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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."
When I was young, my parents experimented with
putting stuff on my nails to stop me from biting
them. It tasted terrible. Perhaps the same could
be applied to cables in your apartment?
For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
eat your cat.
Dialectician. Archology.
Give your cat some cables of its own.
Hang a few up, coil a few around it's cat box.
It should be easier to direct the cat to its own cables than keep it away altogether.
Sam
blog.sam.liddicott.com
There's only one solution to this: Place some cat food on/over one of the power cables connecting your PC. Problem solved.
Ladies, form queue here -->
Suggestion: Your cat is trying to say he or she is not happy. Get another cat so that he will have something to do while you are at work. They will chase each other around and make noises like a herd of cattle, but they won't chew cables.
Wrap you cables in double-sided tape? Cat hate the sticky feeling on their paws. It worked when our cats were getting in the habit of clawing our screen windows...........
I had a pet rabbit for a while, so I'm familiar with this problem.
The obvious answer is either "get rid of the cat" or "lock up the cat when you're not watching it".
Assuming you don't want to do that, make an effort to make cables unreachable. Use twist ties and adhesive hooks and loops to get rid of dangling cables or cables lying on the floor. Do your long cable runs along the upper edge of the wall. They make wire baskets that are designed for closet shelves. You can often use them (sometimes with re-bending) on desks to keep wires in a basket that's mostly out of the cat's reach. You can also use plastic containers (tupperware, rubbermaid, that sort of thing) with a few holes drilled in them to contain the rat's nest of cables. Just be sure to allow -some- air to escape.
As far as equipment, think hard about a laptop. There's only a power cable to worry about -- no keyboard, mouse, etc. cables.
Use those ugly cable protectors for everything that's left.
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You could try feeding the cat, then it wouldn't be hungry and chew the cables!
http://www.22balmoralroad.net/ http://www.tinynetworks.co.uk/
This is a rather low-tech solution, but cover your cables in tape. When my cats figured it would be a good idea to gnaw on the 120VAC power lines running through our (not yet finished) walls, we stuck some tape on them (sticky side out) and it promptly stopped. Double-sided tape would work well for this.
;)
I guess it loses all its fun when your face ends up stuck to what you're chewing on. Though maybe if I just let them bite through the cable would've stopped the chewing as well.
A buddy of mine has a cat that loves to attack/claw/chew wires. He put a little sprinkle of lemon juice on the wires, cat doesnt go near them anymore.
And it just may make your office area smell nicer.
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...
Another option is to make them inaccessible- run them through cardboard tubes. Of course, if your cat shreds cardboard, this won't work. So maybe taping something around them- plastic panels or something?
The options are simple:
render them unappetising
render them inaccessible
render them indestructible
i put them in the order that i thought most likely to work- my cat hates the pet repellent, so the area under my desk gets treated.
let us know what works!
"I'd say 'Have a good time,' but arson is still illegal.
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
Popisms.com - Connecting pop culture
Cats usually don't chew on cables, so this is an indicator that something is wrong. And it's not your cables.
It might be an indicator that the two of you have a relation problem. The cat may want more attention. Especially if the cat does not go out of the house, you are the only one "social contact" for the cat. Play with the cat, pet the cat, crawl the cat. Or if you don't think that you have the time to do so, give away your cat to someone who cares for it; and get your self a cat doll.
Maybe your cat is a real hunter but has no other prey than those dangling cables. Get or make some cat toys. Remember: "Everything not nailed down is a cat toy." You just have to make sure that your cat toys are more attractive than your hardware.
A last idea, to cure the symptoms but not the disease: place your cables in flexible tubes. IKEA has flexible tubes in black and white that can be wrapped around the cables without disconnecting them. Unless your cat can look onto your table while standing on the floor, it will have a hard time chewing through those tubes.
Tux2000
Denken hilft.
