Cats

[thymanst]

4 clawed indoor cats and maybe once when they were little thought about using a speaker to scratch - a loud yell and that was it - we do have scratching posts around he house - but I have never seen any of the 4 scratch furniture of any of the speaker gear I have around all the time -

 

[kwiturbichen]

I have 2 cats and one of them leaves the room when my music gets too loud and the other one stares at the speakers like she is trying to figure out where the sound is coming from, especially when I play anything with chirps and whistles or bird noises. My male cat is a 22 pound monster (NOT a fat cat, very long and lean, the one in the avatar) and the other is a tiny (10lbs) female that was probably from a feral community when we rescued her from a drain pipe in a window well.

Neither one has ever scratched my speakers. I have 3 sets in different rooms.

That said, they are all on stands with no grills. I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not.

They also have PLENTY of scratching places. Two posts and carpet wrapped around support beams in the basement, which they also like to climb on when they get spunky. I am also in the process of remodeling the basement which will include some raised walkways and hang out spots for them when I am done. They also have plenty of places to hang out and look out windows. Very crucial. If you don't provide this they will do it themselves, somehow. Possibly in a manner that you would not appreciate.

In other words, you need to provide them an environment based on what they instinctually like to do. Watch them and get in their head. It goes a long way towards the relationship you will have with your feline pet.

If your cat is edgy try Feliway. I use it to keep the male from marking at the front and back door. I am pretty sure he does it because of the wild cat that makes his rounds outside of our house. If their is Feliway in the diffuser, no problem. No kidding. If it runs dry I can tell in a matter of days as spray marks and the associated odor appear. My wife makes sure that I know about it as well. You may never have to use it, but it never hurts to have a solution in mind if a situation pops up. (Feliway is a chemical replica of a pheremone that ALL cats have in the scent glands in their face, the reason they rub their head on things)

PLEASE do not get your kitty declawed or let them outside. I can tell you all the reasons, but your vet will just tell you the same things. As have some here on this thread.

Just my take from many years of experience. Hope it helps.

Enjoy the music dude!

 

[Sam Cogley]

Whatever you do, do not have the cat declawed, laser or whatever, it is mutilation and inhumane.

Utter hooey.

+1

Anyone suggesting such a thing ought to have their fingernails removed.

I'd love to have a couple of my toenails permanently removed.

Don't declaw... would you like to have the end of your fingers removed?

Abosolutely false analogy. Take some anatomy lessons. Better yet, look up the feline anatomy lessons I've posted here every time this uninformed crap comes up.

Spray of water is a great deterrent

Depends on the cat. My mom has one that thinks it's fun to be shot with a water pistol.

Positive reinforcement can do wonders too... when she does scratch HER furniture reward her.

Hmm, actually a bit of good advice.

 

[Maicobmw]

Sam, I am not going to turn this thread into a debate on declawing, or a battle of links supporting either position, nor refer to your opinion as hooey or crap. Your opinion is yours, and that is ok.

This is my opinion (aka hooey): If you are worried about your cat damaging your pretty things, whatever they may be, either don't have cats or don't have pretty things. But don't take it out on the cat for being a cat by having a procedure performed that at the very least causes pain and distress to the cat. That is my opinion.

YMMV

 

[Tones]

Agreed, it's shocking that people think it is perfectly acceptable to mutilate a living creature to protect their "dead" precious stuff. Either do not take a cat or setup your stuff in a way that gives your equipment maximum protection.

 

[Metalsmith]

Ive had cats my whole life and one lesson Ive learned is they all have their own weird fetishes. My current cats are out to kill the couches dead, despite scratching posts, cardboard scratchers , water sprays, scented sprays, and harsh words. In fact one of our cats will hang out in the sink till someone turns the water on for him, obviously water spray isn't doing anything for him. Once had a cat with a thing for leather, that was expensive.

The current gruesome twosome both like to chew plastic bags as well and Ive caught both of them gnawing at plastic lp sleeve protectors.

The point, even though none of my cats have ever shown interest in a speaker, I always leave on the grills and am prepared to re fabric them in case one of the loveable buttheads get a wild hair because there is no guessing with cats.

 

[Sam Cogley]

Sam, I am not going to turn this thread into a debate on declawing, or a battle of links supporting either position, nor refer to your opinion as hooey or crap. Your opinion is yours, and that is ok.

