When Animals Escape! Tips on Keeping your Animals In-doors
Posted on August 15, 2008
Filed Under Apartment Living | 11 Comments
Cats and dogs love to be outside. Heck, we all love to be outside, but some of our pets have a tendency to be escape artists at the mere chance to sneak away.
Our fellow apartmentite, KHouse, shared a story with me about how her cat, Snowball, loves to leap over the patio railing or even squeeze under it when she is left alone on the patio for just a couple of seconds. Thankfully, she lives on the first floor, so the cat doesn’t have much of a fall. Apparently, though, getting the cat back over the railing and into the apartment is quite the challenge as Snowballdini will cower in a corner and hiss and mew anytime you get close to her.
My mother had a dog who would bolt out the front door anytime my grandmother opened it because he knew she was too slow to stop him. It was amazing to watch, but very tiring to chase him down. You would have thought that animal was on some sort of performance enhancer.
So, what steps can you take to prevent your pets from escaping your apartment?
On the patio, you want to create a barrier without sacrificing the looks. Stapling some chicken wire across the bottom would serve the purpose splendidly, but would look really trashy. Plus any loose ends in the wire could be sharp and may harm you or the animal. An alternative would be to take a 1 x 6 piece of strip wood and place that along the bottom to block the escape area. Then run potted plants in front of it to hide the bored look of the board. Heck, you could even paint and decorate the wood if you wanted. Just don’t leave it looking like a plank. That’s almost worse than chicken wire.
Regarding the top railing…cats like to jump. That’s a certainty. The best way to prevent a cat from leaping onto something is to place items there that block their landing. They’re smart. Most cats will see this and won’t take the leap. Potted plants work great along the railing and should take up enough space to keep them from leaping. Almost anything will work, just make sure it looks good. Remember not to sacrifice your style. How your apartment looks, is a reflection of you…so are your pets, so that’s a delicate balance.
The easiest and one of the most common solutions to keeping dogs from running out of the front door or running into rooms that they aren’t allowed to, is putting up a baby gate. No dog owner should ever be without one of these. Even when you are training them as puppies, a baby gate comes in handy for keeping the little un-potty trained puppies in the kitchen, laundry room, or bathroom and off of the carpet. If you want to give your dog some fresh air, but don’t want him running out of the door, just throw up a baby gate and let them hang out right there soaking up the sun. They don’t look bad either!
There are number of methods and tips out there to help prevent the unfortunate event of an escape artist pet. Losing a pet is always a very saddening experience, so please take these tips and apply them or find something to keep your little lovable creatures in your apartment. If you know any great tips, please send them my way so that I can share them with your fellow apartmentite pet lovers.
Check out Apartment Home Living.com for more info and tips on getting the most out of apartment living.
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a chance to visit it. Well, on June 1, finally, I was on my way to explore Prague, one of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations. I took the train from Vienna, enjoyed a great conversation with a young Czech lady from Brno who is now living in Berlin, and finally around 3 pm I made it into the Holesovice Railway Station in Prague. Later that afternoon and evening I took a personal tour of the Old Town area with local expert Jitka Simkova and her colleague Karel. We started on St. …
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can anyone give me any kitten care tips or advise for people living in apartments?I live in a 3 beedroom 2 bathroom apartment with a terrace on the 13th floor…im hoping to adopt a cat soon and was wondering if anyone had any tips or ideas about raising a cat in an apartment…I plan on just getting one cat and keeping it inside all the time…still unsure of where to place the catbox since theres not much floor space in our main bathroom where the shower is and my mom worries the litter will get wet from the shower… my parents dont want it in their bathroom either…
and also y is it not good to buy a kitten at a store? the aspca shelters are asking for 125 dollars the same price as pet stores..i just want to adopt and i dont really want to spend that much on 1 small kitten
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11 Responses to “When Animals Escape! Tips on Keeping your Animals In-doors”
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LOL
Loved this video! 5/5
Dear travelandtransitions
Can you rate my new video on 1,000 subscribers and comment on it! Thanks!
Please do this to help each other!
Also, you are saving the world (That’s nice) by doing this!
Make sure you read your leasing agreement thoroughly and understand that when you move out—they can charge outrageous fees for cleaning. Also, (if you haven't already signed a contract) make certain you want to live with your roommate! Even if you are best of friends—-living with someone changes everything! Just keep your bills in order and pay them on time and you shouldn't have any problems! Also, watch out for noise complaints! I hope you got an upper level apartment because the lower and middle levels are the noisiest!
WD-40, duct tape, a good pair of scissors, paper clips, a magnifying glass, a pair of sensible shoes and a sturdy file cabinet. Seriously.
Ramen noodles. You can get a 10 pack for like $1.50. Also buy a big bottle of liquid dish washing soap, such as dawn. It works good for cleaning dishes, floors, and other flat surfaces. Hell I even use it when I take a shower. Make sure to turn off lights and keep your blinds closed during the day to keep the rooms cool. I use a lot of plastic forks and paper plates to avoid having to wash dishes (which costs money). I usually schedule all my business for the afternoon so I can sleep late and not have to eat breakfast.