This is not really a /. question. Your local petstore will help you solve this in under $10. Just get any pet repellant spray like bitter apple and spray it on the needed area for a few days. Your pet will the idea that this area/items have the worst taste and it's better to chew on your shoes than to chew on cables sprayed with Bitter Apple....
This is exactly right. The problem is that your cat is trying to communicate with you. Its basically saying, "You spend a lot of time in here, so therefore I should destroy what is taking you away from me--so you can play with me instead!" Getting another cat will undoutedbly take its attention away from the cables behind your computer, and instead focus on the other animal in the apartment.
The other solution is to (gasp!) actually play with your cat. I mean, how hard is it to get a laser pointer and send your cat tearing about the place like a nitro-funnycar? Might I suggest the Green Laser Pointer from Thinkgeek.com?
Or you could always call Confuse-A-Cat LTD...
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.
Perhaps the Snap-On cable protectors are unsightly, but there are more attractive solutions.
I picked up some cable protectors from my local computer superstore that look quite nice. They are about the same diameter as a vacuum cleaner hose, and are split down the length.
I just twist-tied all my cable runs together and then routed them inside the cable protector. It give a very clean, modern-looking solution.
It's not my fault! It was this way when I got here.
Double sided tape is definitely a solution. I have some friends who had a cat that was in the bad habit of knocking stuff off of shelves. They had a couple of things they didn't want to have to put away, but at the same time couldn't risk the cat destroying. Double sided tape worked perfectly and the cat eventually learned to stay away.
However, other posters who have pointed out that your cat is bored and or otherwise upset are on the mark. Get some cat toys, including some catnip toys. Consider getting another cat, opposite gender and read pet advice sites for how to introduce a kitten to your adult cat.
One thing though - don't try to punish the cat. The cat is doing this because it's unhappy, bored, frustrated etc. If you punish it, you just add something for the cat to be upset about. Oh, and I personally had great luck with my bored indoor cats by installing a bird feeder outside and keeping it stocked. It was like the cat version of television - they sit there for hours watching the birds.
a Bonsai Kitten
My solution? Give the cat to someone with a garden and get a more docile animal that won't mind living indoors. Chinchillas, hamsters or rabbits are ideal for this. But not a cat.
oh man, do i. i have 4 cats and 5 computers.
one of them LOVES! phone cables for some reason.
The best method is not to protect your stuff - that becomes ridiculous as the amount of crap you use grows. No, what you need to do is provide better targets. Observe what they prefer, and give it to them. They'll have a preference, i guarantee it. If it's VGA cables, then keep the ones they busted, and hang it somewhere they can play with it and gnaw it as much as they want.
they should leave the new one alone.
it works!
My oldest dog, Emma, then a 1-yr-old puppy, pulled all of the phone cable out from under our house. All of it. She found the box and went to work. Now that's dedication.
We tried to keep Emma from jumping on our kitchen door by putting hot sauce (Texas Pete, Tabasco and a delightful Habanero sauce... in that order). That's how we found out that she likes hot sauce.
I was driving my truck into our back yard to drop something off. With Georgia summers and no A/C, keeping the windows open is a must. Emma adores the truck. She just likes to sit in the bed while it's parked if we let her. My passenger window was open about 10 inches. She's a 45 lb dog. She jumped through the window opening and into the cab while I was rolling at about 2 mph into the back yard. These don't count the antics of the other three dogs or any of my now dearly departed cats.
The moral of the story is that smart, determined or bored animals will do what they ain't supposed to do. We cured Emma's phone phreaking by getting her a dog. She was much happier with a playmate, and a lot of her energy went into playtime with brother Harry. It didn't cure everything, but having something to keep her interested made a huge difference.
Cats are a tougher trick. Some just want to chew on stuff. Others won't even eat people food. The issue isn't as easy as getting them a playmate. Our best cat training method was a water gun. We couldn't be home every minute, but the water training seemed to take root really quickly. The best cat I ever had eventually learned the word "no."
Pepper may be more effective with cats (white or plack powder... depending on your carpet color). Just sprinkle a little around the cables. A scratching post or cat playhouse may be useful, too (after all, you've already spent a lot of money).
