[Music]
what's up everybody jackson galaxy cat
daddy here with you and today we are
talking about
safety for your cats but this time it's
about cat proofing your home
and i'm telling you i promise you i
guarantee you that there's a bunch of
stuff you didn't think of
and almost everything that i'm going to
list here either
has happened to clients or i've heard
stories about we start with the concept
as i've said before that we have to
treat cats in terms of our home design
as we are designing for toddlers
who can get to the ceiling who can act
like squirrel monkeys
sometimes flying with the greatest of
ease and sometimes not
toddler in terms of curiosity toddler in
terms
of destructibility and uh
and cat in terms of owning the sky and
the ground
so with that let's get to it so before i
go through
this list a few things i want to mention
the concept of cadification and
cadification
if you don't know it yet there are many
videos on this channel and also
two design books that i've written i'll
talk about that later that we're not
just talking about a checklist of do's
and don'ts it's also about more of a
holistic
take on design before i launch into this
list
and yes folks it's a list i want you to
start thinking about who your cats are
and how these pointers will
apply or not apply to your specific cats
so who is your cat well kittens really
represent
just about every troublemaking category
i can think of except for the fact that
that depending on how young the kitten
is
then they can only get so far in the sky
it's their job in life to discover
territory
to better hunt and that is something you
just have to bear in mind as your
kittens get older
is your cat the explorer the one that's
just always finding new places you're
like where's henry
are they the cat that that i deem dennis
the menace and of course that is a
gender-neutral term is this the cat who
knocks things off the shelves just to
see them fall
is your cat a senior seniors become
much more compromised when it comes to
not only their physical function
and their their sensory abilities and
their cognitive abilities
um it just they're gonna be more apt to
slip and slide
um to fall off of places where at some
point they might have been
totally confident about getting up and
down from so special needs cats they
don't see themselves
in through the lens of others oh i'm a
cat with only three legs they don't do
it they just
move through the world with three legs
same thing goes for
hearing impaired cat a blind cat we
still have to design our homes from a
cat proofing perspective
to accommodate and to not invite
disaster
along the lines of special needs if your
cat has pica
and and it's something that we know not
very much about in terms of the causes
but it is incredibly dangerous because
these are cats who will
eat things that they have no business
eating
or at the end of the day you could have
multiple cats and they might
fall into multiple categories but it
just gives you a starting point in terms
of
thinking about who you're cat proofing
for so having mentioned catification
let's start with cadification cat
proofing occasion
cat cat proof vacation cat provocation
anyway you get my it's about the overall
design
of the house there are just sort of
general things
big you know low-hanging design pieces
of fruit for you guys to think about
uh one of them is child locks on
cabinets
that's easy and we're gonna go further
into why you would do that but
do that but what about things like your
screens
and your doors your front doors your
back doors if you think that every
screen that you buy for your house
is cat tested and cat approved you would
be totally wrong
make sure number one that when you push
on a screen it can't come out
but the second thing is what is your
screening made of pet screening
is a grade of screen that is just more
heavy duty
than let's face it the cheap stuff which
is basically there to keep out
mosquitoes
not to keep in cats another thing
that that i've just seen happen way too
many times is when it comes to balconies
i let my cat out on the balcony because
you know you know he can see the world
and he's not leaving the house but if
you don't think that your cat is going
to
maybe at some point jump up or climb or
do whatever because he's never done it
before
don't depending on where you live you
know renting
hoas things like that they may not allow
you to screen in
your your balcony but if you can
then do it if you can't don't let your
cat out there
why tempt fate any cord at all should be
covered because
again even if your cat's never done it
before there's always that chance
they're going to walk up to
a cord and be like cord protectors which
you can buy
online very simply they're just hard
plastic
they are bendable you run your cords
through it they are
pretty much bite proof although i've
seen some pica cats be able to
do some damage but in that case you
would spray it down with bitter apple
a little nasty tasting spray and that
way even if they
want to chew on the cord protector it's
it's
it's it's not there's not a lot of
return on investment there let's put it
that way
start thinking also about if you've got
a multi-level house
banisters and landings that are high
i've seen it over and over right we have
the
it's a landing and then you have a
railing that goes on top
and a long drop down just make sure
you're thinking about how you're gonna
prevent your cat
from doing a you know a tight wire walk
on a uh on a railing like that
underneath those places just think of a
soft landing even if they land on their
feet if it's a slippery surface
they're just going to go straight out
and that will cause damage i have
actually
uh worked with having either netting or
canvas or something like this that hangs
right below
that rail you know where your cat's
going to fall think about it in terms of
like
a pole vaulter or or what you would have
on the sides of a trampoline
something like that look out for those
banisters look out for those landings
and also start thinking about stairs and
what happens if you just got those slick
wood stairs cats
will run and then they'll run up and
down the stairs and the idea of them
hitting those stairs
and just losing balance and hurting
themselves blind cords
you know if you've got vertical blinds
or curtains and they have those cords
