Household Dangers for Cats and Kittens

I stripped my bed today, washing all the bedding and vacuuming the mattresses. In putting it back together, I was reminded of why I had blankets covering my foot board, which led me to writing this post. I would like to share a few dangers found in the home that I now take precautions for when I have kittens, in particular; but also adult cats in my home…which is 99% of the time.
Sleeper Sofas
Have you ever thought of your couch being a hidden danger for kittens and cats? Well…it can be especially sleeper sofas. I’ve had a cat get her head/neck caught in the sleeper sofa bar, and in not knowing she was caught in it, people were sitting down on the couch which ended up killing her. It was a tragedy and I will never forget it. What had happened is she had disappeared this one day and we thought someone either stole her or an animal got her. It wasn’t until she’d been missing almost two weeks before I could smell a horrible odor near the couch. We tore the couch apart to open it up and there she was. The couch was too far-gone to be saved between the bodily fluids and the odor.
Swivel/Rocking Chairs/Recliners
Kittens and cats love to sleep wherever they fancy at the time. We are always cautious when sitting down in one of these types of chairs because we never know if one our fur babies has climbed up under or is lying on the floor underneath it. FYI – recliners are one of the top causes of deaths of ferrets.
Kitchen/Dining Room Chairs 
Take a look at these chair’s back slats. They are wide at the top and then get narrower towards the bottom. I have had kittens, which naturally are learning how to climb and jump on whatever they seem to deem appropriate, that have slipped trying to get from one table to another using the chair as a go between. In doing so, they have lost their footing and have had their heads fall in between two slats – getting their necks caught between the slats as they slipped down further between the slats. The kitten is unable to get its neck out from between the slats and screams out.
I’ve had this happen to two three kittens with this type of chair. If I have any kittens around, I now cover the back of the chairs with a heavy coat or thick blanket so this will never happen again. All two three of my kittens survived as I was at home at the time to set them free. *Note these are not the exact chairs I have but are extremely similar. The slats are almost identical to mine.
Scroll Furniture
What about that scroll furniture? A hidden danger? Most certainly!! The headboard you see to the right, is my headboard. The footboard has the exact same scrolling. While lying in bed one night, a kitten we had was playing on the bed. All of a sudden I heard him scream. He had slipped into one of the scrolls and his head and neck were caught. He survived…but again, I was right there to rescue him…what if I hadn’t been?
The Clothes Washer and Dryer
Although I have never had a cat or kitten parish in either my washer or dryer; I have heard of other cat owners who have lost their fur babies from them climbing in these appliances. I have had them climb in these appliances when loading or unloading them, which has me very paranoid I might miss one climbing in, so I always double-check (the dryer in particular) before I turn it on.
Refrigerator
Yes, these little creatures love to climb in the fridge. I’ve had this happen on more than one occasion with kittens and adult cats. I actually had one shut in the fridge. She had climbed in and laid down in the back of the fridge on the bottom shelf while I was putting groceries away – I hadn’t seen her climb in. It wasn’t until I heard a cat meowing. I went searching for where the cry was coming from and there she was lying on the bottom shelf wanting out.
Please share this post with everyone you know. It could save a feline’s life.