Make sure you can pay your rent, by whatever means. The single most important thing about being on your own is earning your right to be independent. How you go about doing that is as varied as personalities are. This is the key to making it on your own. "By whatever means necessary" (Not including criminal acts of course!)
You already know about Ramen do not forget peanutbutter and jelly and mac and cheese too! Cutdown on all expenses such as CABLE – rid the cable bill and limit yourselves to a few rental movies or even NEtflix is a great deal. If you need internet go down to your local library it is FREE or even at your College too. Get rid of LONG DISTANCE and cut your cell phone bill usage and keep track of your minutes! If you have cars then cut on the gas and carpool with eachother or other friends and everyone takes turn driving or pitches in gasoline. You can also leave the car at home due to rising gasoline prices and take the bus or ride a bike (to the store, to classes). Both you and the BF should sit down ASAP and write a list of things you buy every month, your normal bills, your expenses and start crossing off the list and cutting down from what you do not really need. Stay away from take out and fast food. It is surprising how FAST it all adds up. Good luck and hang in there! Plan out a budget and STICK TO IT.
There are many easy things that you can do to help live a more sustainable lifestyle. For instance:
1) Simple little things around the house such as: installing dimmer switches and programmable thermostats; purchasing energy star appliances; and installing CFL/LED light fixtures are all easy and simple things that you can do to help save the heating and electric bills. You could ask the owner if it is possible to haveenergy efficient doors and windows installed (break it down to him/her on how much energy can really be saved if it is done).
2) The bathroom and kitchen are actually the two rooms that consume the most water. Install aerators on the faucets in both rooms, and use low-flow shower heads in your shower (older shower heads use 3-6 gallons of water per minute whereas newer low-flow models use less than 2 gallons of water per minute!). Again, discuss with the owner about replacing your toilet with low-flush toilets which can save you over 14 litres of water per flush (older toilets use 20 litres of water per flush whereas newer ones use 6 litres of water per flush). Or if this is not possible, you could place a sand-filled water bottle in your tank of your toilet (a small 500 mL water bottle is fine) where this can save you 2-4 litres of water per each flush.
3) Plants: they help to filter and clean your indoor air naturally. Just place house plants throughout your home (while they do eventually die, they are very pretty to have as decoration, help to add a nice smell to the home (reduces your use of chemical odourizers such as Febreeze and Air Wick). They remove chemicals from the air and reduce airborne contaminants. Use peace lily, English ivy, Boston Fern and Philodendron.
4) BYOB (bring your own bag!). In the United States alone, over 100 billion plastic bags are used each year, however only 1 percent of these bags actually get recycled. Bringing an eco-friendly tote on your next shopping spree is one of the easiest earth-friendly changes you can make. Purchase and use stainless steel water bottles. When you decide to get rid of your old unwanted stuff, dont throw it out in the trash but instead donate it to the local thrift shop or salvation army (unfortunate families would be very thankful of your generosity, plus surprisingly many people now are shopping at thrift stores to live an eco-friendly lifestyle). Donating used books, CDs and DVDs to the library is also another great idea.
5) A cool new trend that has emerged is planting your own garden in your windowsill or balcony if you have one. One cool way that I have started planting tomatoes is in an upside down plastic 2L bottle. Check out my website for more information on how to do this, and for more ecotips!
Good luck with greening up your apartment!
My mom lives in a 2 bedroom apartment and she uses one for a bedroom and one for her "storage" room. She has lots of cardboard boxes wrapped in contact paper and stacked up on their sides and uses them for cubbie holes. She only keeps stuff sitting out like lamps, ashtrays,little flower arrangments,and stuff like that,so it doesnt look cluttered. She keeps all her stuff in her "storage room". She also only uses half her cabinet space in her kitchen for what few dishes she needs. a few plates, some silverware and about 4 glasses. That keeps down on dishwashing and she uses her cabinets and drawers for other things. Oh she uses alot of stackable bins in her bathroom too. hope I helped.
expect a mess, flatulence, scratching of the testicles, burping, walking around half naked, beer, aftershave smell, and be sure to look before you sit when going to the bathroom
Using the navy shower technique can keep you from freezing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAr1hdExL-w
A similar technique should work on your pets. Washcloths are good to spread the suds and clean yourself without having to subject yourself to a cold stream of water.
If the water temperature coming from the tap is below the room temperature, you can draw water into a washtub and leave it overnight so it's not as cold to use in the morning when you wash up.
If you have a gym or Y membership or are a student, you can take showers at one of those places. Just pack a change of clothes.
With respect to hygiene, the temperature of the water will not affect how clean you get. Using soap, water of any temperature, and friction is what gets you clean:
https://www.healthforums.com/library/1,1258,article~11399,00.html