EASY WAYS TO MAKE YOUR HOME MORE PET FRIENDLY
Pets play a large part in many families. While these
fuzzy (and sometimes not-so-fuzzy) friends can bring a lot of fun and
companionship, keeping pets happy and healthy can take a lot of work as well.
One way to keep this under control is to improve the overall pet-friendliness
of your home. Much like babyproofing before bringing home a new child helps to
prevent accidents and other problems, putting in some time to make your home
more pet-friendly now will save a lot of headaches and other issues down the line.
Pet-Friendly Homes
There are a few different concerns you should consider
when trying to come up with ways to make your home more pet-friendly. Think
about whether there are any areas of the home that your pet might get hurt or
sick if they get into. Do you have a pet that is likely to chew on things? Stop
to consider what those things it chews on are made of. Take an inventory of all
the things that you do not want your pet to damage or break; how many of them cannot
be replaced?
As you can see, pet friendliness includes more than
just restricting access to certain parts of the home. A truly pet-friendly home
is one that will keep your pet safe in many ways while also protecting
important items from your pets. There are a few different ways to go about this,
of course, and there is no one right answer when it comes to how you should
approach making your home more pet friendly.
Common Pet-Proofing Techniques
The way that you approach pet-proofing and making your
home more pet-friendly will depend in large part on how your home is designed
and decorated. With that said, here are a few ideas to serve as starting points
for your pet-friendly revamp.
Check the interior of your home for peeling paint or
similar problems, especially if you have an older home. Some paints contain
materials that could be toxic for pets, so removing peeling paint areas and
giving everything a fresh coat of pet-safe paint can help to keep your
companions safe.
Secure potentially dangerous areas like stairwells,
fireplaces, and crawlspace access points. Replace rusted or loose coverings to
make sure that they cannot be pulled back or shaken free by a determined pet.
Then install baby gates or other barriers as needed which will allow you to get
through but prevent passage by those without opposable thumbs.
Lock up cleaners and other chemicals where your pets cannot
access them. Some scented cleaners may smell like food to pets, and even
non-toxic chemicals can still make pets sick or cause other problems if
ingested. If you have medications in the home, they should be locked up
similarly.
Get a trash can with a sturdy lid, preferably one that
can be operated hands-free. This will not only keep trash from being spread out
in your home but can also keep pets from eating things that they really should
not.
Of course, this is just the start of ways to secure
your home and make it safe for your pets. Regardless of the specifics, though,
the end goal is to make sure that there are fewer things within reach of your
pets that could potentially cause them harm.
Pet-Friendly Remodeling
In some cases, more extensive work might be required
for your home to be truly pet-friendly. Stop and consider whether any changes
need to be made to your home’s layout to eliminate hazards or otherwise protect
your pets and keep them out of places they do not need to be. You should also
talk to contractors, landscapers, and others to make sure that you are choosing
pet-friendly materials and plants for your home.
If you need to do some remodelling but want to make
sure that it is as pet-friendly as possible, HomeKeepr can help. Sign up for a
free account today to find contractors and other pros who not only know their
business but know how to make your home safe for your pets as well.
(Originally published in my HOMEKEEPR Blog - https://blog.homekeepr.com/easy-ways-to-make-your-home-more-pet-friendly?sharedby=shawn-venasse)