone in the family gets into the habit of looking behind them to make sure there are no kittens poised to make a dash for freedom as they leave for work in the morning.
Keep your kitten amused in the morning by providing them with plenty of toys, love and affection. If you have inner doors near to your front door, you could always adopt a policy of ensuring that the kitten is not allowed to wander past the inner door closest to the entrance or exit of your home – let alone the front door: an additional safety policy.
The same goes for cat flaps. If you have existing cats that use a cat flap, you will either have to keep the kittens shut out of the room with the cat flap in, or think about getting an electronic flap that only opens in response to the microchips of your adult cats.
Clear away any dangling threads or ropes
Adult cats and kittens alike love to play with string, and it is always a good idea to get them a little dangly toy for them to bat around. But, equally, this instinct for playing with all things stringy and dangly can lead to mishaps. All too often, kittens get tangled up in the cords hanging down from Venetian blinds or similar string like objects and find themselves unable to break free. One result of this can be a loss of circulation in a tangled paw, or even difficulty breathing if their head gets tangled.
The long and the short of it is: keep all cords and strings tucked neatly away. You can get handy containers for cords if you need to – or just make sure that everyone in the family knows not to leave anything dangling down within your kitten’s reach.
Most importantly – be around!
Kittens should not be left alone in the house for more than a couple of hours. As well as the potential physical mishaps that they can get in to, it can also have psychological effects, leaving them feeling lonely and stressed out! Usually, it is safe to say that your kitten really misses you when you are away for three hours at the garage, so make sure to give them lots of love and affection when you return!
Now, no house can be completely kitten proof, but the most powerful asset that you have in kitten – proofing your house is your own pair of eyes. If you or another member of the household is generally around the home when your kitten is there, you can make sure that your kitten doesn’t get into too many scrapes. For instance, if you see them batting curiously at a dangling curtain cord, you can quickly tuck it away before any accidents happen and distract your kitty with a hug or a catnip toy instead! And, if you see them curiously eyeing that tasty spill of bicarbonate of soda when you are baking, you will be there to wipe it up in a trice!
Leave a comment to tell us how you protected your house from destructive kitten behaviour.
