How to protect cats during home improvement
Have you been putting off a house/room project that requires remodeling or a specific cleanup? Are you ready to begin but do not know how to start for fear of placing your feline in jeopardy? Your concerns are well founded. Your project can hold hidden dangers for your cat that are not readily apparent to you.
Our felines have access to virtually any area they wish to explore because of their agile jumping ability. Furthermore, our cats are very crafty about sneaking outdoors when foot traffic is unusually heavy.
Denying our feline buddies access to our project area is the only way to keep our friends safe. It is difficult enough to watch our felines when we are doing the work alone or with the help of family members. The problem is compounded when outsiders are hired for a project.
Workers try to watch our pets, but they are not motivated by the love we have for our animals to keep them safe. Additionally, we may not be able to predict our pets' behavior when there are strangers in the house. Noise and commotion may send our pets to the nearest exit door.
Confining your cat to the spare bedroom, study or bathroom is the only effective way your animal is safe from toxins, unsafe building materials and their natural byproducts. Glue, paint, nails, screws, sawdust and metal shavings are just a few of the hazards that could prompt a visit to the emergency room of the veterinary clinic after hours.
Even if you confine your pet, depending on the location of the project in relation to your central ventilation system, your pet may still not be safe. If you are using an especially pungent adhesive or paint near the ventilation system, make sure windows and doors are open near the work site to allow fumes to escape.
Furthermore, the blower should be off on your thermostat so the fumes are not spread throughout the house. Also, be sure to secure plastic over the vent in the room where the animals will be kept. A window should be open where the pets are located (as long as the screens cannot be pushed out by our agile felines).
To also assure that the fumes do not seep into your pet's safe haven, block the space between the floor and the door with a towel.
Care should also be taken during the cleanup process to properly vacuum and remove all unsafe debris. Do remember to clean behind all the crevices our cats can crawl behind.
The floor should also be dry after cleanup before our felines are allowed access. Cats are fastidious and are constantly grooming and licking their paws. If you have any doubts about the toxicity of the products you used in the room, the final cleaning rinse should be with water and vinegar. Other old, nontoxic cleaners are Simple Green and Meyers products. Both are animal-friendly and are found conveniently in big box stores. There are many new green choices available also. Some are not tested, so use caution.
Lastly, the room may be physically clean and safe, but if the lingering odor of glue or paint makes you lightheaded or dizzy, pets must be confined. The process you have just labored through, to ensure their safety, would be for naught, if you allow them in the remodeled room while the toxic scent lingers.
Adoptables
Glenis is a blue, dilute tortoise whose cream coloration barely shows through the blue coloration. She is barely 4 years old and is spayed. She is a friendly sweet girl despite the terrible ordeal she endured before she was rescued.
Sadly, Glenis gets her name from the forest preserve she was found in. She was left behind in an ice cooler secured shut with a filled milk crate so she could not get out or get any air or light. Luckily, her rescuer came along in time or her story would be even sadder.
Luna is a black and white MainCoon mix that is about 9 years old. She is a front-paw declaw that was thrown out of the only home she had known since kittenhood. Her mom of nine years was OK with her boyfriend throwing out Luna once he moved in. The story plays: “It's me or the cat.” I think we all know what we would have said: “There's the door; hit the road.”
Luna is very sweet and bears not a grudge against people for her poor treatment.
Ÿ Contact The Buddy Foundation at (847) 290-5806; visit us at 65 W. Seegers Road in Arlington Heights, or online at thebuddyfoundation.org.