Dear all,

Just wanted to share this traumatic experience with you:

My 3 ++ months boy, Motorb0t, like all kittens, loves to play. Sometimes he would chase and shred newspapers around my apt.

Anyways, because I dont want him to menyepahkan my apt with pieces of newspaper, I decided to buy him some toys. He has a ball with a bell in it, but he isnt interested in it at all, so I bought him one of the little furry mouse on an elastic string.

Mula-mula dia bo' layan, but then my brother ikat the string to the penyidai kain just out of the cat's reach, bukan main terhibur lagi si Motorb0t tu terlompat-lompat, on tiptoe trying to reach the tikus. I pun turut serta terhibur melihat dia bermain.

One day as usual I balik dari kerja, fed him and manja-manja him for a bit. When he has enough of being manja-ed, Motorb0t will turn his attention to his favorite toy, the hanging mouse, so I pun pergi untuk mandi.

I tell you nasib baik hari tu I only took a quick shower, as I had a dinner appointment to attend to. Imagine if I buat aksi-aksi berendam 1-2 jam in the bathtub? when I got out of the bathroom, Motorb0t was sitting as close as he can to the bathroom door with the string from that toy wrapped around his neck!!!

Nasib baik la my boy ni cool and collected, did not struggle or not he would be more entangled, ataupun strangled terus!

I terus amik gunting potong the string from around his neck and threw it away. Fortunately Motorb0t did not suffer from any ill effects, in fact lepas bermanja-manaj ngan I sedikit, dia duduk lagi bawah penyidai mencari-cari the string.

I feel so marah dengan diri sendiri for my shortsightness. What if I was at work when that happened? What if Motorb0t panicked and tercekik?

So I hope everyone dapat mengambil iktibar daripada my carelessness nih, and not let your kittie bermain dengan apa-apa berunsur tali by themselves. Sepatutnya kita ni manusia yang Tuhan dah kasi fikiran, we should be able to think of the consequences, safety etc instead of just stopping at "oh cutenya anak kucing aku mengejar tali dengan begitu energetic!"

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Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow. ~Jeff Valdez

So as a responsible cat owner, we should supervise our kittens or cats whn playing with strings. Normally at night, just before i sleep. I'll just make sure all the strings and cat toy with strings are kept in a safe and out of reach of my kitty. Not only strings, other stuffs could be dangerous sometimes too, the only solution for the problem....to kitten-proofing our home...

Kitten proofing includes;
1) Keeping plants out of reach
2) Placing breakables out reach
3) Get rid of as many electrical cords as possible
4) Securely fasten lids on trash containers
5) Keeping strings and toys with the strings out of reach
6) Keep ur medications out of reach

May be doing all is not possible, but doing may be half of it may safe the life of ur kitten or cat...be safe and keep ur cat alive!

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"In the beginning, God created man, but seeing him so feeble, He gave him the cat."
- Warren Eckstein

there also have been cases when the cat swallowed a long length of string and this caused problems in the intestines.. be very careful with strings

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Matreshka Sibirskaya Koshka www.matreshkasiberians.com

Watch out for plastic bags too. Some cats love to play with plastic bags... which is risky becos of the danger of suffocation.