101 Feline Home Hazards

[AbbysMom]

I found a really good link with a list of hazards in your home by category -

101 Feline Home Hazards - Lincoln Avenue Cat Hospital

 

[Meekie]

Thanks for this!

Under dangerous objects they've listed balls:

1. Balls
   (especially balls that are small or have a smooth outer coating)

I assume this is because they are a choking hazard? My cats have always played with balls, some of them rather small, and I've never had a problem.

Not listed: those plastic tab/ring/strip things you pull off a plastic milk container. They've always been popular with my cats but only under supervision.

 

[IndyJones]

Could they mean balls like bouncy balls or marbles?

Anything smaller than a ping pong ball I could see being swallowed and causing an obstruction. Especially if your cat has pica.

I've had a cat with pica and everything becomes a hazard really. She would eat hair, elastics, scrunchies, pretty much anything. One of the strangest things though was photographs. She would lick the photos hanging on the fridge.

 

[blumarine916]

IndyJones Totally agree with the pica. Plastic or filmy things, like cellophane tape or even the partially peeled off tape from boxes, garbage bags, plastic grocery bags, pad/panty liner packaging, tissue paper packaging…

 

[daftcat75]

I would add household vapors and fumes such as incense, essential oil diffusers, and especially secondhand smoke. It's thought that one of the leading causes of oral SCC (squamous cell carcinoma, an aggressive mouth cancer) is from exposure to secondhand smoke. I lost my first cat to oral SCC. She grew up in a household of smokers. Thankfully I don't smoke anymore. I now have several Dyson air purifiers to remove wildfire (and kitchen) smoke because that's a regular summer/autumn thing in California now (the wildfire smoke, not the kitchen smoke.)

 

[IndyJones]

I would add household vapors and fumes such as incense, essential oil diffusers, and especially secondhand smoke. It's thought that one of the leading causes of oral SCC (squamous cell carcinoma, an aggressive mouth cancer) is from exposure to secondhand smoke. I lost my first cat to oral SCC. She grew up in a household of smokers. Thankfully I don't smoke anymore. I now have several Dyson air purifiers to remove wildfire (and kitchen) smoke because that's a regular summer/autumn thing in California now (the wildfire smoke, not the kitchen smoke.)

I always thought defuser used a mist not smoke. At least the kind you put a few drops of oil into water and it comes out the top.

I guess it depends on what you put in it, some oils aren't good for people either.

 

[daftcat75]

I always thought defuser used a mist not smoke. At least the kind you put a few drops of oil into water and it comes out the top.

I guess it depends on what you put in it, some oils aren't good for people either.

I didn't mean to imply that oil diffusers and secondhand smoke are the same thing. Obviously, they are not. Oil diffusers present a different challenge for cats. The oils used in them, many of them are harmful to cats. I did an experiment with my Dyson and it's fancy sensors and found that a Dyson in one room can register the vapors from the diffuser in the other room even in an intermittent vs continuous use.

Any household vapor, fume, mist, or smoke can be hazardous to a cat because of their smaller size. But secondhand tobacco (and pot) smoke can be especially harmful and one of the leading risk factors for oral SCC.

 

[IndyJones]

I think it depends how you use the diffuser. My mom has one she loves and often has running when I bring Indy and Kabby over to visit, they don't even seem to notice it really. Indy has asthma and it doesn't trigger her or anything.

She only uses 1 or 2 drops though per cup of water. Usually lemongrass or tangerine oils. She gets it from a store that specializes in diffusers and organic oils though, so it's not the cheap synthetic stuff.

 

[daftcat75]

I think it depends how you use the diffuser. My mom has one she loves and often has running when I bring Indy and Kabby over to visit, they don't even seem to notice it really. Indy has asthma and it doesn't trigger her or anything.

She only uses 1 or 2 drops though per cup of water. Usually lemongrass or tangerine oils. She gets it from a store that specializes in diffusers and organic oils though, so it's not the cheap synthetic stuff.

