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How to Adapt your House to the Arrival of a Cat?

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Cat Welcome

When you first welcome a kitten or cat into your home, you may not yet have developed the x-ray sight of an experienced cat sitter…

In fact, to avoid problems, it is good to develop another way of seeing your house and gradually learn to observe it through the eyes of a cat.

I am not talking here about the basic accessories for welcoming a cat, but of the many arrangements you can make to adapt your house and make it the perfect accommodation suitable for a cat and avoid unpleasant surprises, for your business, but also for her or him.

Here are some survival rules to transform your home before adopting a cat.

Keep your Clothes Safe!

If you don’t want to find your unraveled sweater or your favorite item of clothing with a long scar or worse a welcome stream of urine, the first thing to do is to keep your clothes safe.

A Closed Dressing Room

Yes, but be careful…

Forget the super open walk-in closet right away, or have a closed door. Indeed, the first thing your cat will do when recognizing your smell and that of the members of your household will be to curl up happily and to scratch it with delight.

Clothes, ideally, should be placed in a closed dressing room, with heavy doors or fitted with a suction cup system, in any case which can not be opened with a paw and a strong will… 😺

Try with your finger, if you manage to open it, be sure that your cat will…

Shelter Accessories …

When I say clothes, I also think of accessories, and shoes. Anything that carries your scent will be considered attractive.

A nice claw, a jet of urine, a little vomit and presto it’s ruined and sometimes irrecoverable.

The bags for a cat are great supports to make his claws, he will think with love that you have just given him a beautiful scratching post.

Jewels are great toys to play in a game of football, and he will lovingly think that you gave him new games!

Before it even happens, all of this should (always ideally) be done and under control.

Plaid of Protection

Plan a big plaid or a thick bathrobe to put on if you want to cuddle your cat, otherwise say goodbye to your clothes or pajamas…

After the obligatory kneading session with the claws of your happy feline, the clothes after a few sessions of torture will not survive.

To conclude: After one or two accidents, you will quickly get into the habit of not letting something you care about stay within reach of your cat’s claws.

Indoor Plants, Easy Prey for our Little Felines…

For your cat, plants are sometimes very attractive or even tempting.

And both for your plants (which may not survive there) and for your cat (which may become intoxicated) you must avoid contact between these 2 species.

For that, and if you like your plants: You will need to invest a minimum.

Very High Pots

You will need tall pots for your plants, so that access to the foliage is inaccessible and the earth is not within the direct reach of your cat (too tempting).

On the earth, place pebbles or a mixture of pebbles and mulch for ventilation. The cat loves to scratch and the earth, it is necessary that scratching is impossible or complicated and the earth protected.

The fact that the plant is very high will prevent your cat initially from nibbling the leaves (the small ones or those adored by chlorophytum) all those that look like large leaves of green grass.

I also recommend that you regularly place coffee grounds on the soil (good for the plant), some citrus peel on the surface. Anything that puts cats off.

But the best is the pot not too wide example 30 cm if large plant, or 20 cm and especially very high (the ideal is at 75 cm minimum).

And Surprises Inside…

Because the cat does not like to jump too much if he does not have a visual of his reception (and this is the case if the pot is very high), and suddenly he will not want to explore… Especially if during his first attempt he is greeted with coffee grounds, some citrus fruits, repellant, spikes, or stakes…

With a kitten (but also a cat), this is an important step if you want plants. The two have a lot of trouble living together, the winner in the end is often the kitten who had a great time and your plants that… will be dead…

Because if he accesses it, he will chew on it and above all do his business and urinate in the pot which will kill the plant in the medium term if it is repeated.

Adapt your House: Analyze the Dangers in your Rooms

Think like a cat and look at your different rooms. You must remove anything that is small and can be swallowed, anything that is dangerous: household products, things that could hurt him… (as if you had a young child, but who can climb in height).

So what is dangerous must be locked up.

Electric Wires, Cooking Plates…

Ideally, electric wires should not be visible. You can install boxes specially designed to hide them, thus avoiding the risk of electrocution.

Electric hotplates (except induction) may appear to be off, but may burn your cat’s pads if he jumps on them right after cooking.

Consider making a habit of leaving a pan or saucepan with water when using a griddle. So if your cat gets the urge to help you cook, he won’t end up going to the vet for burns.

You also have plastic bags, rubber bands, if your cheek is swallowed up, it risks digestive obstruction.

The washing machine: check before each wash that your cat has not decided to explore the interior.

Also beware of scented candles or home fragrances that are at risk of spilling.

Try to think like a cat and block any passage where he could sneak up and that may lead to a problem (example if there is a space between your appliances and the wall which may lead him behind with the wires).

Plastic bags, little hiding places: they love it, but they can (especially kittens) get entangled with string or cord and suffocate, or get stuck in a jar. Because they will insist on entering and only after for some, think of how to get out…

Adapt your house by protecting your electric wires with the PetCords Cat Cord Protector – Source: amazon.com

Windows

If it’s an apartment, think about windows, and plan to buy a fall protection net, so you can open them if it’s summer.

Otherwise you will have to keep them closed or attend the jump of your angel cat (which does not always land easily on his paws, especially beyond 2 floors, and which can in all cases be run away and get lost once he has jumped).

Glass and Trinkets

Goodbye, pretty trinket placed on a ledge; your cat will take great pleasure in knocking them down one by one, just to see what happens…

Think of heavy or inaccessible trinkets or in the window.

And if you think that your cat will not be able to go on your ultra-thin fireplace ledge, or at the top of the shelving of your furniture near the ceiling, you do not know cats and their desire to climb!

Once broken, the debris can be used as a game, but it can be sharp, cutting or causing indigestion, or injury if swallowed.

Bottom of wall, angles and furniture, you will fit out.

Cats love sofas, and if they’re fragile, they won’t last long.

Same thing for the furniture, and also the angles of the walls.

All these places which for a chat and a call for the marking of the territory.

Furniture

If you have a beautiful leather sofa, or in a fragile material, mourn… ditto for the armchairs and chairs…

If you have one cat or more, choose a resistant sofa, which will not prevent it from being pretty… A sofa which supports without too much shudder the scratches of the claws, the joy of kneading, and the scratches of marking… as well as possible vomiting or a minor accident of peeing…

Even the most educated and balanced cat can have one of these types of accidents!

So prefer smooth surfaces for chairs or fabric materials.

Considering the sofa, anything that seems resistant, and which can receive a scratch without leaving a mark.

Do not hesitate to protect the chairs with small decorative and modern covers and throws on the sofa, this will allow you to wash more easily in the event of an accident while protecting the surfaces even better.

In terms of furniture: the washable rug for small dimensions is ideal with animals: since it is resistant, aesthetic and above all machine washable.

The Angles of the Walls

Cats adore angles upholstered or with paintings. And even if you have an exterior with trees, or full of scratching posts to leave some clearly visible marks…

To avoid that, put a scratching post design angle on the main angles will suffice, or a pot with a plant, or a decoration.

Here it is, with all this, you should be alright, and your house or appartment should be ready before any adoption of a kitten or cat.

Once the ground is prepared on your side, you will have to think about organizing your things: furniture and accessories for cats, as well as their locations in the house.

That’s it, it’s over! I hope you liked these tips to adapt your house to the arrival of a cat.

Feel free to share yours!

Image by Francesco Sciolti from Pixabay

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