QI saftey

Oh my, eating pins. That could be dangerous. Cheetah decided to take a few
out for me one day. My others leave everything alone unless it is a
finished(or near finished) quilt, so with out thinking one night I left some
rows of blocks out that had been pinned an ready for sewing. After she was
released from her room the next morning she thought the pins looked
interesting and removed some to play with. Luckily she didn't try to eat
any and I caught her right away.

--
Charlotte
http://community.webshots.com/user/charh108


"Sherry" wrote in message
oups.com...

Wish I had an answer for you, Charlotte! Boots is the biggest problem.
She eats pins. So, needless
to say, she cannot be around at all when I'm sewing, and I have to be
really mindful about pins. Fortunately, she's an independent soul
and doesn't decide to "help" very often.
The first time I put a quilt on the frame to handquilt, it was a
nightmare. They thought it was their own
personal kitty trampoline. This is about the 5th one I've quilted on
the hanging frame. Weirdly enough,
I don't think any of them have been on it once so far.

Sherry

Sherry

Sorry I can't help, but wish you luck. Our Darius used to just love my
plants (still does just no longer has access). There was a product that was
just for cats that we tried without any luck. We also tried cedar
balls/chips, having plants of his own (kitty oats) and a few other tricks
that I can't recall right now. Finally, we just ended up getting rid of all
but my favorites and putting them in places he can't get to.


--
Charlotte
http://community.webshots.com/user/charh108


"NightMist" wrote in message
...
While we are alking about keeping QIs safe...

Jiji-chan is a greenery browser. We had one of those tubs of oats for
cats, and he would pull the whole rootbound lot right out of the tub
and make off with it. Eventually he chewed it right down to the
roots. He has been making a break for the hallway to investigate my
tub of peacock orchids ever since they came up, fortunately after
taste testing them he does not seem to have aquired a taste for
gladiola.

However we had guests on Labor Day and they gifted me with a new
plant. It is a nearly 3 foot tall salvia divinorum. Jiji is in love.

There is no way I want him munching on one of those. I currently have
it in the hallway with the glads, but that is overmuch sunlight for it
and I would like to bring it in to more diffuse lighting.

Does anyone know of anything I can spray it with that would convince
him that it is not good to eat? Do bitter apple or tabasco sauce
actually work and not hurt the plant?

Fortunately Ash does not pay much mind to houseplants. Though if it
smelled like apples it might be a different story.

NightMist
--
I'm a little teapot, short and stout
here is my handle, here is my...other...handle?
Bloody Hell!!
I'm a sugar bowl!

Thanks for thinking of my QI's Polly. We have been down this road with our
first QI, and unfortunately didn't have much luck. We now have just 3
favorite plants placed where they don't have access. I would love to have
more, but I just can't risk it because Darius would eat anything he can get
at. Even if I did get one that is totally safe for him to chew on, he would
probably eat the plant, and I'd be left with a pot of dirt. Since QI's out
rank plants (at least in my book), I have a couple of silks to help me feel
better.


--
Charlotte
http://community.webshots.com/user/charh108


"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
I'm so glad you thought about plant safety. That danger hadn't crossed my
mind to warn Charlotte about. We have a Euphorbia Tirucalli (pencil
plant) that would terribly dangerous. It can cause temporary blindness
from just a clipped branch. I approach tending it with great caution. It
has a potential height of 18' and is happy as a clam to live here (quite a
surprise). Unless the Yorkie or gators have access to a stepladder, all
is well. For a greenery browser, it could be v-e-r-y interesting.
Polly

When we first got our "rescue-love" (a doggie Q.I.), he'd love to sniff
around the houseplants. We picked up a spray bottle of something called
"Bitter Apple" at our local pet shop to put on the plants (and furniture
where we didn't want him to chew). Guess it tastes terrible! (Never tried
it myself - will take the company's word for it!) G It didn't seem to
bother the plants, and he stayed away from it. Don't know if it would work
with cats, but it might be worth checking out.


--
ME-Judy
ajhusman at blazenetme dot net

"NightMist" wrote in message
...
While we are alking about keeping QIs safe...

Jiji-chan is a greenery browser. We had one of those tubs of oats for
cats, and he would pull the whole rootbound lot right out of the tub
and make off with it. Eventually he chewed it right down to the
roots. He has been making a break for the hallway to investigate my
tub of peacock orchids ever since they came up, fortunately after
taste testing them he does not seem to have aquired a taste for
gladiola.

