This week another kitten died in a washing machine, a small child having closed the door on it. This blog advocates that in general kittens and children are a potent mix for things to go wrong. It doesn’t have to be that way as long as adults realise that children need strict supervision around ALL animals, but in particular kittens.
Sadly this kitten died in a loving home where the adults in the house are used to having young animals. All it takes is a few minutes for events to end in tragedy.
With kittens you really need eyes in the back of your head. The top four danger zones are TVs, microwaves, washing machines and cookers.
Kittens are naturally curious. It surprises as that more rescues and breeders don’t develop materials to educate owners about the dangers zones for young kittens in the house whether there are children around or not.
Cat rescues and breeders can’t control the children of owners. But they can educate owners in the precautions they need to take to ensure the safety of any new arrival.
Take TVs. Many kittens become besotted with the TV. At first they just seem to enjoy watching changes to the screen. However it doesn’t take long before they climb onto the TV stand. Then they try to climb on the top of the TV. Unsecured TVs cause no end of fatal accidents. If you have animals in the home the TV must be secured. This should be a standard requirement for breeders and rescues rehoming cats.
Of course you can’t account for all eventualities. However cat and kitten proofing homes, and making sure young children are not left on their own with kittens goes some way to ensuring that your kitten will grow up!
A year ago, an lady in her 70s accidentally suffocated her kitten in the washing machine. Our prescriptions for the under 10s also apply to the over 70s. as a rule of thumb it’s not acceptable to rehome kittens to people who are unlikely to outlive them. .
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