Unsupervised string toy danger

I have a new problem. I have a large walk-in closet in the master bedroom that Jasmine has taken over as a kitty gymnasium. She jumps to a low shelf, then seven feet away to a higher shelf, and seven feet back to the other high shelf. Obviously, I can't hang clothes in the closet -- sooner or later they'd be shredded -- but I have put a couple of small dressers in there, which I really need. And Jasmine has discovered a new game. Sit on a dresser and bat at the pull cord light switch in the center of the closet. Obviously a cat toy! Also obviously (to me) unsafe.

I already know that cats shouldn't be allowed unsupervised play with strings; they can swallow them, or hang themselves. Neither of these is actually a possibility here, as it's too well attached for her to swallow it and a bit too far away for her to get wrapped up in it. What is possible, however, is for her to catch a claw and end up hanging from it, unable to let go. This can result in permanent nerve damage in that arm. I know this because Pretzel was lame in her front left paw for exactly this reason (a vet with similar nerve damage explained it to me).

I really don't want to ban Jasmine from her play room, nor do I want to have to remove the dressers. Does anyone have any ideas about how I could cat proof the light cord?

Margret

What sort of cord is it?  I've seen them made from different materials; but understanding what it's already made of and what size it is might help us come up with better answers for you. 

Margret,  you can get long pieces of plastic or rubber tubing from most hardware stores, it usually for covering phone and internet connection wires. If you take the pull off the end of the cord you can thread the cord through the plastic tubes then knot the cord at the end again. This will stop her claws catching in it and mean it's not flexible enough to wrap around a paw.

You can also use regular drinking straws, secured to each other with a bit of tape, if you can't get any tubing.

Tubing is what i'm thinking of too; something more solid so there aren't gaps for her claws to get in between.  I've seen beaded pull chains that were attractive; but something like that would probably make it easier for her to catch a claw.  

Aquarium air tubing works just as well. Any pet store will have this. Just slip a length of tubing over the cord and tape the end to keep the tube from sliding off. If the plastic pull thing is too big to fit in the tube, slit the tube length wise and tuck the cord into it. The plastic pull thing should keep the tube from sliding off.

Roger has talked me into just tying a loop in the string high up to remove it from her reach. Don't know yet whether that will work; it may just force her to switch dressers -- the other one is substantially closer. If it doesn't work I'm going with heat shrink. I'm not willing to shorten the string too much as I still want to be able to find it in the dark.

Margret

You can place a LED tap light near the closet doorway so you can easily access it and find the shortened celing light cord. Tap lights can be stuck on the wall using the adhesive tape that's included or permanently attached directly to the wall with screws. Of course you can just place it on a dresser without the adhesive tape.

I think I'll just go with the heat shrink. That way I don't have to take away her new toy and she can play with it safely. And, unlike her other favorite new toy (a large crocheted mouse stuffed with catnip that she loves to wrestle with) this one won't collect fur. And, yes, I do check the crocheted mouse frequently to make sure that it's not ravelling.

You know those little furry toy mice that you can find in the grocery store? I found one the other day with its head ripped off! Not buying any more of those! She'll just have to make do with her crinkle balls, or her empty thread spool, or her catnip mousey instead. (I abuse her so terribly. Why, I even make her move off of the center of my bed when I want to go to sleep! Amazing how such a small creature can take over an entire bed.)



Margret