make sure to tie them up don't let them
just dangle that's something they can
really
get tangled up in and it's a serious
choking hazard it's a serious something
they can
wind up strangling themselves on so hang
those guys up if you have a
cat or cats you shouldn't have lit
candles
from anywhere that they can access a
candle is either singed whiskers
singed fur or knocking it over and and
starting a house fire
i love the fact that you guys have been
cadifying your butts off i see great
pictures in fact in
our books we just use so many examples
that you have come up with over the
years
the one thing that i would have you be
really careful about
uh when it comes to catifying up high
the shelving
is just be careful how high you go in
terms of an emergency if you've got to
get your cats out of the house and you
can't reach them
if you've got you know 12 foot ceilings
you might not want your cats to have
access to the 11th foot
all right so we've talked about knowing
your cat we've talked about sort of
whole house thoughts from a catification
cat proofing standpoint
now let's go room to room so one of the
most
obvious places to start when we talk
about cat proofing is the bathroom
because that's where our medicines are
cat proofing the cabinet what you might
not have thought about
is something like toothpaste toothpaste
is completely toxic to your cats
soap it's another thing totally toxic
for the most part to cats anything with
perfumes in them
here's something you didn't think about
are you using the kind of tissue paper
or
facial tissue that has things like
lanolin in it or
perfumes in them and if it's going to
wind up in your cat's mouth
it could be a problem another thing you
might not have thought about is
keeping your toilet lid down cats can
fall into the toilet and once in
sometimes they'll have trouble getting
out and again there are
things in your toilet that are not meant
to be
digested especially if you use any kind
of deodorizer
any kind of additive to the toilet bowl
you want to make sure you keep the
toilet lid
closed for business open for business
but closed for cat business gross
one last thing that winds up in the
bathroom all
different types of deodorizers and
aromatherapy
those little sticks that we have in
decorative jars just
because it's a bathroom nah those are
just a quick way
to poison your cats tons of things in
the kitchen
that can harm your cats so let's start
with the most obvious
and that is the under sink
area that place where you have all of
your cleaners
anything that's usually toxic goes in
that place easily solved
with um with child locks on the cabinet
itself
let's talk about the stove slash oven if
you use your oven
just look i know you're going well how
is my cat
gonna get in the oven well cats are
just heat seeking missiles if they're
that explorer
you know they might wind up in there so
just look let's go
up top and talk about the stove very
simple
stove handle guards uh they're little
locks that can go on the four
burners or six burners or how many you
got and and it will keep them from being
turned
uh you can get those little stove top
covers so as soon as you're done using
it plunk
and done walk away that way your cats
aren't walking
on on something that could be uber hot
when we're talking about cats looking
for heat and
interesting places to go the dishwasher
is another place and
just again check the dishwasher before
you use it the fridge folks
the fridge why there's food your cat
will find food anywhere they're gonna
find it in the fridge and that's not a
place where you want your cat to wind up
right and garbage cans food smells like
food whether it's been in your mouth on
your plate
some kind of gourmet preparation your
cat's still going to want to go there
between
toxic materials that can be in the trash
interspersed with the food that you
might have put in there
or bones that could be in your trash as
well
these are things that can splinter
choking hazards you know where i'm going
right so make sure to secure your
garbage cans
let's just talk about the dining room
also because it's a room
and we're talking about rooms and it's
attached to the kitchen most of the time
so
anyway let's talk about our dining table
what's on our dining table oftentimes
besides food
flowers so we have done a video take a
look right here uh when you have time go
through this video right up here because
that is about uh
plants and flowers that are toxic to
your cats there are plenty of flowers
and plants that can kill your cats
tablecloths so when you think about
kittens
dennis the menace who wants to knock
things off those are guys who will look
at something dangling off a table
and especially if they have the little
fringies to them or anything like that
and
yank and whatever's on that table comes
down with them and
comes down on top of them living room
let's go to the living room shall we
follow me to the living room i really
want to give you a house tour here of
of the most dangerous house in the world
for your cats
kittens and dennis the menace and
explorers all three of those guys are in
danger
in the living room to one degree or
another and let's just use the mantle
as uh just sort of a symbol for all the
higher up places where you could put
decorative items
those items are there to be knocked down
so the cure-all for that
is museum putty living in california
everybody knows what museum putty is in
california because if there's an
earthquake that stuff's coming down
museum putty just goes underneath
any of these items that you want to keep
where they are and your cats won't be
able to knock them down
but earthquake straps on your highest
items
whether it's in the dining room the
living room wherever those brake fronts
armoires whatever
they're just straps that attach to the
wall and make it so that if there is an
earthquake
or anything else i mean if you've got a
20 pound cat and he's just wanting to
jump off of something
oftentimes something well not an armoire
but an ikea bookcase can come right down
you know so
you get what you pay for folks but any
of those lightweight objects can come
down and those earthquake straps are a
really inexpensive easy way to make sure
that they don't
recliners are a real problem when it
comes to cats
if if you have a cat who's an explorer
or a kitten tends to want to just
