Your pet lives with you in the house, so have you ever wonder if their environment so far is safe? If you haven’t, maybe it’s time to start questioning and checking. Even if (hopefully) there is no major accident involving your pet at your house so far, pet-proofing your house will ensure that it will keep that way in the future.
For pets, your house is a big maze they want to keep exploring and during one of their quests, they may encounter chemical that is dangerous for them. They may encounter what they think as fun toys, but actually electric cable or something equally dangerous. They may get stuck in small space while they’re exploring as well.
As for yourself as the homeowner, there are also areas you don’t want your pet to get a hold of – such as baby room or food supply storage. How to make sure your little friends won’t enter the room and make a mess of its contents? Pet-proofing is the answer and here is how.
Pet-Proofing Your Living Room
- Clean Floor: We often overlooked floor because it’s far from our eye-level, but not for pets. They’ll likely see small thing that scattered under the table that we don’t, and without us knowing anything they may eat them. This can be dangerous since the things he finds under the table can range from bugs to dropped (and forgotten) pin to dirty food crumbs. So, if you have pets, make sure to clean your floor every day.
- Lock Cabinets: Small things like pin, ball, matches, buttons, and such can choke your little buddy if swallowed. It will be painful both for you and for him, so the best preventive action is to keep them locked away in a cabinet. Don’t forget to lock it, since some pets are clever enough to open unlocked cabinet.
- Hide The Cat Litter: If you own both cat and dog, you have to hide the cat litter away from your dog’s eyes. Somehow, some dogs find cat’s poop tasty and will try to eat them. This is dangerous because cat’s feces contain bacteria that will get them sick.
- Put Furniture Cover: This is more for your benefit than your pet’s. Cats especially like to scratch, both on vertical or horizontal surfaces. If you don’t want to find the surface of your couch shredded by their sharp nail, put on furniture cover.
- Cover Electrical Cord: Curious pets may put their little paw on the electrical socket or even bit and chew electrical cords. They can get electrocuted now and that won’t do, so prevent such thing from happening. Cover the electrical socket and put electrical cords away when it is not in use.
- Put Fence around the Fireplace: If you have a fireplace in your house, it’s necessary to have a fence so your pet won’t charge ahead because they are interested with the fire. Older pets are usually wise enough not to approach fire, but the younger ones usually still don’t know better. For best fence installation company, our recommendation is Northland Fence.
- Put away cords for drapery and blind: Cords are always an interesting toy for pet. This is including electrical cords and drapery or blind cords. While the latter two won’t electrocute your little friend, they may constrict and choke them. Keep the extra length of cords out of reach from the pets.
Pet-Proofing Your Kitchen
- Put away human food: Human food is tasty, even for pets (provided that it is meat). If you let them out in the open, there’s no guarantee that they won’t try to get a taste. This can be dangerous for both the human and the pets. Some human foods are not suitable for pets. Some – like chocolate – can even be outright dangerous. Meanwhile, you don’t want to eat food that has been sniffed or licked by your pets. Who knows where those little snouts just get away from? So, save your food in the refrigerator or in a closed cabinet.
- Invest in trashcan with step-on lid: Some pets like to go through trashcan. Some likes to jump inside and rummage the contents for hours. Some others prefer to knock the trashcan, let the content spill on the floor, and play with them. Not only it’s dirty, the item your pet find and eat from the trash can be harmful to them as well. To avoid this mess, get a trashcan that your dog can’t open, like trashcan with step-on lid.
Pet-Proofing Your Bathroom
- Put away cleaning supplies and medication: There is no dangerous chemical in your house? Are you sure? Check again in the bathroom. Most of cleaning supplies are harmful for pet – because they, you know, tend to lick everything. So, when you’re cleaning the bathroom, have your pet away from that area. After cleaning, put away the supplies immediately in a place that is out of reach from your pet. The same thing applies to medication. Don’t let them lay around on bathroom counter even if you’ve already put them in their plastic box. A very determined dog can still chew that. Keep them on the cabinet and lock them.
- Close toilet lid or don’t use disinfectant: Some pets like to drink from the toilet bowl. This is not the problem in itself because generally toilet water is clean as long as you flush it regularly after use. The problem is more about the pets slipping into the bowl. While this isn’t a problem for bigger pet, smaller pet may slip from the edge of the toilet into the bowl. Simpler solution is to close the toilet door. Another problem may arise if you use disinfectant in your toilet bowl. If your pet accidentally drink it from the toilet bowl, he can get sick.
- Avoid full sink or bathtub: This is the same case with the toilet bowl. If you keep the sink or bathtub full, your pet may slip from the edge of either sink or bathtub and risk drowning. The solution is not to keep water in them, or you can simply close the bathroom door.
Pet-Proofing Your Yard
- Put fences: Fences are a must, especially if you live near a busy road. Fences keep not only your pets from running away from home, but also keep outsiders who may have dubious intent toward your dogs. The fences should be high enough so your pet can’t jump over it (of course, fences are pretty useless against cats since they can climb).
- Keep dangerous plants away: Some plants can be dangerous for pets, especially dogs. Potato, morning glory, foxglove, daffodils, lily of the valley, and oak buds and acorns are dangerous so either don’t plant them on your yards or put them away behind a fence.
In the end, pet-proofing your house is beneficial both for yourself and your pet. After all, your pets spend most (if not all) of their time at home. With pet-proofed house, you don’t even have to worry when you want to leave your pet alone.