Everyone who has ever lived – or stayed at – casa az has had to learn and live by the “stupid cat rules”. I only call them stupid because some of them might seem silly or even extreme to the casual observer, but as each one is about ensuring the safety and well-being of my cats, they are non-negotiable. It used to be more difficult when I had a the ever-changing flatmates next door, but even Nog will sometimes forget, which always drives me mental because the cats need to be kept safe. To me this is far more important than seeming reasonable or even sane.
Anyhow, the rules came to mind last night when I found Loki pushing around one of the brick doorstops with his nose. He was being quite obsessive about it and then it dawned on me – there must be something inside! So I first put on my sandals and then gingerly tipped the brick upwards so I could look through it…and there I saw the vile hulking shape of what could only be a massive cockroach. Calmly as could be I shook the brick a little until the hellish creature slipped part-way out…and then I smashed it to smithereens! And it was only after the beast had been flushed and I’d finished the clean up that I got a post-traumatic case of the heebie-jeebies. Luckily I was about to meet my twitter pal Anna for some free tapas and a BIG glass of wine so, with skin still crawling, I got dressed and headed out. Later on when I was telling the tale of my bravery and Loki’s fine hunting skills I felt I should explain why I have bricks in the door jambs, but Anna already knew…
Once one of her doors got caught a gust of wind and slammed shut – on her cat! The poor thing’s back legs were paralysed after that and although he slowly recovered some movement after awhile, there had also been some kidney damage done and he ended up dying from the accident. I mean, I had never heard of this actually happening before, but it has always been there in my mind as a possibility. And well, that’s all it takes for a cat rule to be implemented.
So I decided to list the rules here but when I tried to think of what some of the other ones were I almost drew a blank because they have become so second nature. I’m sure I am missing a few but here are some of the basic ones:
- keep toilet seat & lid down
- leave bricks in door jambs
- no rubber bands
- no twist ties
- close washing machine room door
- unplug stuff when not at home
- always cover sewing machines
- keep cupboard doors closed
- no pesticide sprays
- restrictions on cleaning products
- no plastic shopping bags left around
- lower blinds before going out
Have I missed anything obvious?
casa azahar 
I remember the leaving the house procedure in your old apartment, including the airlock system – ah, happy days… Your rules are very much common sense and not silly – they are the same as I implemented when Stormy was small, except doors were jammed open or shut – having opposing thumbs and all he was able to pick up bricks and hurl them, and also, just to reassure those who don’t know me I didn’t have to lower the blinds when I left the house for what I hope are obvious reasons.
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Oh how I miss that airlock! And that really should be up there on the list: open front door just wide enough to stick toe in before peeking inside to make sure no cat is waiting to run out the door. That airlock next door made coming and going so easy!
Heh, I put the blinds down so that I can leave the balcony doors open when I go out (so the cats can get fresh air) and there is less chance of them leaping to their deaths.
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When I went to buy a house I sat down with the realtor and explained that I would look at only houses which conformed to certain layouts. In addition to being adaptable to my home business, the doors to the outside had to be “airlockable.” No open basement with a direct exit, for example, screened porches on all entry doors for preference. I ended up building a teensy screened porch over the front entry before I moved in, which was promptly christened the “cat trap.”
And I’ve had nightmares about blowing-door accidents like that.
I have the same rules. In fact at one time there was a small card posted inside my front door reminding me to check some of them (like the toilet lids) before leaving the house. Anyone who has a problem with it can go pound sand.
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The balcony doors banging shut in the wind would probably only cause some bruising as they are so flimsy, but the inside doors on the rooms are very tall and made of thick and heavy wood. When I removed the bedroom one last year to put up ceiling to floor curtains instead (it’s a very pretty moroccan look, though the curtains are actually from IKEA and Loki has now chewed them full of holes) Nog and I could barely carry the thing up to the storage room, it weighed so much. I’m quite sure a door like that slamming shut on a kitteh would snap the poor thing in half.
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One of my family’s extended family got a kitten and although they took reasonable precautions, they came home one day to find the kitten had strangled in the unravelled trim on their couch.
While precautions can seem anal to others, it is for the safety of your cats. You can never be too careful.
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How sad. I once saw a kitten almost strangle himself to death after sticking his head through a plastic shopping bag handle and then panicking because he couldn’t get it off. He kept spinning around making the handle go tighter and tighter – if I hadn’t been there I’m sure he’d have been a goner.
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I can understand some of these. It’s funny though I never worry about any of these things with Indy. Her trick is chewing electric cords…………..which is BAD BAD BAD. Took me hours one day to figure out why the VCR wouldn’t work. She had chewed right through the connecting wires. Very hard to hide electrical cords, so it’s been a matter of scolding her when I catch her. She seems (fingers crossed) to have outgrown the habit.
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Rabbits are known to chew electrical cords. Our rabbit chewed through the cord on the hi-fi set and the resulting short set fire to a pile of newspapers sitting next to it. It was just lucky that my mother insisted that she HAD to go in and put some clothes in the dryer before we went for a drive. All of us were trying to get her to forget about the clothes until we got back.
Luckily, she was stubborn and went back in the house.
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I make sure all electrical cords very hard to get at, and when this isn’t possible I unplug them when I go out. Many years ago I woke up during a hot summer night wondering why my fan had stopped working and saw that Azar had chewed through the cord and was playing with the broken off bit. Well, I almost had a heart attack thinking that he might have been fried to death, not to mention the possible fire hazard, so since then I don’t leave any plugged in electrical cords trailing along the floor when I’m not home (or awake). Yeah, it’s a bit of a pain but it beats the alternative.
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Lowered blinds? Are you afraid someone will see the and cat-nap them?
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No, I’m afraid a pigeon will land on the balcony railing (as sometimes happens) and Loki will “go over the top” trying to catch it. Even though I’ve got lots of kitteh protection up, lowering the blinds makes it a bit more difficult for this to happen. Unfortunately, my blinds only go about 3/4 of the way down (they’re made for windows, not doors) so there is still a bit of a gap…
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