Preparing for Your Kitten
The Kitten-Proofing Checklist: Making Your Home Safe
A room-by-room sweep of what to secure before your kitten comes home.
Ready for a Curious Kitten
Kittens are curious, acrobatic, and astonishingly good at finding the one thing you didn’t think to move. A little kitten-proofing before your Ragdoll comes home turns your space into a place where they can explore freely — and you can relax.
This is a room-by-room sweep of the things worth securing, from the obvious to the easy-to-miss.
Start With the Kitten’s-Eye View
The single most useful thing you can do is get down on the floor and look at each room from a kitten’s height. Then check in three directions:
Suddenly you’ll spot the dangling cord, the gap behind the couch, the wobbly object on a low shelf.
Kittens climb higher than you’d expect — so check up high, too.
And they squeeze into smaller spaces than you’d expect — so check deep-behind, too.
Work through one room at a time — it goes quickly, and it’s the best hour of prep you’ll spend.
Cords, Cables & Electrical
- Bundle and hide loose cords — phone chargers, lamp cords, and electronics cables are tempting to chew, and a real shock and strangulation risk. Use cord covers, clips, or route them behind furniture.
- Tie up blind and curtain cords — looped cords are a strangulation hazard; wind them up high and out of reach.
- Cover unused outlets and tuck away power strips.
- Watch phone and earbud cords you set down absent-mindedly — those are the ones that get chewed.
Windows, Screens & High Places
- Make sure every screen is secure and sturdy — a determined kitten can push out a loose screen. Cats don’t reliably judge heights, and high-rise falls are a real danger.
- Keep unscreened windows closed, or open them only from the top.
- Anchor tall furniture to the wall — bookshelves, dressers, and TVs should be secured so nothing topples.
- Check balconies and railings — never assume a gap is too small.
Toxic Plants
A number of common houseplants are toxic to cats, and one family is especially dangerous:
True lilies and daylilies are extremely poisonous to cats — even a nibble of a leaf, petal, or the pollen can cause kidney failure.
Other common culprits include pothos, philodendron, sago palm, aloe, and tulips.
- Remove or relocate anything questionable to a room your kitten can’t access.
- Say no to lilies entirely — they’re not worth the risk in a home with a cat.
- Check before you buy any new plant, and be careful with cut-flower bouquets, which often contain lilies.
When in doubt, the ASPCA’s Toxic and Non-Toxic Plant list is the reliable place to check any plant by name.
Kitchen, Bathroom & Laundry
The rooms with the most going on are the ones worth a careful look:
- Kitchen: Keep counters clear of sharp tools and food that isn’t cat-safe — onion, garlic, chocolate, grapes, and xylitol are all toxic. Watch open dishwashers and hot stovetops, and keep trash behind a cabinet door or in a lidded can.
- Bathroom: Keep the toilet lid down (a curious kitten can fall in), and store medications, cotton swabs, and hair ties well out of reach.
- Laundry: Keep the washer and dryer doors closed, always — warm laundry is irresistible, and cats have been known to climb in. Do a quick check inside before every load.
Small Objects & String
Kittens explore with their mouths, and small or stringy things are a serious swallowing and intestinal hazard:
- Pick up small objects — hair ties, rubber bands, coins, jewelry, paper clips, kids’ small toys, and craft beads.
- Be extra careful with string-like things — yarn, ribbon, dental floss, tinsel, and the string on a hoodie. Swallowed string can cause a life-threatening blockage, so keep it stored away and only offer string toys with supervision.
- Mind the little stuff on the floor after crafts, gift-wrapping, or a busy day with kids.
Chemicals, Cleaners & Medications
- Store all cleaning products, chemicals, and medications behind closed doors or up high — including things left out like laundry pods and dishwasher tablets.
- Never give human medication to a cat, and keep pill bottles secured. Many human medications are toxic to cats.
- Be careful with pest control — traps, baits, and rodenticides are dangerous; choose pet-safe options.
- Rinse and put away any antifreeze, and wipe up spills right away. It’s sweet-tasting and deadly.
The Sneaky Spots
A few hiding places catch even careful families off guard:
- Recliners and rocking chairs — kittens tuck into the mechanism underneath. Check before you recline, and consider keeping them still while your kitten is tiny.
- Behind and under appliances — block off gaps behind the fridge, stove, and washer where a kitten could get stuck.
- Open drawers, closets, and cabinets — a kitten can slip in unseen; do a quick head-count before closing anything.
- The door threshold — kittens are fast and low. Get in the habit of the shuffle step and a glance down before opening any door to the outside.
The Aurora Head Start
Here’s something reassuring: because our kittens grow up surrounded by ordinary household life — vacuums, doorways, footsteps, other pets — they arrive already sensible about their surroundings rather than startled by everything.
That doesn’t mean you can skip the sweep. Every home is different, and a curious kitten is a curious kitten. But it does mean your Aurora kitten comes to you confident, and settling in usually goes more smoothly than families expect.
Do the sweep once, and then enjoy the fun part — watching your kitten explore a home that’s safe for all their adventures.
Before They Arrive
Get your home ready, and the biggest part of welcoming your kitten is already done — the rest is the fun part.
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