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

Nail biting

[Improv]

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?

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.

Re:Nail biting

[hankwang]

I find that a small amount of dishwashing detergent rubbed along the cable works great. It doesn't hurt the pet to be exposed to this small amount, and it leaves a nasty enough taste that they won't go back for a second try.

Actually, dishwashing agent is made to taste horrible to discourage children from eating it. You'd be better of with just that magical flavour without the dishwashing stuff around it.

Re:Nail biting

[Strange Ranger]

They ended up with a dog that liked hot sauce.

Seriously though, the sauce wasn't hot enough. Red Hot and Tobasco really aren't too hot. When we got a new puppy, I put a mixture of water and Dave's Insanity sauce ( anything in this Scary Sauces category will do the same job) on the furniture legs, power & phone cables, and carpet fringes. As another poster said, 'Bitter Apple' would need to be stronger and come in cheap gallon sizes to really do the job. That's where the Dave's and water comes in. 1 teaspoon Dave's per 2 cups water. Guaranteed to work, unless your pet is a serious masochist.

Also have to remember to keep the water bowl full, or be a cruel jerk.

Re:Nail biting

[Strange Ranger]

Actually I read somewhere that the whole pepper genus evolved specifically to disperse seeds through birds alone. A bird has a much shorter less-acidic digestive tract than a mammal. A bird also has no teeth. So the bird can disperse the seeds, whereas a mammal's teeth and digestive tract would destroy, or at least sterilize, the seeds. So as a plant, how do you get birds to eat your seeds and not mammals? Simple, you "evolve" a compound that mammals find totally unpalatable, but that birds don't mind at all. Hence capsaicin.

AFAIK all birds are totally immune to capsicum/capsaicin. They can chomp through a pile of habeneros and not notice anything even zesty.

So all of us hot pepper lovers can thank birds for the very existence of hot peppers!

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.

Get another cat?

[Futurepower(R)]

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.

Re:Get another cat?

[TenaciousPimple]

One of the things neither above post considers is the troubles that another cat can add.

A 1BR apt probably doesn't have room for another cat. Also the stress of adding another cat can lead to a ton of other problems, at least in the short term. Litterbox avoidance being one of the nastier ones.

Double-sided tape

[MacBrave]

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...........

Lemon Juice.

[hookedup]

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.

Re:Lemon Juice.

[der_joachim]

A more smelly alternative is the stuff you get from old coffee filters. Cats absolutely hate the smell. It kept the cats out of our garden and who does not want a computer that smells like coffee? :-)

der Joachim

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

You and your cat have a relation problem

[Tux2000]

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

Re:You and your cat have a relation problem

[Jorkapp]

I have had 4 cats over the course of my life. 3 male, 1 female. Now, I only have 1 male, 1 female (One of the males passed away in January, the other passed away in 1996).

A few recommendations for toys and other novelties for your cat.

Pipecleaners. (Some) Cats will mistake a pipecleaner for a rodent, and will run over, pounce, jump on, hunt, or just play with a pipecleaner.

Small plush toys. Some cats just love chasing after things. If I throw a certain plush toy down a hallway, one of my cats will run after it, pick it up, and bring it back. Experiment with this one.

Spray on (Liquid) Cat-Nip. Be careful with this stuff. If you spray it on a toy, don't spray too much on. Don't spray it into the air either.

Pure (Solid) Cat-Nip. Give your cat a little cat-nip every now and again. They will love you to bits.

Kitty Treats. These are a bit of a grey area for me. Some of my cats went nuts over these things, while some just didn't really care. Flavor is also an issue with these. One of my cats likes beef, while the other likes chicken.

Love and Affection. Proven. Two examples:

One of my cats is an 8 or 9 year old female cat. When we adopted her (she was a 1 or 2 year old stray - to this day we still do not known her age), she would not go near anyone (including family members and other cats), and was quite hostile. Years later, after much love and affection, she has mellowed out, but is still kind of anti-social.

Another one of my cats was adopted as a kitten. Since I was home more often than other family members, I was responsible for this little kitten's well being. I often spent hours just petting this little fluff-ball - only for him to claw my face off in overexcitement - but to this day (3 years later) he still prefers my lap to others.

Get another cat. Very grey area. I've seen this work, and I've seen this fail. Tow examples:

When I adopted the female cat, I thought she would bond with my existing male cat. I thought wrong. They were constantly at a distance.

Then again, when I adopted the little kitten, the older male cat took a parental role. He often cleaned the little kitten, and the kitten often returned the cleaning. Over the years they became good friends. Often they would clean eachother, play together, and even eat together. When the older cat fell ill, he would just sit by his side. No cleaning, no playing, no visiting me in bed. When the older cat finally passed away, his friend was very upset (He cried out during the night, he would attack me, etc).

I suppose to conclude, my best advice would be to experiment. Start small and work your way up. Don't do anything too drastic (like get another cat) until you feel you are ready and are confident its the right solution.

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.

Re:Double-sided tape - Mod Parent Up!!!

[Inexile2002]

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.

Exactly! Mexican pearl of wisdom:

[jotaeleemeese]

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.

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.

Re:A couple ideas...

[blate]

[Sorry -- formatting got fouled up on first post. Here's the full post.]

I had the same problem with my golden retriever when he was young (8mos). Among other things, he chewed through:

o The power adapter for my laptop
o An AC computer power cable (luckily, it wasn't live at the time, though that might have broken him of the habit)
o Several sets of $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. To