Adding a furry friend to your family is very exciting! But, like any big change to your family life, it can take some preparations and precautions. One consideration in preparing your home is pet proofing your wires.
Whether it be an older pet or a young one, they all come with quirks and habits that can be hard to predict. Many pets are prone to chewing: dogs, cats, rabbits or other rodents, and parrots. Your pet gnawing on your electronics wiring can not only damage the equipment, but injure your pet. Avoid all of that with these simple steps:
1. Cover exposed cords with wire loom or plastic spiral wrap.
The basic cable jacketing, or insulation, is very easy for most animals to puncture with their teeth. When your pet’s teeth get through the jacket to the central conducting wire, your pet will be in for an unpleasant surprise or you will have a cable to replace.
Wire loom is a metallic braided sleeving; even tiny, sharp teeth can’t get through it, and the metal will give your pet’s teeth the same sensation you’d feel if you chewed on a piece of foil! Sounds pretty unpleasant.
2. Wind up excess cords.
Try a cord winder to get control of excess cord and cable lengths can be strangulation hazards to larger pets like cats and dogs. Also, note that electronic cords aren’t the only ones subject to this: window treatment cords can get wrapped around your pet’s neck.
3. Pull cords out of the way.
This is a classic rule of “proofing” your home, whether it’s for children or pets. Do what you can to tuck cords away or lift them out of your pet’s reach. But…
4. Try camouflaging your cords.
If you can’t get your cords out of the way of your pet, having ones that closely match their surroundings will help deter your pet from finding them as chew toy fodder.
However, having a new pet integrate into your home will include some trial and error. So, if you end up with a chewed or frayed cord, it needs to be replaced. Don’t use an appliance of any kind that has a partially destroyed cord, even if it still works. The cord insulation exists to mitigate the heat created by the flow of electricity and without it, it can pose a fire risk.
