Catproofing

[tahmidkhan123]

I'm planning to get a cat sometime soonish, I haven't decided on breed and would take recommendations but I have some concerns regarding the damage the cat can cause. Like many of you, I have a large assortment of electronics and computers scattered around my house, and am wondering how this will work out with a cat. Similarly furniture, decoration pieces shelves... how will that work out? It would be great some of you can share personal experiences and tips to cat-proof my house. Thanks! 

[MedievalMatt]

In my experience.  multiple cats in multiple home settings and home types.  They generally ignore most electronics unless it is warm... PC towers with spinning fans generally dont get sat on or clawed at (cats naturally brush their heads on things, so they do do that).  Hope this helps.

 

EDIT:  Dogs on the other hand, will happily piss on your tower ruining your computer. in my experience.

[tahmidkhan123]

2 minutes ago, MedievalMatt said:

In my experience.  multiple cats in multiple home settings and home types.  They generally ignore most electronics unless it is warm... PC towers with spinning fans generally dont get sat on or clawed at (cats naturally brush their heads on things, so they do do that).  Hope this helps.

That sounds pretty good. Should I be worried about wires, keyboards ... 

[iamdarkyoshi]

Get an SSSCat (google it)

 

Coat your cables in a thin layer of dish soap.

[MedievalMatt]

41 minutes ago, tahmidkhan123 said:

That sounds pretty good. Should I be worried about wires, keyboards ... 

I have braided cables, but mostly the get ignored. mouse cable gets batted at occasionally.  nothing serious.  depends on the cat tho i think.

 

Edit - They'll lay on keyboards, so i recommend turning your PC off when not in use.  They also LOVE laptops, because warm, but only for sits.

[JoeCoke]

Depends on the cat really. Just be sure to not leave wires around because cats just love to bite them. Also, squirting them with water when they're somewhere they're not supposed to be is actually pretty effective, just, uh, don't get carried away and spray your electronics.

 

Edit: Cats do have some odd love of sitting on keyboards. So either get a keyboard drawer or turn the PC off when you're not using it. If you have issues with the cat sitting on your PC, just put stuff on it, that seems to work.

[Zusafek]

Guess I'm lucky then.  I have five full grown cats and a new kitten in the house now and they don't go near any of my computers.  But as for clawing furniture and stuff...you can train them not to but give them something they can scratch.  Hence a scratching post or a cat tower.  They do like to go to high places as it makes them feel more secure.  Which is why I'm looking at one of my cats sitting on top of my kitchen cabinet.

[Bleedingyamato]

4 hours ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Get an SSSCat (google it)

 

Coat your cables in a thin layer of dish soap.

Why would you use soap?    It'll just leave residue behind and be a icky mess...

 

There has to be better options.  Like bitter sprays or something?

[iamdarkyoshi]

2 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

Why would you use soap?    It'll just leave residue behind and be a icky mess...

 

There has to be better options.  Like bitter sprays or something?

Because most people already have it

[Bleedingyamato]

1 minute ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Because most people already have it

But it's soap.  You wash things with it.  

 

I just think there has to be a better less messy way to keep cats away from things they shouldn't be chewing on.  

 

Do cats even chew cords?  I know bunnies sometimes do.

[Crowes]

16 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

But it's soap.  You wash things with it.  

 

I just think there has to be a better less messy way to keep cats away from things they shouldn't be chewing on.  

 

Do cats even chew cords?  I know bunnies sometimes do.

 

I think it's imprinting the idea that they shouldn't chew the cord because it tastes absolutely dreadful. Of course, you're aware of why this is.

 

Most people have dish soap, it's bound to taste awful because of the chemicals, but it isn't harmful in small amounts of consumption.. so the feline should be okay! I would double check though.

[Seamonster420]

It really depends. If you're getting a kitten it's a bit of a blessing as they don't come preprogrammed to claw on your furniture and chew up all your wires and it's easy enough to train them to not do that, but I can almost guarantee they'll at least try it once. I'd recommend using a can of compressed air, just spray them once or twice when they do something bad and they'll get the idea. After awhile you won't even need to spray them anymore, just reach for it and they'll scamper off. Kind of mean to be sure but I had a friend who had to put a kitten down because it ate a guitar string and...yeah.

 

BTW, this is one of my first posts in the LTT forums and I thought it'd be kind of ridiculous to create a whole thread to just say 'hi' so HI EVERYONE!

[tahmidkhan123]

1 hour ago, Seamonster420 said:

It really depends. If you're getting a kitten it's a bit of a blessing as they don't come preprogrammed to claw on your furniture and chew up all your wires and it's easy enough to train them to not do that, but I can almost guarantee they'll at least try it once. I'd recommend using a can of compressed air, just spray them once or twice when they do something bad and they'll get the idea. After awhile you won't even need to spray them anymore, just reach for it and they'll scamper off. Kind of mean to be sure but I had a friend who had to put a kitten down because it ate a guitar string and...yeah.

