Recliner Chairs - Dangers?

[Pat'sCats]

Thank goodness!

 

[Pat'sCats]

Being new to the site I checked "More Options" and it looks like I managed to post a blank reply. Sorry folks, let's hope this works. Due to allergies I am also fairly new to cats. We had a cat adopt us but due to my allergies Spooky appeared destined to remain a porch cat. Then we moved and were afraid she would get lost so she became an indoor cat while I began getting allergy shots. Now we have two cats. Keiko adopted me and now we're a team. She loves going under the footrest of our recliner when it is up. That La-Z-Boy foot rest descends with a crash. She hasn't been caught under there yet but my son made a good point last night. People forget. Visiting guests who may not know the rules might sit in the recliner. Cat's forget. You can remind them but it's those forgetful times that can cost your cat all seven lives at once. I looked underneath the foot rest and do you know what mechanism raises and lowers it? Two scissor jacks. One on each side with plenty of room in either one for a paw, tail or head. Guess why they call them 'scissor' jacks? This morning I clamped the footrest down with zip ties. While experimenting with how to best do it, one attempt had the scissor jacks slice through the nylon zip ties like butter. Cats are not as tough as nylon zip ties. Unlike people, with cats past behavior is not a predictor of future behavior. Cat's like to change things up. Please don't think that just because a cat has never been hurt by your recliner it means that can't ever happen. Recliners are seriously dangerous to cat's, dogs and toddlers. My campaign for a new chair begins today. I have a strong hunch my wife will be easily convinced.

 

[dustydiamond1]

Being new to the site I checked "More Options" and it looks like I managed to post a blank reply. Sorry folks, let's hope this works. Due to allergies I am also fairly new to cats. We had a cat adopt us but due to my allergies Spooky appeared destined to remain a porch cat. Then we moved and were afraid she would get lost so she became an indoor cat while I began getting allergy shots. Now we have two cats. Keiko adopted me and now we're a team. She loves going under the footrest of our recliner when it is up. That La-Z-Boy foot rest descends with a crash. She hasn't been caught under there yet but my son made a good point last night. People forget. Visiting guests who may not know the rules might sit in the recliner. Cat's forget. You can remind them but it's those forgetful times that can cost your cat all seven lives at once. I looked underneath the foot rest and do you know what mechanism raises and lowers it? Two scissor jacks. One on each side with plenty of room in either one for a paw, tail or head. Guess why they call them 'scissor' jacks? This morning I clamped the footrest down with zip ties. While experimenting with how to best do it, one attempt had the scissor jacks slice through the nylon zip ties like butter. Cats are not as tough as nylon zip ties. Unlike people, with cats past behavior is not a predictor of future behavior. Cat's like to change things up. Please don't think that just because a cat has never been hurt by your recliner it means that can't ever happen. Recliners are seriously dangerous to cat's, dogs and toddlers. My campaign for a new chair begins today. I have a strong hunch my wife will be easily convinced.

 

[di and bob]

This was an older post, but thank you so much PatsCats for reminding us what a danger this can be. It is well worth it to bring it up again. I worked at a nursing home where a kitten was killed by this type of chair, a recliner. It is well worth the inconvenience to make sure your cat is not under the chair before sitting up. Thank you!

 

[Purr-fect]

No recliners in our house.....and now we never will.

However Arnold has an appreciation for European designer furniture and enjoys his leather corbusier chaise lounger (beside the fireplace).

 

[Pat'sCats]

If my word of caution on recliners didn't freak you out, read on. When I was young my neighbor had a kitten that liked to crawl under the covers. Nobody told me. I don't have to tell you. You know what happened. That kitten was too young to have used up all nine lives. I'm starting to think that is a myth... Sixty years later I still feel guilty. My cat Keiko, who my wife rescued as an abandoned kitten, likes to crawl under blankets and sofa covers. At least I've learned my lesson. Never drop onto a bed or chair that has a rumpled blanket or throw. Now I have to worry about anyone else in our house, especially grand kids running and jumping onto chairs or beds or my visiting daughter who, like Keiko, loves to burrow under every blanket and throw in the house.

Next true story. My neighbor's cat, Smokey, liked to sit on top of my open garage door and watch me while I worked in the garage. One day as I walked into the house, without even giving it a second thought, I hit the garage door remote. A few seconds later I heard my neighbor across the street screaming. I got the door open and attempted cat CPR. It was too late. I'd never heard of cat CPR before but I was desperate. When Smokey's owner returned I told him. He went inside and told his wife. Then I heard her screaming. I miss Smokey. Add more kitty guilt.

This is not an actual event so much as an observation. Car engines, hoods and that space in the front wheel well of a car can stay warm for quite a while and are very enticing to a cold outdoor cat. Believe it or not the term mechanics use for that space above the tire in the front wheel well is, "Dead Cat Space." Something to think about when your in a rush to jump in your car and dash to the store before it closes.

You'll be relieved to hear that is my last cat disaster story. I'm praying there are only happy cat times from here on out.

