Recliner Chairs - Dangers?

gloriajh

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Just curious what the owners of recliner chairs do to reduce the dangers of having a recliner chair in the room.

Anyone have experience with injuring your cat with a recliner chair?

I'm so concerned about our chair injuring one of our cats that I have to count cats before I operate the recliner. When people visit, I plan on jamming the recliner so no one can actually use the chair, or stuff pillows or a box under the chair so the cat can't get under it.

Since we have this issue - I just wondered what others may be doing to prevent injury to your furbabies.
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pami

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Reclinder chair, office chairs on wheels and rocking chairs concern me around cats. I dont have any of those for that reason. We have a friend of the family whose cat was seriously injured from a recliner
 

laureen227

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all of mine are cognizant of the fact they need to get out of the way. i've never actually injured one, but i've come somewhat close.
i'm very, very careful if there's a kitten in the house. eventually they learn to stay out of the way.
 

momofmany

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I've made the underside of the recliners a scary place to be. Anytime I've ever seen one even come close to going under it, I'd clap my hands close to them and shoo them away. Then I encourage them on my lap when I'm in it with the feet up. Because of this, they much prefer the top of a recliner than the underside of the recliner. Before I was convinced that they knew the dangers of the chair, I would lean the chair forward and check the underside before I sat in it.
 

cruisermaiden

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My Dad has a livingroom full of recliners - two separate Lazyboys and a dual reclining loveseat. Every cat he's had in the house has just learned to stay out of the way and not go under them. When Spooky and Mulder were kittens we were just extra careful to check under the chairs before sitting or closing the foot rest. Now they all like to lay on the 'movie lap' which is when you put your feet up and put a blanket over your legs to form a little hammock.
 

lil maggie

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The only furniture Maggie likes to be on is my bed (with me). I'm not sure why she loves the floor so much but I always find her laying under everything like the bed, a chair or low table when she's in her relax or sleep mode. I'm terrified of getting a recliner for that reason. If I got one, I'd train her constantly but the thought of me not being home and her getting caught inside with someone else sitting down scares the bejeebers out of me
I know, I'm over protective!
 

kittkatt

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I've accidently squished a cat in a recliner, and felt just horrible about it.
Thankfully, they weren't hurt in any way.
I always double-check now whenever I sit in a recliner. I have to use a recliner b/c of my back: it's the only kind of chair I can get comfortable in.


Chances are, if you do accidently squish one of your furbies in one at any time, they'll never go under it again.
 

kittybernard

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Just a WARNING in case someone can't read "sad things".. skip my post!

We got rid of our recliners because we didn't want to take the chance, even if we already jammed it. One of Kitten's sisters was born blind so it took a long while to find someone who would adopt her, but she finally went to a home with the most wonderful, sweetest lady that loved her very much. But she came home one night after a long day, put all of her weight into sitting down in one of those rockers and decapitated the kitten.
The poor woman was so devastated and guilt ridden.. no matter what safety precautions, I would still never own one. It'd probably always remind me of it anyway.


Edit: To end on a lighter note though.. before that happened to her sister, Kitten would find her way into one of the recliners at night without us knowing it. The next morning we'd wake up to see her little arm stretching out from under it!
 

samlovesba

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OMG! Me and my boyfriend are getting our recliner tomorrow, and now I'm afraid to get it. BA loves to play under our couch and attack our feet, oh geez, I hope I can teach her to NEVER go under the recliner! ughhh!
 

starryeyedtiger

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I have a reclining loveseat (just a little 2 seater thing). I have it kitty-proofed though because of the way it's built and in the front when it reclines up- I added some mesh netting to the fronts underside and connected it to the bottom of it so they can't crawl under. Works well so far
I don't mind them so long as they're pet proofed well!
 

wellingtoncats

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I've got one Lazy Boy in my lounge and no one ever sits on it but the kitties love to go under and play!

Fluffy's favourite place to sleep is under one of the arm chairs in the sun room.
 

grogs

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My cats are all too big to comfortably fit under my recliner now.
When Promise was a kitten, she would go under there and it made me nervous. When I would go to extend the foot rest, I would always go really slow so that if she were under there it would alert her. I only caught caught her under there once and she came shooting out at the first squeak of the handle. Nowadays, I have the foot rest up full time so that the cats can sleep there.
 

libby74

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DH always buys a recliner for himself. For several years now, I've forbidden anyone to put up the foot rest. I know, what's the point of having a recliner you can't use?
I think we buy one out of habit (after the cats demolish the old one). There are no elevated footrests in our home, period.
 

jugen

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We are getting all new furniture with recliners in all of them..
We have one of the chairs already and the only one who's even tried to get under it is Neffie and she got stuck in the underside with the footrest up because she is so big. I had to pick up the recliner to get her out. She wasn't stuck in any parts, just under it. She thankfully wasn't hurt. She hasn't been near the underside of it ever again. We do check and smack the sides of the chair before we close it, we also close it slowly in case there's someone little nose under it. When we get the other furniture I think we might just recline it and leave it up with nasty spray under it so they won't have an urge to go under it at all before we even sit on it.
 

keycube

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I've been concerned about this since I bought a recliner a few months ago. I admit, I love my recliner since I've been recovering from knee surgery. Luckily, the underside is void of much mass and it seems in a worst-case scenario, a kitty would safely take refuge under the chair if the footrest were to come down completely. Although I always lower it slowly while easing myself up to look down between the footrest and the seat, my little Tiko was sleeping there the other night and wouldn't budge. He was so close to being under the chair that I couldn't see him, and I felt his body there as I eased the footrest down. No harm, but I clearly woke him up. Poor guy. From now on though, I'm doing a sweeping motion with my feet under that area before the footrest goes down.
 

kittyl0ve4

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We have a chair that reclines, and also a sofa where the two end seats recline also. Mine like to lay under the foot part when its up, but when i see one of the cats laying under, i warn who ever is sitting there that there is a cat underneath and not to shut it. I always check before putting the foot part down, to make sure there isnt a kitty under there. One time i was putting a seat back into a regular seat and didnt realize Monster was under there and ALMOST closed him in there but before it was fully closed i realized he was there. They dont lay under often but we all still check anyway. Im usually the only one who uses the reclining part anyway, and i always have to know where my cats are all the time so im always aware if theres a cat under the foot part.
 

pippy-pops

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When I was growing up we had a recliner - and luckily, no kitties at the time - but we did have 3 rather curious miniture maltese poodles who would regularily go under the recliner and sleep or hide from the big German Shepherd! The rule was to always lower the footrest slowly and it would spook them all into getting out before the footrest came down!
 

lil maggie

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It's not the footrest that scares me, it's the metal moving parts under the chair that little kitties paws, legs, tail or heads can get caught in!! Makes me shiver thinking about it!
 

strange_wings

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^ Agreed. Though growing up there were recliners and cats in the house without any problems.
I don't want any recliners now simply because how they wear out... and DH plops down - he's already partially broken his computer chair from this. So I consider recliners a waste of money. I really want to get an oversized chair with a seperate foot rest, that way I have room for cats to snuggle up to me.
 
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