Cat family hazards: 6 practices that will endanger your furry mates : Augusta Free Press

Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 11:20 am

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Would you believe me if I told you that peanuts are dangerous to your cat’s health?

What about onions and garlic, raw eggs, raw meat and bones, chocolates, raw batter, milk and dairy products, etc.?

According to various medical researches – including WebMD – all are dangerous to cats.

Next time people ask you, can cats eat peanuts, drink milk, or eat bones? I think you know what to tell them.

Household foods aren’t the only household hazards cats are exposed to, however. There are several others. Little things we leave on the floor, machines we forgot to turn off, and some other dangerous practices.

This article will show you how common cats are in the household so you can redo your efforts to protect your furry friends.

Common household hazards for cats

1. Forget to lock washers and dryers

As strange as it sounds, leaving your dryers and washing machines unlocked can be dangerous for your favorite pets.

You wonder how.

Some cats have a terribly strange habit of hanging around in such machines. If you forget to lock them, just take a walk and stay in for hours.

Without knowing it is in the machine, you or someone in the house could power the machine with the cat still in the house and kill the pet in the process.

This is exactly what happened to a cat named Natasha in 2013. She strolled into a washing machine and was locked up for a 35-minute wash. Fortunately, she came out alive.

Your cat may not be so lucky. Therefore, always make sure that your dryers and washing machines are checked and locked at all times.

2. Carelessly leave medication on the floor

Leaving your medication carelessly on the table, on the floor, or just anywhere in the house can be dangerous for your cats.

Different people have different illnesses that they care for, which means that it is possible to bring medication into the house at different times. If you have cats with you, it would be wise to keep your medications out of sight as some of them can be quite harmful to cats if ingested.

3. Incorrect use of insecticides

Insecticides – especially those that are harmful to cats – can be viewed as a hazard.

Nobody will tell you to keep living in your home with bugs, ticks, fleas, cockroaches, rodents and the like. But if you have a furry friend like a cat who lives with you, you’ll want to speak to your pet’s veterinarian first before deciding on the insecticide to buy.

This is important because pets can touch objects or places that have come into contact with insecticides. If the insecticide is dangerous for your species, that type of interaction can lead to death.

4. Do not keep the cord and rubber bands out of sight

In a house without cats, it can be cool to just leave items like rubber bands, string, thread, ribbon yarn, and the like lying around. However, if you have a furry life with you, then you cannot.

If swallowed, these materials can cause serious life-threatening problems for the cat.

5. Give milk and other dairies

One of the biggest dietary differences between two of humans’ favorite pets – dogs and cats – is their tolerance to milk and other dairies.

While dogs, especially puppies, love milk most of all, cats are profoundly intolerant to lactose. That means they can’t take it.

As much as your kitten stares at you when you open a milk jar, you don’t want to pour little in the can or spill something on the floor.

6. Don’t check your screens

Nobody minds checking the outside of their windows before closing them. But you might want to make that a thing of the past when you have a cat for a pet.

If not, at least make sure your cat isn’t at the other end of the window when you close it.

Cats love to hang around window sides, especially at great heights. Unfortunately, they often tend to fall off, often resulting in injury or death.

This happens so often that scientists have a name for it. They call it “Feline High Rise Syndrome”.

To make sure your kitten is not affected, always check your windows before closing them.

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