Cats are curious, playful little creatures and can find almost anything in the home to amuse themselves with! However, not only do you need to cat-proof your house to protect your precious possessions, you also need to keep your cat safe as there are some household items that are toxic to your feline or could hurt her.

Here are our top tips for kitty-proofing your home:

• Remove poisonous plants:
  Cats enjoy chewing on plants and especially enjoy swatting and nibbling on fronds and swaying leaves and branches. Find out which plants are toxic to pets and ensure that you have none in your home: Humane Society List of Plants That are Potentially Poisonous to Pets
• Lock up all cleaning supplies and medicine cabinets:
  Lock up all cleaning supplies and medicine cabinets: Cats can be very resourceful and can get really crafty in their efforts to open a cupboard or play with a bottle that makes all the right, enticing noises when knocked over! Putting child-locks on your medicine and cleaning cabinet doors will prevent their little paws opening the cupboards and thus having access to potentially toxic chemicals and medicines.
• Protect breakables:
  Who hasn’t seen a video of a cat nonchalantly swatting a delicate glass off a table? If you have vases, or delicate ornaments, displayed on tables and countertops, pack them away. Unfortunately, these treasured trinkets will be the first victims of your kitty’s vindictive nature.
• Stow away electrical cords:
  Many cats’ favourite playthings are long, dangling strings – so what better than those swathes of electrical cords hiding (like perfect prey!) behind cupboards and around your house? Cord protectors can be found in most baby stores in the child-proofing section. The cords can then be contained within a box and out of your cat’s reach! You can also cable tie your cords and hammer clips into the skirting of the room and attach the cords flush against the wall.
• Surrender your tablecloths:
  Unless you’re entertaining guests, keep your tables tablecloth-free at all times. Your cat could try leap onto the table and could land up pulling the cloth off, along with herself and all the items on the table too!
• Put a lid on it:
  It’s not only dogs who has a fascination with the contents of your toilet bowl. Keep the lid down on your toilet at all times – smaller cats or kittens could fall in and be unable to get out again. On another note – your toilet also holds another cat favourite – toilet paper! If you don’t want to see shredded toilet paper all over your house, keep your bathroom door closed at all times.
• Protect furniture:
  A common complaint with cat parents around the world is that their cat is using their furniture to sharpen its claws. First things first, purchase a cat scratching pad complete with dangling toys attached to it. Use catnip to attract your cats to using the scratching pad. If your cat still prefers to sharpen her claws on your couch, you can purchase a cat deterrent spray that you can spritz on her chosen scratching spots.
• Blinds and blind cords:
  You can often tell the sign of a cat-occupied home by the state of their blinds. Blinds and their cords are a fascination for your cat and he could spend hours swatting at, chewing, attacking and pulling the cords and trying to climb up the blinds themselves. Although you can try prevent this behaviour by keeping the blinds up and tying the cords and tucking them up at the top, you may need to rethink your window treatments as blinds and cats = disaster, almost every time.
• Shelves and other high places:
  Cats love high places and will usually try find a sweet spot somewhere in your bookcase or on a floating shelf. If your cat is fond of exploring upwards, ensure that any shelves she may land on are strong enough to take her weight. You should also make sure there are no books or ornaments that could be knocked off in her forays.

Here is a list of some other household items that could pose a risk to your cat, to help you be thorough in your cat-proofing efforts:

• Aluminium foil, corks, and small pieces of plastic: All these items are very tempting to cats and make for an entertaining plaything. Don’t let your cat play with any of these items as they can be fatal if ingested accidentally.
• Strings, rubber bands and wool:It’s an age-old image – a kitten playing with a piece of yarn. However, if your cat accidentally ingests string or wool, it could land up causing an intestinal blockage, strangulation, or even death. This goes for hair ties too.
• Milk

Now that you know how to cat-proof your home, you can rest assured you’re protecting your cat (and household items) from danger and injury. Replace your cat’s favourite terrorized household item with cat-friendly toys from the pet store, and everyone will be happy!

Make sure you can take your pet to the vet for routine care and treatment for illness or accidents. Sign up for pet insurance with Oneplan Pet today.