With the American Veterinary Medical Association estimating that one in three homes own one or more cats there is bound to be a cat near your home improvement project or close by when a repair person visits.
Cats love routine and become frightened and confused when others change it. Cats are uncomfortable around the unfamiliar. Depending on the personality of the cat, a frustrated cat could hide in a deadly place like the clothes dryer or a terrified cat could streak out the door and become lost.
You might think that your cat can sleep through every disturbance caused by a home improvement project or worker that comes into your home, and while it is true that adult cats sleep 16 to 18 hours a day, their brain remains as active asleep as awake. From deep sleep cats will respond immediately to external activity around them.
The Cat's Senses
We can hear lower frequencies than a cat but a cat can hear a higher range of sounds. A cat can hear sounds three times as high as humans.
Cats’ ears are proportioned and shaped to be extremely sensitive to sounds. The cats’ ears are large compared to its head size and the ears have the ability to move. Cats can rotate each ear independently 180 degrees, turning them to locate sound. The loud noises of construction or renovation are stressful, keeping the cat on constant alert.
A cat’s whiskers also recognize change. They can sense vibrations that humans can not feel.
And while a cat is good at detecting movement – they can detect motion too fast for our eyes to comprehend - they are relatively shortsighted and find it hard to focus on very slow movement.
Workers “smell” differently than the other members of the household, and their movements with steel-toed work boots and tools dangling from tool belts are too bewildering for a cat to comprehend.
Dangerous Encounters
- By nature cats are curious. They want to investigate what you are during even when you are gone. The proverb “Curiosity killed the cat,” is a sad truth when a cat jumps up on a stack of wood that overturns on them. Or when a cat pawing a box of tacks decides like a child to put them into their mouth and accidentally swallows a couple.
- There are hundreds of deadly encounters including electrocution from chewing dangling power cords, smashed paws from trying to catch the repetitive pounding hammer, and cuts from walking on box cutters and saw blades.
- Both solvent-based and water-based home improvement products including paints, sealants, and cleaning supplies, contain poisons. The cat can overturn a bucket or pick up the residue on their paws and become ill. Cats are fastidious about keeping clean. They will lick their paws and fur. And like a baby they have more surface area to their weight so poisoning can happen easily.
- The fist rule of toxicology is everything is toxic if enough of it is ingested. And products labeled as non-toxic are toxic in their concentrated form or in amounts over the testing threshold.
- Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) – compounds that off-gas toxic fumes are toxic. Most people are aware that harsh strippers and oil based paints that smell bad need proper air circulation during use, but half of the toxic fumes emitted by home improvement products have no odor to us but are capable of causing physical injury including respiratory, kidney and brain damage.
- Installing insulation or sanding are projects that require masks for humans and require that a cat not be near-by.
- Shrink wrap can be deadly. Plastic bags that carried home supplies are troublesome because to prevent them from sticking together they are sprayed during production with an animal fat or petroleum-based lubricants that cats find attractive.
Before a worker comes into your home or before a home improvement project begins, create a safe, enclosed, heated space, preferably a room, with windows where the cat can have peace and quiet.
Obviously, don’t just dump the cat into the room minutes before a repair person arrives or you start working. Establish the room as the cat’s den several weeks before work begins by using the room together. This is particularly important with senior cats or cats that are new to the household. Both are more prone to displacement anxiety; familiarity reduces stress.
Cat-Proofing
Just as you would child-proof a room for a baby or toddler be sure to cat proof the room you turn into the cat’s den. Inspect the room regularly looking for dangers. Anticipate that the cat will do the unexpected and get themselves into predicaments.
Anything shiny is especially intriguing and dangerous to cats. Remove things like aluminum foil and cellophane. If the room has another use besides the cat’s den make sure everything is put away. Cats are keen observers so what you think is in-accessible or out of reach the cat can get at by watching you and imitating your actions. With trial and error a cat can open any cupboard, drawer or closet. Invest in and use child proof locks. Things like office supplies including paper clips and rubber bands, and sewing supplies like thread and needles end up inside cats rushed to emergency rooms everyday. Keep human treats like chocolates and raisins out of the room because they are toxic to cats.
Cats cannot sweat so make sure the cat room does not get too hot. If screens are in place, make sure they are secure and the cat cannot rip them or pop them out to escape.
Remove anything that dangles and can cause strangulation including drapery and electrical cords. Eliminate sharp objects including all glass objects that a cat can knock down and break. Cover electrical outlets. Omit houseplants: The foliage of some plants including dieffenbachia, African violets, and lilies are toxic as are some plant foods and all pesticides used on plants. (Substitute cat grass such as oat and wheat grass and catnip for houseplants.)
Put the cat’s food and water on the opposite side of the room from the litter box and make sure they can not be tipped over while the cat is exploring or playing.
Supply your cat with a high perch. Cats feel more secure when they can observe their surroundings from up high. Make sure that any climbing structure for the cat is durable and stable – that it will not tip over when the cat becomes Tarzan.
Consider a cat perch attached to a sunny window. Keep the cat entertained with a bird bath or bird feeder outside the closed window. And while cats like heat remember they cannot sweat and will overheat quickly if the room is too warm.
Visit your cat often doing the home improvement project to reassure them that you their guardian are around to love them.