However we had guests on Labor Day and they gifted me with a new
plant. It is a nearly 3 foot tall salvia divinorum. Jiji is in love.

There is no way I want him munching on one of those. I currently have
it in the hallway with the glads, but that is overmuch sunlight for it
and I would like to bring it in to more diffuse lighting.

Does anyone know of anything I can spray it with that would convince
him that it is not good to eat? Do bitter apple or tabasco sauce
actually work and not hurt the plant?

Fortunately Ash does not pay much mind to houseplants. Though if it
smelled like apples it might be a different story.

NightMist
--
I'm a little teapot, short and stout
here is my handle, here is my...other...handle?
Bloody Hell!!
I'm a sugar bowl!

First, check the toxic plant list to see if the new plant might be
poisonous to cats.
http://www.catdr.com/toxic_plants.htm

or the Non-toxic plants list to see if it is safe
http://www.metpet.com/Reference/Hous...plant_list.htm


Get the kitty more oat grass to eat. You might want to consider
buying seeds so you can grow a new batch while Jiji-chan eats the
first batch. If he has his own plants he will be less likely to chew
your decor plants.

Bitter apple, Tabasco, cayenne pepper powder, and other topical
additives only work for a short time, if at all. Animals will get
accustomed to the taste and eat it anyway. Bitter apple usually
doesn't deter young children from sucking thumbs for very long,
cayenne pepper powder doesn't deter squirrels from eating bird seed
(especially sunflower seed) for more than a couple of days, and I once
had a cat that ate some sardines in spite of the spicy jalapeno pepper
oil the sardines were packed in. (The cat's eyes watered, but she
wouldn't quit eating the sardines. Ever try to retrieve food from a
cat that is that determined to eat something she can carry off? Let's
just say I made a good effort and leave it at that.)


On Sat, 08 Sep 2007 02:59:57 GMT, (Night Mist)
wrote:

While we are alking about keeping QIs safe...

Jiji-chan is a greenery browser. We had one of those tubs of oats for
cats, and he would pull the whole rootbound lot right out of the tub
and make off with it. Eventually he chewed it right down to the
roots. He has been making a break for the hallway to investigate my
tub of peacock orchids ever since they came up, fortunately after
taste testing them he does not seem to have aquired a taste for
gladiola.

However we had guests on Labor Day and they gifted me with a new
plant. It is a nearly 3 foot tall salvia divinorum. Jiji is in love.

There is no way I want him munching on one of those. I currently have
it in the hallway with the glads, but that is overmuch sunlight for it
and I would like to bring it in to more diffuse lighting.

Does anyone know of anything I can spray it with that would convince
him that it is not good to eat? Do bitter apple or tabasco sauce
actually work and not hurt the plant?

Fortunately Ash does not pay much mind to houseplants. Though if it
smelled like apples it might be a different story.

NightMist
Debra in VA
See my quilts at
http://community.webshots.com/user/debplayshere

On Sat, 08 Sep 2007 15:50:22 -0400, Debra
wrote:

First, check the toxic plant list to see if the new plant might be
poisonous to cats.
http://www.catdr.com/toxic_plants.htm

or the Non-toxic plants list to see if it is safe
http://www.metpet.com/Reference/Hous...plant_list.htm

Not likely to find it on such a list. It is a weed indigenous to
Mexico, and not a very common house or garden plant. The flowers are
freaky looking though, which is of course why I wanted it. (G)
http://www.unc.edu/~purdie/images/salvia.jpg
http://www.carolinanature.com/plants/sadi1767.jpg

It has been tested on cats, in a rather non pet friendly fashion.
It didn't seemto hurt them, but they did sit and tre off into space
for about half an hour. (concentrated tincture adinistered orally, and
yes I think the anti-drug people that did it so flippantly had ought
to be shot.)

Get the kitty more oat grass to eat. You might want to consider
buying seeds so you can grow a new batch while Jiji-chan eats the
first batch. If he has his own plants he will be less likely to chew
your decor plants.

I have been trying to figure out a way to get a goodly greenery forage
area set up for the kitties. Problem is I have limited sunlight and
most of the grasses and such want full sun. With four cats, one of
which is a fiend for greens, I would just sew a tub with cat friendly
greens and keep it seeded. But I don't have good lighting for it. the
oat grass we had I had to keep toting around to get good light.
I have my one micro-greenhouse sort of set up on the stair landing
(where the glads are), and that is the only full sun zone in the whole
house.
What can I grow for them that likes partial to full shade? kiri is
violently allergic to ferns, so those are out.