Amateurs discuss tactics. Professionals discuss logistics.
Cut a small chili (the smaller and greener, the better, habaneros are particularly fiery) in half and rub it on your cables.
I swear to $DEITY that your cat will not forget that one. Or he will start demanding curry dinner, in both cases, you win.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Worked for me when I had the same problem with my cats. Just dilute it 1:1 with water and use a little paint brush to cover your cables. It also works to keep them from chewing the leaves on your potted palm tree.
My wife and I have three cats in a two-bedroom apartment and they have plenty of room to run around. However, we used to live in a tiny one-bedroom (and it was only called a 1 BR because of the door between the two rooms) and the cats had lots of fun chasing each other in the limited space we had. My suggestion would not be to get rid of the one cat because of space, but add a second cat to give the first one a playmate. That should distract the cats from the computer. Our cats enjoy playing with each other more than they do with us, and they leave my computer equipment alone. One of my cats does like to nibble on my office laptop's AC adapter cable, so I've made a habit of hiding the cable under the couch when I'm not using it. When I am using it and he starts nibbling, I discipline him to try, usually in vain, to teach him that chewing the cable is bad. It's not a perfect system but I'd rather replace cables than get rid of my cats.
Lousy minor setbacks! This world sucks! -- Homer Simpson
With rabbits, I use height to my advantage and just keep cords on top of the desk rather than dangling down below. I use split plastic tubing to cover the power cords plugged into the outlets. Sure, it doesn't look great, but rabbits are notorious about chewing on wiring, so I don't have much choice.
Also, 3M makes adhesive cord keepers that are pretty nice. I use them at chair-rail height.
I could kill you, sure, but I could only make you cry with these words
what I've found to be highly effective with my 3 (!) cats in my small 2 bedroom apartment is keeping a spray bottle on hand full of water. when the cats go somewhere they know they're not supposed to or do something they're not supposed to, they get thoroughly soaked. a warning squirt is usually good enough to keep them from being stupid, but if they insist, a good shower will usually discipline them with no ill effects. barring that, if you scruff them (grab a good chunk of skin on the back of their neck) and hold them down to the ground, they usually get the picture that they're being disciplined and will learn not to do that behavior.
I got my wife her own machine; my uptime went to five nines! ;^)
"Can there be a Klein bottle that is an efficient and effective beer pitcher?"
Cat in the Kettle
There should be a law requiring/prohibiting that (Please circle one)
I had the same problem with my golden retriever when he was young ($100 USB headsets
:)
:)
When animals chew on inappropriate things, it can mean one or more of several things. [Caveat: my experience is largely with dogs, though I expect some of the insights will apply to felines too.]
o They are teething or have a dental problem. This is normal when they are young (and new teeth are coming in).
o They are bored or feel abandoned -- inappropriate chewing, marking, etc. can be a compulsive disorder for dogs, kind of like ADHD. Sometimes it is an experssion of anxiety (particularly separation anxiety) or lack of attention. There are resources available for training this out of dogs (and cats, too, I assume)
o In the case of both cats and dogs, it can mean they are pissed off at you, either for leaving them alone, not playing with them, or whatever.
o Finally, it may indicate that they are hungry (is your cat *eating* the wire or just chewing it to bits?). If they are eating what they are chewing up, you'll find... evidence... routed though their South end in a couple days...
Deterrance and correction. The best course of action is to catch them in the act and correct them, usually with a loud "DON'T!" or something similar. In the case of dogs in particular, this is a good opportunity to establish dominance -- e.g., roll the dog on his back, pin him down (primarily by the neck or mouth), and hold him there until he stops struggling. He'll understand that you're the Alpha and that he's done something unappropriate.