Looks like I will be fact-checking myself for days on this one.
The Science Behind Cats and Essential Oils – written by Melissa Shelton DVM – Veterinarians Westminster, Maryland | Carroll County Veterinary Clinic

Tldr; Essential oils should be treated as drugs. With drugs, the difference between medicine and poison is the dose. Quality of the oil is also important. Fragrance grade, synthetic, or altered essential oils should be avoided. Your mom's diffuser is not likely to harm your cats unless she uses a poor quality oil, a lot of oil, or runs it all the time. It's not that essential oils accumulate as some of the internet posts have stated. But that cats can have a very slow metabolism for some of them. In this way, if you're running a diffuser all the time, you're filling the cat faster than the cat's liver can empty it.

 

[maggie101]

I would like to add the plastic ends of shoe laces and the glue strip between kitchen counter and wall. My counter is not very attractive because the back is blocked with plastic containers. Also plasticic ends of door knob stoppers

 

[IndyJones]

In addition to that, the plastic nubs that go over the bolts on toilets. Indy refuses to leave those alone and ends up pulling them off sometimes.

 

[iPappy]

+1 for the plastic milk ring circle things. Last fall I noticed my old boy couldn't go #2, and was straining hard. We went to the vet and he had a foreign object (small) in his colon and needed to be put under to have it taken out. The vet didn't want to make me throw up so she didn't save what she extracted ( ) , but she said it was a small chunk of green flimsy plastic. I searched my house high and low. I drive myself crazy trying to figure out what he could have gotten into.
A few days later I dug around in the storage room freezer looking for something and noticed my stash of goats milk I give the cats and dogs once a week or so. Little bottles from a semi-local raw pet food company, and the plastic rings and lids on those bottles were bright green, then it hit me that I sometimes toss those rings onto the floor for the cats to bat around. I'm pretty sure the little stinker chewed a chunk off, swallowed, then had some regrets. So did my checking account!

 

[Antonio65]

I would add household vapors and fumes such as incense, essential oil diffusers, and especially secondhand smoke. It's thought that one of the leading causes of oral SCC (squamous cell carcinoma, an aggressive mouth cancer) is from exposure to secondhand smoke. I lost my first cat to oral SCC. She grew up in a household of smokers. Thankfully I don't smoke anymore. I now have several Dyson air purifiers to remove wildfire (and kitchen) smoke because that's a regular summer/autumn thing in California now (the wildfire smoke, not the kitchen smoke.)

My cat had two carcinomas, one up in her nostril, one under her tongue, in two different times of her life. The first one in 2011, the second one in 2016.
Both were treated at the same oncological clinic, and they asked me what kind of environment my cat was living in.
I replied NO to all questions where triggering elements were listed.
NO to: secondhand smoke, smoke of any kind, pollution from outdoors, heavy traffic, industries in the area, microwave emissions (cell phone towers, TV towers, others...), plants in the house, access to detergents or chemicals, use of chemicals on her coat, and so on.

It just happened, twice. Plus another cancer in her abdomen between the two above.

 

[Antonio65]

I read the 101 hazards list, but a few items are listed twice, so they could be less than 101
Grass is in the list. Why is grass considered dangerous? Cats are known to chew on grass, and apart from some extremely rare incidents, they are always fine after that.

 

[iPappy]

I read the 101 hazards list, but a few items are listed twice, so they could be less than 101
Grass is in the list. Why is grass considered dangerous? Cats are known to chew on grass, and apart from some extremely rare incidents, they are always fine after that.

Maybe they meant to say chemically treated grass (Roundup, etc.)?

 

[maggie101]

In addition to that, the plastic nubs that go over the bolts on toilets. Indy refuses to leave those alone and ends up pulling them off sometimes.

Same with door stoppers

 

[memom90]

Thank you for sharing.

 

[cejhome]

I don't see how the toilet bolt cover plastic things would be dangerous except for maybe cleaning product or other residue? They are too big to swallow. Our kitty Buddy loves them. He doesn't chew on them, he just loves batting them around. After he found they made good toys I took them away from him and washed them. I then bought him his own brand new ones and used silicone to glue the old ones on the toilet base.

 

[maggie101]

I read the 101 hazards list, but a few items are listed twice, so they could be less than 101
Grass is in the list. Why is grass considered dangerous? Cats are known to chew on grass, and apart from some extremely rare incidents, they are always fine after that.

Just a guess, but every week exterminators spray around the building and ant piles

 

[NekoM]

My older cat has always wanted to eat plastic wrappers it doesn’t matter how careful I am he always occasionally finds one and tries to run off with it.