Protecting Your Gear from Pets?

EvilJoven asks: "About a month ago I spent quite a large chunk of change on a new system only to have my cat chew through the VGA source cable of my brand new display. Over the course of the last few years my cat has cost me nearly $300CDN in repair and replacement costs due to chewed cables including a few power cables which are not only a pain to replace but potentially fatal to the animal and a fire hazard. So far the best solution I've found to stop this is wrapping all my cables in Snap-On Wire Protectors (about $6CDN for 3m at Canadian Tire in the Automotive section) but this is a rather unsightly solution. Due to the fact that I live in a one bedroom apartment restricting my cats access to my hardware is not an option. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on a better way to protect gear from animals."

Comments

Problem pets

[nastyphil]

eat your cat.

Cat food

[tedDancin]

There's only one solution to this: Place some cat food on/over one of the power cables connecting your PC. Problem solved.

Re:Give your cat some cables

[kinnell]

Give your cat some cables of its own.
Hang a few up, coil a few around it's cat box.

Exactly. If these cables are connected to a high tension power supply, your cat will soon learn to stop chewing cables.

outsource

[Anonymous Coward]

outsource the cat

Re:Nail biting

[beegle]

My grandparents tried this with hot sauce and furniture legs to stop a problem dog. They ended up with a dog that liked hot sauce.

Mark your territory

[Anonymous Coward]

I suppose you could pee on all your cables and the like. You know, "marking your territory" so to speak.

If you choose to go that route, you might want to make sure you unplug the stuff first. It would give a whole new meaning to "fire in the hole" if you know what I mean...

A drop in the bucket...

[in10se]

Did you read the post - he's only lost 300 CDN. That's only about $2.50 USD, so what's the big deal?

TWAJS

Hi. I'm Troy McClure

[Anonymous Coward]

Hi. I'm Troy McClure. You might remember me from such gear-and-pet films as "Tom and Logitech: A Tale of Cat and Mouse in the Tech Age" and "Fluffy the USB-enabled Hamster"

Cat mentality

[Bushcat]

Cats are tangentially smart to humans. Our cat had a litter box which he dutifully used until he understood there was a big wide world out there. So my better half (and I use the term loosely) decided the litter box would make a great flower box. So she put it outside, filled it with earth and plants, and waited for spring.

We now have a cat that shits in flower boxes, plant pots, anything that looks like a plant pot, and anything with a picture of a flower on it.

Trade in your cat for

[jayrtfm]

a Bonsai Kitten

Re:Pheremones in a can

[facelessnumber]

Don't know about that "pet repellent" stuff... My cats don't care about it, and my dog drinks it.

Re:Exactly! Mexican pearl of wisdom:

[tsa]

Don't rub your eyes after rubbing the cables with that stuff!

Re:Give your cat some cables

[facelessnumber]

Bah... Tell ya what... Come over and establish dominance with my cat, and I'll give you a ride to the emergency room when he makes you his bitch. =)

Re:Give your cat some cables

[KhanAFur]

I have to disagree...My cat has bitten through live power cords any number of times and still continues to do it.

I think electrocution has just made him dumber.

Does wife-proofing count?

[stuffduff]

I got my wife her own machine; my uptime went to five nines! ;^)

Dip all your cords in wolverine urine

[cheezus]

the cat will cower in the corner

Re:Exactly! Mexican pearl of wisdom:

[IthnkImParanoid]

And wash your hands before you go to the bathroom.

Trust me.