[Note: this is a fight that you absolutely have to win -- if he escapes, catch him; if he tries to get away, restrain him. If you don't win the engagement, the dog will conclude that the's the Alpha and behavior problems will persist. Also, I'm not advocating *hurting* or being violent with your pet. The technique I described mimics, at least for dogs, actual dominant dog behavior, but does not inflict injury or physical pain. It sends the right message with a minimum of violence and a maximum of effectiveness and is a well-accepted training technique.]
One thing that is not effective is correcting the animal after the fact -- dogs and cats have short memories. If he chewed up your cables and you yell at him even 5 minutes later, he won't understand -- most animals don't have the sophisticated reasoning system to connect the correction with the past event. You have to catch him in the act and issue the correction post haste.
One way to ensure that you can catch them in the act is to set up a "trap" -- leave a cable on the floor and keep an eye on the animal. If, or when, he goes after it, nail him then and there. If you do this a couple times, then hopefully he'll get the idea that cables are not food/playthings
Another technique is to use a product such as "Sour Apple", which you coat on surfaces (such as cables) that the animal tends to eat. The product is non-toxic, but tastes quite nasty to them (very bitter/sour) and will deter them. Your local pet shop should have a selection of such products. I never had to use them with my dog, but I have friends who have used it with great success.
The behavior problem may also be due to the fact that the animal does not have any or enough appropriate toys to chew on. Go to your pet shop and buy a selection of animal- and breed- (read: size) appropriate toys. If the problem is chewing, then get chew-toys. If the problem is scratching, get scratching posts or similar products.
Introduce the toys to your pet and praise or reward him when he chews on them and plays with them. This will build a positive association between playing with the appropriate toys. Together with strong corrections for playing with inappropriate "toys", the animal should learn which toys are his and which are not.
If the problem is hunger, then "free-feeding" may be a desirable option. Rather than feeding the animal at distinct times of the day, you leave out excess food in his b
the cat will cower in the corner
/bin/fortune | slashdotsig.sh
Just be sure to check what you're about to spray water on before squeezing the spray trigger. If it's part of your computer, stop.
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
This is some good advice. I want to stress the possibility that the cats might not get along unless they are integrated properly (and even then they might not get along).
One thing I've found that can solve a host of cat problems is excersize them HARD at least 15 minutes everyday. Find a toy on a string that your cat loves (shouldn't be too hard!) and keep it out of their reach and site except for excersize time. This will ensure your cat gets real excited about the toy.
I would come home from work and walk around the room, half-absentmindedly tossing the toy around while I watched TV. The cat would burn off all it's excess energy.
Once I started doing this with a problem cat that circumstances lead to my possession the cat became much more social, stopped over eating (poor thing was bored and seditary), got in shape and generally put the spark back into its personality.
As an added plus if you have a cat that keeps you awake while you're trying to sleep do the excersize thing with them just before you go to bed and feed the cat after the excersize. The cat will soon be ready for a nap itself.
Good luck.
Excellent suggestion and I wish I'd included it in my post because I've done the same thing. As and added note though, there is a cat toy that is the busy geek's nirvana. In execution it is extremely simple - it is a piece of straight spring wire with little pieces of wood or cardboard at the ends. You hold one end and the other end bounces and waves very much the way an a flying insect will.
What makes this toy great is that in addition to cats loving it and going ballistic when they see it - is that you don't actually have to always actively wield it. I'll hold it absently in one hand when I'm reading or watching tv - letting it hang off the side of the couch, and the cats will do frantic run-bys every five minutes swatting it like crazy.
Bought mine for $5-7 Canadian and I've seen them in every pet store I've been in lately. It doesn't look like it would be hard to make one either.
I ran a pvc maze behind my desk, with the wires running through it to where it needs to go. the pvc can be painted with krylon fusion spraypaint. Works against ferrets, also. . . provided you get the diameter right.
I don't know how other cat's work, but my buddy Gizmo certainly hates the smell of oranges. Lemons, limes, and other citrus fruits don't seem to have the same effect, but certainly anytime i peel an orange he will be intrigued by the bright colour only untill he smells it. Usually we find him sneezing on the couch indignantly.
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What's a "preview button"?