Are You Poisoning Your Cat?

Ditto loves to drink from the toilet. He’ll hear that flush and just come running. When he does, we flush a second time to be sure the water is clean and let him have at it. Be assured, though, that we use absolutely no chemicals in the toilet. I clean with vinegar and good old fashioned elbow grease.

Drinking from the toilet is not something I recommend for pet owners. (For Ditto, in a household of nine cats it’s his special “thing”). I do recommend, no… insist, that cat owners make every effort to poison-proof their homes, starting with the toilet. Don’t use those things you hang over the bowl or drop in the tank. Even if you usually put the seat down on your toilet someone only needs to forget once and it could be curtains for your cat. If you feel you have to use harsh cleaners then flush several times after cleaning to be sure there’s no residue.

Feline curiosity is legendary and that extends to tasting all sorts of tempting, but potentially lethal, plants, foods, chemicals, human prescriptions, cleaning products and on and on. A friend of mine lost his cat when she got into a closet and chewed on the mothballs. What make this worse is that I’ve actually heard mothballs recommended as a deterrent to cats. Well, yeah, I’d say killing the cat is definitely a way of deterring it! Keep your cat away from mothballs, people!

In some ways cats are like babies. Their mouths house primary sensory organs and putting things in their mouths allows them to explore taste and texture. So in addition to removing dangerous substances from the home, offer alternatives to keep kitty occupied. Start with a sound diet so your pet doesn’t have to search for food. Get cat grass as an alternative to your exotic plants. You’ll find it at most pet stores for a healthy price or buy seeds and grow your own. You can get a free sample of seeds here.  Even if your feline is the outdoors type, she’ll appreciate the fresh young stalks. Live catnip is also great and can be found at most major pet stores (again, for a hefty price). I found it for less on ebay – just search for “live fresh catnip”.

And use toys and other diversions so your cat won’t have to go looking for something to do.  That can be a recipe for disaster.

For lists (and they’re long) of substances that are poisonous to cats take a look at these pages:

http://www.cfainc.org/articles/plants.html

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/a-poison-safe-home.html

If your pet is poisoned….

The obvious thing is to get to a vet as quickly as possible. Cats, of course, don’t conveniently get sick during your vet’s operating hours, so make a copy of this informationfrom the ASPCA. Post it on your refrigerator where everyone in the house will know where to find it. Highlight the poison control number –(888) 426-4435. Program the number into your cell phone and the speed dial of your home phone. Sometimes, seconds can count.

“There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast” ~ Unknown