Create a pet-friendly home!

Planning to adopt a new puppy or a little kitty? It’s a great idea to introduce another addition to the family. Pets always bring joy to the family with their fluffy cuteness. They serve as a guard for your house, a mouse catcher and a cuddle buddy for the kids! But always remember to try and make your home a hospitable environment for your new pet.

Pet Doors

Nobody wants to keep their pets confined to the walls of the house. They should be allowed out into the yard so they can play and also do their business. But what if Fluffy wants to do his business in the middle of the night? What if you are at the store and Cuddles wants to go in or out of the house? You can’t always be available to keep opening the door for your pet. We recently installed a pet door for our kitten Whiskers from ChampionWindows and Doors. Poor little Whiskers is still getting the hang of it, but it has proved to be a great relief to my husband and I.

Scratching Post

If you are planning to adopt a kitten, chances are that your couch and your other furniture are going to become that kitty’s scratching post! This will no doubt annoy you, not to mention totally ruin your furniture. The best way to solve this problem is to introduce the scratching post to your kitty before he/she begins to get his/her scratching urges.

Also, it is advisable not to change the place of th is scratching post. Remember that over time it will start to look mangy and it will be covered with cat hair, so put it in a place where it won’t spoil your décor.

Floors

Avoiding carpeting is probably the best way to go when it comes to flooring and pets. Getting the fur out can prove to be a major hassle even with a vacuum cleaner. Wooden flooring is a good option. Try to make sure that there is traction so that your little puppy doesn’t slip and slide over the floors. It will also minimize the scratches caused by the dog’s nails when it grows up.

Fencing

If you live in a house with a yard, you will probably want to make sure you have a fence that won’t let your dog through, and a gate that your dog can’t open. It works great for new puppies who are ever curious, it keeps them safe and it keeps them from wandering into other people’s gardens and making a mess.

These are just a few ways to welcome your pet into your family. They will also allow him/her to feel safe and secure in your home.

5 Features to Add to Your Home to Make It Senior-Friendly

Are your parents going to be visiting frequently? Or is mom going to move in with you for good? Whatever the situation, it is always a good idea to “senior-proof” your home. Apart from the usual installing of wheelchair ramps, and putting mats in the bathroom there are more things you can do to avoid unwanted accidents around the house.

EASY-TO-OPERATE WINDOWS

Especially for seniors who live alone, sometimes opening and shutting jammed windows can prove to be a bit of a challenge. With age, the strength of our muscles begins to deteriorate which is why it is a good idea to install windows that are easy to operate. Windows that slide sideways rather than up or down are a lot safer and easier to use. Also, there is no fear of the window suddenly falling down due to faulty or broken latches

Manufactures like ChampionWindows and Doors offer a great deal of variety at extremely affordable prices. 

ODDS AND ENDS

Along with muscle strength, motor control aloes begins to deteriorate. Elderly people find it a bit challenging to grip round door knobs. Go ahead and replace these with lever handles for all the doors around the house.

If you have floor rugs, these can cause a tripping hazard so be sure to secure then to the ground with double sided tape or get rid of them altogether.

The handles on kitchen cabinets should be changed to D-shaped handles, as these are easier to grip and work a lot better for people with arthritis.

The most obvious addition however is to add hand rails to your staircase on both sides or modify your banister so that it is not too thick and easy to grip.

BATHROOM MODIFICATIONS

The most dangerous and accident prone place in the entire house is that bathroom. And most accidents occur due to slippery floors.

Non-Skid Mats

Friction mats in the bathroom are a great way to prevent anyone from slipping and falling even if they get wet. If you have a bathroom where the shower is in the tub itself, go ahead and put in a rubber mat there as well. The amount of bathtub accidents that occur are far too great to count, so try not to become part of that uncountable statistic!

Stools

Another helpful addition to a bathroom is a bathing stool. Taking a shower can prove to be a very tiring affair, especially on an off day, and a stool will make things safer and easier for a tired senior. Be sure to use a stool with rubber bulbs at the end of its legs to avoid further accidents.

Phone

In spite of all these precautionary additions it is always better to be safe. Installing a water resistant, wall mounted phone is a really good idea in case of emergencies. It is best to put it in the shower area since that’s where most accidents statistically occur. If you have a large bathroom, you could add another phone near the toilet seat just in case.

There are so many accidents that can occur and so many things that can go wrong. We can never prepare ourselves fully and account for all of them, but we can be extremely careful and do everything in our power to make sure they don’t happen.