Avoid Lasting Damage and Costly Repairs: How to Pet Proof Your Home
PDX Loves Pets: Here’s How to Make Sure They Get Along With Your Home
You have a beautiful home in Portland that’s been carefully selected and painstakingly decorated to your own personal style. You also have an animal companion that you dearly love – how could you not?!
So the question naturally becomes, how can you put these two things together without causing chaos? Well, a little chaos can be a good thing sometimes, but not when it results in serious PDX to your furniture or your furry friend. Here are some tips on pet-proofing your Portland home, courtesy of American Humane.
Bedroom
It may be a tendency of yours to leave clothes laying around the bedroom, but for the safety of your pets, especially young kittens and puppies, you’ll need to get a little neater. Drawstrings and buttons on clothes can be very tempting toys for animals, but can also be choking or digestion hazards. Because of this, you’ll want to begin your pet-proofing efforts by putting clothes and shoes behind closed doors.
Make sure any medications, cosmetics, or lotions are also in drawers or out of reach, and keep any electrical or phone wires out of chewing range. Remember when closing doors to make sure your dog or cat is not stuck in the closet (or drawer) that you are closing.
Living Room
This is one of the toughest rooms to pet proof. Here are some of the main items you’’ want to be sure and address. First, make sure all wires are out of reach of your pets. That includes TV and peripheral wires, telephone wires, and lamp cords. You can buy cord covers for all your wires very cheaply online. Next, put away any kids’ toys or games with small pieces that pets might choke on.
Make sure to put away any craft items, especially threads and ribbons, which pets can swallow and get tangled in their digestive system. Then, thoroughly check any areas that your vacuum cannot reach for things like threads or other items that curious pets could easily swallow.
If you have any delicate items, do not display them anywhere a pet could reach them and knock them over. If you have cats, this usually means displaying them in a room that the cat cannot access, or behind glass. Last, be sure to check that all your houseplants are not toxic to your pet, should they accidentally ingest the leaves or flowers.
Furniture
If your cats are scratching up your furniture, try putting scratching posts near the arms of the piece in question to provide an alternative. You can also lay scratching pads on the areas where they prefer to scratch, and remove them when company comes. Clear pieces of packing tape also may discourage a cat from scratching – they blend into most furniture, and won’t harm your kitty should they try and get the best of that couch anyway.
There’s not that much you can do about pet hair on the furniture. If you can train your pet not to sit on the furniture, great, but that’s not always an easy task. You can try spraying your furniture with an anti-static spray, but your best bet is to groom your pet frequently and vacuum your furniture daily.
Kitchens and Bathrooms
Cats can easily get into kitchen and bathroom cabinets, believe it or not. Use childproof latches to make sure they cannot pry them open, and keep any medications, chemicals, and cleaning products behind latched or locked cabinet doors, or on high shelves where pets will definitely not be able to reach. You’ll also want to keep the toilet lid closed, and trash cans securely covered. In the kitchen, be sure to check your washer or dryer for cats before ever turning it on.
Garage
You should generally not give your pets access to the garage. If you do, make sure any chemicals are secured, and be sure to clean any antifreeze off the floor, as one lick can be fatal to animals. Keep tools and sharp objects out of reach. Before starting your car, make sure a cat has not found its way into the engine to keep warm. You know what? Just keep your pets out of the garage.
Hopefully these tips will make it easy for you and your beloved pet to enjoy your beautiful Portland home together! If you haven’t found that dream home yet, what are you waiting for? Contact Urban Nest now!