How to Kitten Proof Your Home

Consider your kitten as a toddler that can scale a mountain or jump over almost any obstacle put in front of it, squeeze into a tiny hole in the floor, or crawl under the piano. It may have different motivations for wanting to do these things, but they all have the potential to end in tears!

If you have a very confident kitten, it will probably be very nosy and will try to do things a more sensible, older cat would decide were just too dangerous. The saying "curiosity killed the cat" is probably based on truth. Kittens do want to sniff things and poke them with their paws or even chew them to have a taste; they are interested in moving machines and warm clothes driers. They want to find out what is on top of the cabinet or out of the window. And while they have inherent climbing skills, they may not have honed them precisely enough for the feat of balance required.

If you are bringing home a kitten that seemed nervous at its previous home, be prepared for it to be even more nervous when you place it in an entirely foreign environment with no visual or smell cues with which to associate. Its first impulse will be to hide, and quickly. It is likely to dash for a dark place where it can feel safe. This may be under the bed or sofa, up the chimney, or in a small space under the bathtub. This is a distinct probability, as anyone who has handled nervous or feral kittens will tell you - they will always find somewhere you have not thought of.

Therefore, it is essential to try to make your home safe for your new kitten - to protect it from itself as much as anything else. Imagine that you are small but very agile. Get down on the floor and look at things from that small-kitten perspective - things will look very different, and you may notice small holes or potential hazards that were not obvious from the vantage point of five to six feet up - human adult eye level. You may want to choose a room for the kitten initially that you know is safe and has no such possibilities.

If you have a number of people in the house, it might be time for a family conference. Get the children to imagine they are small kittens and do a tour of the house, noting the dangers. This may be a good way to help them remember that they need to keep doors and windows shut, as well as the clothes drier and washing machine. They need to know to take action if the kitten climbs up near the stovetop when it is on - children are actually very good at imagining a host of scary scenarios. Likewise, burning candles can be fascinating and the fireplace may need some protection until the kitten realizes what they are. Electric cords that are hanging loose may entice a chew, and small items such as elastic bands may get swallowed. If you sew, a round-up of pins and needles that have evaded the pincushion or sewing kit would be a good idea. Pieces of thread can also get caught in teeth or around the kitten's tongue. If you do have a cord chewer, a routine of unplugging appliances before the kitten is left in a particular room would be a good idea.

Some active kittens do indeed climb the curtains, so be prepared for this to happen. Those kittens that undertake this exciting exercise usually keep it up until they are too heavy to do it easily - or until the curtains fall down! You may just have to accept it, ignore any damage, and hope the phase passes quickly. Although cats have a reputation for falling on their feet, they can be injured by falls -plummeting to the tiled kitchen floor from the top of the plate rack can cause injury. If this happens, keep a careful eye on the kitten and take it to the veterinarian if it seems injured or is acting strangely.

Kittens like to chew on plants - outdoors, cats would nibble grass or herbs. However, if they are indoors and there is no grass available, or even simply because they are curious, they may nibble at other plants or even flowers in vases. There are some plants that are very toxic to cats and even a small bite might be extremely dangerous for a small kitten, which would only need a small dose of poison to cause problems. Some common houseplants such as dumb cane and umbrella plants are poisonous, as are many flowers commonly used in bouquets. These include cornflowers, delphiniums, hyacinths, monkshood, and many members of the lily family. The Feline Advisory Bureau has a list of poisonous plants on its web site (www.fabcats.org) so you can check out those you have at home and especially those the kitten will have access to.

Most cats do not eat poisonous plants when they have access to the garden. However, a kitten may decide to play with something like the seeds from a laburnum tree, which are poisonous. It pays to be aware of what you have in the yard because kittens are rather impetuous. If you have small children, you will probably have thought through a lot of these things already.

And just as you need to keep family medicines and cleaning materials away from small children, do the same for your kitten - bearing in mind that it can climb or jump onto surfaces that keep things safely out of reach of toddlers. Some human medicines such as aspirin are toxic to cats and should not be left where they can be sampled. Never be tempted to medicate your kitten yourself -human or dog medicines can be fatal to kittens because they need very small doses. Other substances such as onion powder, cocoa, and excesses of fish oils or liver can also be poisonous.