 

[Jmlappin]

Just curious what the owners of recliner chairs do to reduce the dangers of having a recliner chair in the room.

Anyone have experience with injuring your cat with a recliner chair?

I'm so concerned about our chair injuring one of our cats that I have to count cats before I operate the recliner. When people visit, I plan on jamming the recliner so no one can actually use the chair, or stuff pillows or a box under the chair so the cat can't get under it.

Since we have this issue - I just wondered what others may be doing to prevent injury to your furbabies.

a friend’s kitten just had her tail severed when her husband closed the recliner couch to get up. The kitten screamed as he was closing it, he stopped and raised it but the damage was done. Thankfully it wasn’t severed at the base because that causes lifelong problems with controlling defecation and urination, but this has been pretty traumatic for them all. The kitten is in quite a bit of pain right now- there are lots of nerves in the tail. This happened Friday night, so the surgery at an emergency clinic cost a fortune. They had to amputate more of the tail because of the extensive damage to the section that was cut by the recliner. He is extremely depressed from guilt. I can’t believe these furniture companies don’t at least post warnings about small pets in their instructions. At least she lived...I just read the post below about the cat who was decapitated. Good god.I found this site just now because I did a google search about cat injuries due to recliners. Curious to see how prevalent the problem is.

And yes, it obviously was caused by the metal moving parts.

 

[IndyJones]

I wonder why the manufacturers of these lazy boy chairs don't sell some kind of accessory package that blocks off accses to the undercarriage of the chair.

I pinched my feet in the scissor jacks of a lazy boy when I was little and didn't know any better than to climb the footrest and it broke my toes.

 

[JENNY 1975]

*Warning*- If you have hard time reading sensitive or sad information skip story!
I witnessed the danger of owning a recliner in 2 different fur baby owners homes.
First time, while on a visit to my friend Tammy's house.. Her husband came in and plopped down and back in a rocking recliner to watch TV as their new kitten was napping behind the chair. The kittens head was immediately crushed into the floor by back wood frame coming down with such force to floor. I will never forget the horrible sound I heard. I also found after that incident, I couldn't look at that man's face without thinking he was an overwieght clumsy slob. I Know he didn't mean to kill the kitten, it didn't help me with the fact that if he didn't carelessly flop down like that, it may have had a chance to move.
The 2nd time I was visiting a friend that had 4 free to roam the house ferrets. I loved her fur babies and often brought my 2 ferrets with me to play there. I'm happy I didn't bring mine over on that day. When I got there she was looking everywhere for Ghost which was her 3 year old white male. He was a very funny, active and always friendly fur baby that made a lot of chatter noises while playing. She told me she hadn't seen or heard him with the others all day. Ferrets tend to sleep a lot, some about 12 to18 hours total in 1 day. I didn't think her not seeing him around was a big issue at that time. I sat drinking coffee in the living room, when I heard her let out a scream from her son's bedroom. I rushed in there to see what had happened. I was grief struck and sickened,when my brain processed what I was seeing was her pulling at a bloody and white twisted body, from a flipped over recliner. Ghost had been hiding or sleeping in the chair as her son unknowingly closed it on him.
If you have smaller pets I highly suggest not owning a rocker or recliner. If you own one block that room from use to your pet. They're NOT pet friendly.

 

[ecasner99]

warning extremely sad post

Today 1 out of our 10 cats died an unfortunate way. We have recliner chairs. And our cat was sleeping underneath so my mom put the foot rest part down and our cat got pinned under and died. The worst part is she couldn't meow to get out she was scratching and nobody heard. We are all blaming ourselves especially my mom. I'm honestly having a really rough time. I can't stop crying. I know we must sound like horrible people not knowing our cat was trapped. I honestly wish she was still alive or that we could just reverse the clock and be able to get her out.

 

[Purr-fect]

warning extremely sad post

Today 1 out of our 10 cats died an unfortunate way. We have recliner chairs. And our cat was sleeping underneath so my mom put the foot rest part down and our cat got pinned under and died. The worst part is she couldn't meow to get out she was scratching and nobody heard. We are all blaming ourselves especially my mom. I'm honestly having a really rough time. I can't stop crying. I know we must sound like horrible people not knowing our cat was trapped. I honestly wish she was still alive or that we could just reverse the clock and be able to get her out.

You cant change what has happened. But you can help protect your other 9 kitties and every other cat you and your family will ever own.

First....you must block all the recliner chairs from reclining....no ifs and or buts, no excuses. If your family love their kitties, they will do this. If the recliners cant be blocked from reclining, then they must be discarded....no questions. This includes rocking chairs. The reality is with 9 cats roaming the home, you simply cant always know where every single one is and this tragic event could happen again.

Second, make it your mission to find all the items, liquids, cleaners and ANY thing else that could be a danger to your kitties. Then make your home kitty proof.

Im sorry this happened. It was an accident.

 

[LeiLana80]

warning extremely sad post

I am SO sorry.

 

[misty8723]

I do not put the foot part up on our recliner chairs. Freaks me out when husband puts it up. I make him call me to check for cats before he gets up. I've trained him to use a foot stool.