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A room-by-room checklist for the hazards new cat parents miss most — toxic plants, loose cords, small objects, and more.
Anyone setting up their home before a cat moves in.
Indoor Safety Checklist
A room-by-room hazard walkthrough
Everything to check before your cat has the run of a room.
Work through one room at a time rather than the whole home in a single pass — it's easier to actually fix what you find, and you don't need to finish every room before your cat has access to the first one.
Come back to this after the first few weeks, and again once a kitten starts jumping higher than they used to — a room that passed at ten weeks old doesn't stay proofed on its own.
| Plant | Risk |
|---|---|
| Lilies (true lilies and daylilies) | Severe — can cause kidney failure |
| Sago palm | Severe — can cause liver failure |
| Tulip and daffodil bulbs | Moderate to severe if the bulb is eaten |
| Dieffenbachia | Moderate — mouth and throat irritation |
| Cyclamen, aloe vera | Mild — typically GI upset |
| Room | Date checked | Recheck by |
|---|---|---|
Working through each room one at a time usually catches more than a single walkthrough of the whole home would — and now that it's done, this checklist doubles as a record of what's already been checked, not just a to-do list.
Come back to this once a kitten starts jumping higher than expected, or after any furniture rearrangement — a room that passed a safety check at ten weeks old doesn't necessarily stay proofed as a cat gets bigger and more curious.
Set up the rest of the space
The Indoor Cat Starter Bundle builds on this checklist with an enrichment planner and a territory map for the rest of the setup.
This checklist focuses on removing risk from a space; it doesn't cover what to actually put in that space once it's safe. The Indoor Cat Starter Bundle picks up from there, with an enrichment and play schedule and a territory planner for vertical space and resting spots — for anyone setting up a home that's not just safe, but genuinely interesting for an indoor cat to live in.
Kitten-proofing your apartment goes deeper on several of the hazards this checklist only lists in shorthand, and foods toxic to cats is worth a read alongside the toxic plants reference above.
Kestlin creates practical, print-ready resources for first-time cat owners — guides, checklists, and trackers built around the questions people actually ask in a cat's first weeks and months at home.
Created by Kestlin · Helping first-time cat owners raise happier, healthier cats · kestlin.com
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