Bitter apple, Tabasco, cayenne pepper powder, and other topical
additives only work for a short time, if at all. Animals will get
accustomed to the taste and eat it anyway.

I suspected as much. Jiji is our green fiend, but the other three are
all inordinantly interested in this salvia as well. Catnip and
salvias are members of the mint family, maybe they are more closely
related than I thought. The cats did devestate the kitchen sage I was
trying to nurse along in the kitchen.

Bitter apple usually
doesn't deter young children from sucking thumbs for very long,
cayenne pepper powder doesn't deter squirrels from eating bird seed
(especially sunflower seed) for more than a couple of days, and I once
had a cat that ate some sardines in spite of the spicy jalapeno pepper
oil the sardines were packed in. (The cat's eyes watered, but she
wouldn't quit eating the sardines. Ever try to retrieve food from a
cat that is that determined to eat something she can carry off? Let's
just say I made a good effort and leave it at that.)

We eat red lentils and rice fairly often. If we do not tithe some to
the cats they will come right up onto the table after it. The only
thing that makes them do that. Though Mr. Bear (RIP) would jump up
and steal pizza after every one had left the table. With the lentils
all of them will swarm on up and snatch it right off your fork.
Tithing is better than lentil battles.

We can close the hall off from the cats, so it is looking like that
salvia is going to have to either put up with overmuch light, or come
to live in my studio.

NightMist
The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the
majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with
the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.
- AA Milne

Yep, that flower is a little unusual looking. I totally understand
why you'd want it too.

Perhaps have one pot of new grass growing outside while the other is
being eaten. Also give a try at growing catnip because it may
distract the kitties from eating the lesser cousins of the plant.
Catnip is notoriously easy to grow.

Debra in VA
See my quilts at
http://community.webshots.com/user/debplayshere

NightMist wrote:


Does anyone know of anything I can spray it with that would convince
him that it is not good to eat? Do bitter apple or tabasco sauce
actually work and not hurt the plant?

Many cats despise citrus. I find a light mist of a citrus-based
household cleaning spray on my palm tree keeps my QI from nibbling.

Monique in TX

My QI's Nuala and Halo (young kitties) both love to inspect and test the
comfort levels of the latest quilts, even if I am still sewing them at
the time. Nuala loves to play with the thread as it feeds through the
machine! Luckily there has been no harm as yet, though all I can suggest
is repeatedly pushing them away until they take the hint. A good tip is
to have another quilt nearby for tem to snuggle on undisturbed. As far
as the iron goes, both have been curious and I always keep an eye on
them, but they seem to realise that it's hot and leave it alone. I find
the cable more of a worry in case they pull the iron down onto
themselves.

Jo P

In message CDdEi.258$ed1.197@trnddc05, Taria
writes
Lilly cat got all tangled up in the sewing machine thread one night.
Good thing the machine was in the bedroom corner and she made a fuss
and we were able to help her. Had she been in the other room and not
had help it might not have been such an ok outcome. SInce then I try
and keep covers on my machines. I even had to make a new cover for the
serger. SHe reached in the hand hold opening and pulled the thread
through there. I have the rest of the thread in a cabinet or on a
higher wall rack. I keep cutters closed unless I am using them and
hung on a key holder up in the closet. You may need to put her in
another room while you rotary cut or run the machine. I was told if
a cat touches the iron once they won't do that again. I try to keep
a close eye on kitty location when the iron is on. Mine sits in a rack
on the end of the board so most of the accessible parts of it are not
hot if a cat gets too close. Maybe if you have a basket with some
fleece in it handy to lie in and Darius might like that? It gets
better as they get older but Maki still likes to be right in the middle
of things a lot!
HTH, Taria


Charlotte Hippen wrote:

I am curious how you all keep your 'helpful' QI's safe in your sewing
area. Until now, I have not had to worry about it. My Darius kitty
had decided at the start he will only worry about checking the final
project for comfort because it is too much work to help with the rest
of it, unless you are in the middle of laying out blocks on the
floor/bed then he may test those to see how the comfort factor is
coming along. Samson isn't interested in any of it (with the
exception of an occasional comfort test) so long as he can lay near
by. For him I need to worry more about my safety (tripping over
him), than his. My new kitty QI, Cheetah, is MUCH more involved than
the other two. She wants to climb on my cutting table, ironing board
and sewing machine table and I worry about her getting hurt. I can't
close my area off because it is in the corner of a dining room with
no doors. I do keep things picked up when I'm not sewing, so that
isn't a concern. It is just when I'm working on things and she is
'trying to help' that is the issue. I do try to keep an eye on what
she is doing and I remove her when she decides to 'help me cut' or
when she thinks she wants to check out my iron. Right now she is just
3 1/2 mo. and is still very curious about everything and very
energetic and playful so I don't know if she will eventually start
finding a spot to observe or will always 'be involved'. What are some
of the measures you do to keep your helpers safe?



--
Jo P
Malvern UK
"I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work"
~Thomas Edison
See my quilts at: http://community.webshots.com/user/Jo_Pender

Oh, I;d forgotten about pins - Nuala loves to try to eat/play with them
- I have to store them in a drawer - luckily she hasn't yet thought of
taking any out of fabric so I can keep her safe quite easily. I'm sure
that she is just interested in whatever it is that takes my attention
away from her.

In message , Sally Swindells
writes
SewVeryCreative wrote:
"Charlotte Hippen" wrote in message
...
I am curious how you all keep your 'helpful' QI's safe in your sewing
area.
Until now, I have not had to worry about it. My Darius kitty had decided
at
the start he will only worry about checking the final project for comfort
because it is too much work to help with the rest of it, unless you are in
the middle of laying out blocks on the floor/bed then he may test those to
see how the comfort factor is coming along. Samson isn't interested in
any
of it (with the exception of an occasional comfort test) so long as he can
lay near by. For him I need to worry more about my safety (tripping over
him), than his. My new kitty QI, Cheetah, is MUCH more involved than the
other two. She wants to climb on my cutting table, ironing board and
sewing
machine table and I worry about her getting hurt. I can't close my area
off
because it is in the corner of a dining room with no doors. I do keep
things picked up when I'm not sewing, so that isn't a concern. It is just
when I'm working on things and she is 'trying to help' that is the issue.
I
do try to keep an eye on what she is doing and I remove her when she
decides
to 'help me cut' or when she thinks she wants to check out my iron. Right
now she is just 3 1/2 mo. and is still very curious about everything and
very energetic and playful so I don't know if she will eventually start
finding a spot to observe or will always 'be involved'. What are some of
the measures you do to keep your helpers safe?


--
Charlotte
http://community.webshots.com/user/charh108


I'm allergic to cats, so I can't offer kitty-specific advice ... but
what
about setting up a nice bed for her in the corner of your room? Perhaps
keeping a few special toys in the bed (toys she can only have in the room in
the bed) that she loves to play with might help?
All QIs that I know of (canine and feline alike) love us and want
our
approval. If you teach her early that she won't get mommy's approval when
she climbs on the ironing board - but she will if she stays OFF, she'll
learn quickly.
Worst comes to worst, when she gets up on the board, tell her to
"Get Down,"
and take her down, put her in the basket, look very pleased and give her a
tiny treat and tell her what a good girl she is for getting down.
That is, of course, assuming that you can train kitties like you can
doggies. :-)


Only if they want to be trained!

When she is a little older she will have discovered lots more
interesting things - feathers, (hopefully not birds!) butterflies and
mouses.

Yesterday Kiwi was taking a great interest in a largish hebe bush so I
went to investigate. There, right at the top was a very worried little
mouse with the most enormous eyes. Kiwi spent the next 2 hours indoors,
and hopefully mouse had gone home when he went out again, though he
appeared to have forgotten mouse's existance fortunately.

He's still an excellent QI, but saves inspections for when they are
spread on the floor. I do make sure that everything is covered up at
night though, as cats sleep in their beds in the conservatory where I
sew. I am especially careful with pins, threads and thimbles. Hodge is
too old to be bothered and Mia says she is a good girl, so its really
only Kiwi who might be tempted, and now it is "Summer" they don't
always come home at bedtime anyway.

So if Cheetah's allowed outside enjoy the attention while you can, but
if she's an inside cat I can't help!


--
Jo P
Malvern UK
"I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work"
~Thomas Edison
See my quilts at: http://community.webshots.com/user/Jo_Pender