explore those dark areas those smaller
areas any furniture with moving parts to
it
can be really dangerous to your cats and
kill them when you go to recline
you just want to make sure that there's
no cat down there
seal off the ways for your cats to get
in there in the first place i know
that's not easy and i gotta be honest
if you're gonna have especially multiple
cats if you're gonna have kittens think
about it
think about maybe not having that lazy
boy another thing
is to double check whether it's your
couches or your
living room chairs a lot of them have
either those gaps
of fabric and wood or it's just happened
over time
your cat can number one get inside your
couch get stuck there
wind up getting hung up on threads that
are stray hanging from the top of that
the inside of that couch
or like i was talking about not being
able to get your cat
down from a certain area if your cat is
in the couch or in a chair and you got
to get out or you got to get them out
good luck you're gonna wind up tearing
that furniture apart just to get them
out of there
heed my advice people moving on to your
bedroom the first place that i worry
about is under your bed i hate when cats
go under the bed
here's what i worry about there's an
emergency in your house there's
a fire there's any kind of an emergency
where you got to get out of the house
if your cats get scared where are they
going to go a lot of times under the bed
and that means they're going to go under
the bed in the middle of the bed
under the headboard it's going to be a
squeeze you're going to wind up having
to tear the bed apart just to get them
out and you may not have the time to do
that
if you want to talk long-term cat
proofing platform beds are where it's at
laundry room let's go to the laundry
room follow me
this is like you know king obvious room
right because the washer and the dryer
again you're sitting there going jackson
my cat's not just going to open the
dryer and get in there
no but you're going to leave it open and
your cat depending on the cat in fact
let me tell you a quick story this is
funny
i had a cat his name was gross and gross
was always a little slow on the uptake
this
something happened to him and so you
always had to watch out for him i was
younger and dumber so just don't the the
front door one of my roommates left the
front door open
and gross wandered out he wound up in
the
laundry room of an apartment complex
with a lot of angry neighbors waiting
for me because he had crapped
in the dryer multiple times that's where
he just made a nest
and pooped everywhere you don't know how
hard it is to get the smell of poop out
of a dryer you know it heats up
anyhow washers and dryers uh make sure
that you're checking also
remember it's not just about your cat
going through the spin cycle
or you know the dryer starting up it's
also what's in there
dryer sheets it's also about fabric
softener it's also about the detergent
itself so wherever it is that you store
those
things and the fact that there's residue
of them in these areas
just remember the little things mean a
lot
or the little things can really mess up
your cats and what do i mean by the
little things
things that just wind up hanging around
the house especially if you have a home
office
things like rubber bands thumb tacks
paper clips
staples these are things that are just
floating around for those of you who
have kids and you've been trying to kid
proof the house kids have birthday
parties and that means balloons that get
deflated
balloons have strings on them they have
ribbons
presents have ribbons and mylar is not a
good thing for cats either so make sure
that you're cleaning up all the sort of
decorative items as well
from the kids birthday parties speaking
of that then we've got holidays
and i mean if you haven't even
considered all of the trouble that your
cat can get into around the holidays
check out this video
up here um christmas trees and all the
rest of it man
can be a real problem so i'm here to
help you guys
i know you think i'm here to be a pain
and to be that guy who's like have you
thought of this have you thought of this
have you thought of this well have you
anyway i wanted to talk about crafting
let's say you're sewing or doing needle
points so that means needles
pointy needles with needlepoint thread
is another problem anything that can
wrap around the cat's intestinal tract
as it goes down
is potentially a nightmare at the very
best you're following your cat around
for a couple of days waiting for them to
poop something out and that's no fun
either just put
everything away i know if you're like me
you just leave stuff around
it's hard to break yourself of the habit
but you're gonna be really happy
that you did yeah so as i've been going
through this whole thing i'm like
i just i feel like that crotchety old
you know you know what that thing can be
a choking hazard
well i can now on that note i want you
guys to know something
i have spent the better part of 30 years
gathering up information and gathering
up products and designing products and
writing books and i do want you guys to
take a look at
what i have provided for you one of
those things world two
are cadification and cadify to satisfy
my two design books if you want to know
about cadifying about creating a home
that works for both you and your cat and
yes about cat proofing and being safe
and check out those two books
also take a look at the jackson galaxy
scene and odor remover not only does
that stuff
work uh but it's also completely safe
it's a wonderful product else i wouldn't
put my name to it and besides that you
guys there's plenty of other products
that i have spent a long time curating
so just go to jacksongalaxy.com
check them all out for yourself don't
forget pass this video on to anybody
that you know that has cats because
everybody needs this kind of information
and if you have a video that you want to
see that's what the comments are for so
leave a comment uh about what you'd like
me to answer about your cats
and uh don't forget subscribe hit the
bell make sure that the next time
there's important information
or funny information or funny but not
information
you know when it happens that's a great
way of saying that jackson anyway it's
time for me to go
until next time you guys all light all
love all mojo to you
[Music]
meow
