By: John Dow
Submitted: 2009-10-05 01:03:07 | Word Count: 648
Unless you want to make an unscheduled trip to the vet, you always want to check out any toy you give to your favorite cat. Cats will play with just about anything, even something that might be dangerous to their health. A quick check to see if the is any potential for harm is always a good thing. It can save you some time and money too (emergency trips to the Vet are not cheap).
If you have an outdoor cat, there s no telling what they might find and drag home for future play. Semi dead animals are always popular; we get those often at our house. We have one cat in particular that is way too skilled in hunting any animal that is his size or smaller. The best one was a pretty good size snake that still had a lot of life and was very difficult to catch.
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Unwatched cat doors are convenient but can present an opportunity to bring in things you don t want in your house. I can t tell you how many times I ve gone into the laundry room (where our self serve cat door is located) and found a surprise. It s a good thing to keep an eye on any entry point.
Cat toys at local pet stores or other outlets can present some inherent dangers. If you have a cat toy that requires human participants, you can push the risk a little bit since you are there and observing. But if you re like us, cat toys are all over the place and are often played with unsupervised.
We usually inspect the cat toy and remove or eliminate any items that might present a problem. Even something as harmless looking as a stretch of string or yarn can be swallowed and cause serious problems for your cat. Here s a quick list of things to check out before letting your cat have at any toy.
Loose Parts – Anything that can be chewed off and swallowed is not a good thing. Especially if they made out of plastic or manmade material.
Sharp objects – Anything that has a sharp edge or point can be a real problem. Metals of any kind should always be checked.
Poisonous materials – Depending on where the item was manufactured (recent China issues come to mind), they might have used materials that are poisonous. Always check the manufacturing source or country of origin.
Laser lights – These have become very popular and most cats love to chase the light. But you should always be careful not to shine the light directly into your cat s eyes (or humans either).
Many cat toys have some type of moving material to make it more attractive and fun for the cat. But as these toys start to exhibit wear and tear, it s a good idea to take them out of action. When we see one that is starting to unravel or fall apart, in the trash it goes. Better safe than sorry with worn out toys.
It s always a good idea to go look at what your cat is playing with if you haven t provided the toy. One or ours loves to grab key rings off the counter or dining room table. I can t tell you how many times we had to go search for someone s keys for about an hour. And this little devil loves to slap the keys so they go under a piece of furniture to make it more fun.
Most cat toys are pretty safe, especially if there is a supervisor. But one $200 trip to the Vet will make you a believer in checking the safety of any cat toy. I like my Vet, but I don t need to put his kids through college. So the best path is to eliminate any possible dangers before they become an issue.