 

BTW, this is one of my first posts in the LTT forums and I thought it'd be kind of ridiculous to create a whole thread to just say 'hi' so HI EVERYONE!

Hi there, welcome to the forums! That's interesting but im curious, wouldn't a kitten be far more energetic and troublesome? 

[Seamonster420]

14 minutes ago, tahmidkhan123 said:

Hi there, welcome to the forums! That's interesting but im curious, wouldn't a kitten be far more energetic and troublesome? 

Not necessarily. If it's young enough it's probably just been separated from the litter for the first time so it'll be more scared that it's in a new environment and maybe a little mopey at first. After a couple of days it'll start to settle in to its surroundings and as they warm up to you they'll become really rambunctious and playful. Toys are a must. I highly recommend this one in particular, but keep in mind that all cats are going to be a little bit different so get a variety of toys for them to try out. Just play with them until they lose interest or start panting really hard and before you know it that cat will be putty in your hands for the rest of its life.

 

As for scratching, it's important to get a cat tree that has a variety of different scratching surfaces for your cat to try out. You can get a cheap scratching post that has bare wood, carpet and corrugated cardboard for like $20 at pretty much any pet store. I lucked out, my cat Bowser likes to scratch on cardboard so I don't have to pay a dime for his "scratching posts". It's also important that whatever you buy (consider buying two or three if you can swing it), you keep it near where you spend the most time when you're at home. The cat instinctually wants to blend it's smell with yours, you being the alpha cat, and the close physical presence allows them to "stand guard" over you. But an added bonus of this is that if there's something the cat knows is his/hers and it's more physically stimulating to them than anything else in its immediate vicinity, then you really won't have to worry about them chewing up your cables or scratching up your furniture. Me personally, I've never had an issue with my cat scratching on the couch or anything since the day I got him when he was I think five and a half weeks old. I subscribed to the carrots and sticks (figurative of course) philosophy. He got petted and played with when he scratched on his own stuff and if he did something bad I'd do a little hiss at him. If he was really naughty I'd just clap my hands together to startle them and say like "Hey!" or something. The compressed air came to me after he had gotten a little older.

 

I didn't mean for this to become a dissertation on cat training and I hope I don't get a rep as a crazy cat person around here I read a book by that Jackson Galaxy guy before I got my cat and it was extremely helpful. I'd say pick it up if it's cheap but most of it's pretty common sense stuff and I'm pretty sure he has a YouTube channel where he gives the actual knowledge away for free. For someone who drives a pink Cadillac, he sure knows a lot about pussy.

[tahmidkhan123]

18 hours ago, Seamonster420 said:

Not necessarily. If it's young enough it's probably just been separated from the litter for the first time so it'll be more scared that it's in a new environment and maybe a little mopey at first. After a couple of days it'll start to settle in to its surroundings and as they warm up to you they'll become really rambunctious and playful. Toys are a must. I highly recommend this one in particular, but keep in mind that all cats are going to be a little bit different so get a variety of toys for them to try out. Just play with them until they lose interest or start panting really hard and before you know it that cat will be putty in your hands for the rest of its life.

 

As for scratching, it's important to get a cat tree that has a variety of different scratching surfaces for your cat to try out. You can get a cheap scratching post that has bare wood, carpet and corrugated cardboard for like $20 at pretty much any pet store. I lucked out, my cat Bowser likes to scratch on cardboard so I don't have to pay a dime for his "scratching posts". It's also important that whatever you buy (consider buying two or three if you can swing it), you keep it near where you spend the most time when you're at home. The cat instinctually wants to blend it's smell with yours, you being the alpha cat, and the close physical presence allows them to "stand guard" over you. But an added bonus of this is that if there's something the cat knows is his/hers and it's more physically stimulating to them than anything else in its immediate vicinity, then you really won't have to worry about them chewing up your cables or scratching up your furniture. Me personally, I've never had an issue with my cat scratching on the couch or anything since the day I got him when he was I think five and a half weeks old. I subscribed to the carrots and sticks (figurative of course) philosophy. He got petted and played with when he scratched on his own stuff and if he did something bad I'd do a little hiss at him. If he was really naughty I'd just clap my hands together to startle them and say like "Hey!" or something. The compressed air came to me after he had gotten a little older.

 

I didn't mean for this to become a dissertation on cat training and I hope I don't get a rep as a crazy cat person around here I read a book by that Jackson Galaxy guy before I got my cat and it was extremely helpful. I'd say pick it up if it's cheap but most of it's pretty common sense stuff and I'm pretty sure he has a YouTube channel where he gives the actual knowledge away for free. For someone who drives a pink Cadillac, he sure knows a lot about pussy.

Wow this was really informative, thanks so much for the tips and I will keep them in mind. Really looking forward getting a cat soon!