Pet Home Safety - Pet proofing your home
As a pet owner, you should periodically check your home to ensure that it is safe and remains safe for your pet. New pet owners are especially advised to check and ensure that their homes are safe before bringing a new pet home. By finding and eliminating any potentially unsafe items or by blocking access to certain unsafe areas, you will be saving yourself unwanted stress and expenses in the future. You will also be protecting your curious pet from unknown dangers and potential injuries.
What your pet sees
In order to get an idea of what your pet sees, and is exposed to, we advice that you get down to the level of your pet and analyze your pet’s surroundings. Then identify all the areas and all the items that are accessible to your pet by stretching, climbing or jumping. While you may want to prevent your puppy or kitten from chewing up your brand new pair of shoes, you also want to prevent it from chewing up or swallowing a potentially unsafe item. There are numerous items to be on the lookout for. Every home is different and different areas within a given home will present different challenges. We will go over some general concerns to keep in mind as you assess the safety of your home for your pet.
Pets and electrical wires
Be mindful to protect your pet from electrical cords and wires. Many pets, especially young dogs and puppies, will chew on these and could risk being electrocuted. If your pet ingests pieces of electrical cords and wires, this could lead to internal bleeding from cuts to the lining of the stomach or intestines and could be fatal. Expensive surgery is often required to remove ingested electrical wires from the stomachs of pets.
Pets falling or getting trapped
Check for corners, crevices or grooves that your pet could get stuck in while trying to pass or squeeze through. A pet that gets stuck will often cause injury to themselves in an effort to get free. Also make sure that your pet does not have access to any ledges or surfaces in which they may fall from and injure themselves. Block any such areas off and do not allow your pet access to such areas.
Pets escaping
Some animals are escape artists, and care should be taken to ensure that there are no potential outlets available for your pet could to use as an escape route from your home or from a protected or enclosed area. Depending on the type of pet you own, you should consider closing all doors and windows, or use screens on either to prevent an escape. You may also consider cages, pens or gated partitions. As an example, you may purchase a baby gate for your stairways or passageway to prevent your dog from climbing up stairs or entering a particular section of your home.
Outdoor pet safety
If your pet will be spending time outdoors, you should also take steps to ensure its safety outdoors and to prevent escapes. Extra attention should be taken if you have a backyard, and your pet will be left alone or unsupervised for any period of time in your yard. First, make sure to check that there are no holes or gaps in your fencing that could allow your pet to escape. Then walk the entire surface area of your yard and look for potentially dangerous items. There should be no potentially dangerous chemicals or containers with dangerous chemicals within your pet’s reach. Insecticides, Fertilizers or Herbicides are dangerous to your pet and should be placed out of their reach. Also be mindful if you use any of these chemicals on your lawn grass, and as a general rule of thumb, only allow your pet on lawn grasses that have a “safe” level of chemicals. Most chemical treatments used on lawns will have information on their labels specifying a safe period after use when it is safe for animals and children to play on them, take heed of these warnings.
Pets and plants
Some outdoor plants are also poisonous to your pet and care should be taken to either remove these plants, or prevent your pet’s access to them. When in doubt, consider everything to be poisonous and prevent your pet from ingesting or coming in contact with certain plants. Apply the common rule – “it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Finally, train your pet to understand what is desirable, what it is allowed to interact or play with, where it is allowed to go, and most importantly, where it is not allowed to go. Doing so will help to safeguard your pet from potentially unsafe and undesirable situations and will help to strengthen your set barriers and partitions. A safe home is a happy home for both you and your pet.