This is my opinion (aka hooey): If you are worried about your cat damaging your pretty things, whatever they may be, either don't have cats or don't have pretty things. But don't take it out on the cat for being a cat by having a procedure performed that at the very least causes pain and distress to the cat. That is my opinion.

YMMV

If the procedure causes "pain and distress" for the cat, then the vet is a butcher who shouldn't be practicing any form of medicine.

Agreed, it's shocking that people think it is perfectly acceptable to mutilate a living creature to protect their "dead" precious stuff. Either do not take a cat or setup your stuff in a way that gives your equipment maximum protection.

"Mutilation." Only if done by an incompetent butcher.

 

[Maicobmw]

Again in my opinion... Mutilation, even if somehow performed by a master mutilator with elegance and without pain, nevertheless leaves the victim mutilated. :thumbsdn:

Sorry to the OPer if I contributed to a hijack... I'll let it go now. Good luck with the cat.

 

[rswojo]

There was another thread a while back about de-clawing cats and I came out totally against de-clawing.

However all cats are different. Our first cat is a well behaved cat and very receptive to behavior modification. My wife wanted her de-clawed and as this was my first ever cat I agreed. She would have been able to keep her claws.

We just got two kittens and one sticks to the scratching posts and leaves everything else alone. The other wants to scratch on whatever is handy and she does not respond to positive or negative reinforcement. She got de-clawed. It was either de-clawing or it was back to the pound.

If it is losing their claws or their life I say losing their claws is better.

 

[KevinCorr]

lame joke deleted

 

[rswojo]

I recommend rat traps or poison.

I guarantee your comment will not be appreciated by the cat lovers on this board.

 

[Sam Cogley]

There was another thread a while back about de-clawing cats and I came out totally against de-clawing.

However all cats are different. Our first cat is a well behaved cat and very receptive to behavior modification. My wife wanted her de-clawed and as this was my first ever cat I agreed. She would have been able to keep her claws.

We just got two kittens and one sticks to the scratching posts and leaves everything else alone. The other wants to scratch on whatever is handy and she does not respond to positive or negative reinforcement. She got de-clawed. It was either de-clawing or it was back to the pound.

If it is losing their claws or their life I say losing their claws is better.

My last two female cats were like your second kitten. My two boy kittens are quite well behaved with their claws (though not with much of anything else :lmao, so they're getting to keep their toenails as long as they keep being good.

That said, if a cat does need to be declawed, find a competent vet to do the procedure. When done right the cat will have no pain, discomfort, or loss of foot function. Bug still "claws" at stuff, even though she was pretty young when they were removed due to her psychological problems.

 

[musichal]

Many cat owners are irresponsible and let the animal outside to freely roam. This only creates problems for the natural local wildlife which in some places are protected. People are finaly starting to see the damage the "pets" are causing and in some places are calling for the round up and extermination of domesticated feral cats. If you think alowing your cat outside is the right thing to do you are wrong on so many levels with or without claws.

Referring to highlighted (by me) statement above. That's your opinion. Don't confuse that with fact.

 

[Ths364]

A cat IS a rat trap, and is safer than poison.

 

[phil-g]

Squirting water is a good idea too, but keep it in the fridge so the water is cold too.

add a few drops of dish soap and becomes 3x more effective

 

[Harvey/ Ga]

Man, sorry for the silly question...

In may i´m moving to a new house we are finishing after an year of work.

This year i´ve bought some speakers, amps etc to rig the living space.

So, we have 2 childrens, 3 and 5 years, and now they understand that cones and surrounds, and tweeter and all the stuff need to be untouched. The dog don´t give a sh#@. This last 2 years my main speakers was looking the wall to avoid tweeter and woofer death.

Now i'm confident everything is going to be good again.

BUT. A cat seems to be a new guest, in some time.....

So the equestion: does the cats like to destroy all the speakers they cross in their life?, do i need to start a plan to put an electrical fence arround the speaker and be seated close with a weapon, taking aprazolam?

Please say no.

Got a marvelous thread of Cats on audio equip. here..over 1k posts!!
I do feline rescue, have 6 cats of my own. One lives in the office with my 2nd best speakers..the W-60E's. Never laid a claw on them, altho she's watched the record spin like the other gal in my avatar.

The Celestions are in the mancave, and several will come down to listen with me. Again, they ignore the tall 66's, perhaps because they emit loud roars at times.

IIRC, I've only used the water bottle when they go for the furniture upstairs...

 

[duronboy]

I had a cat that attempted to jump up on a speaker. She didn't quite make it and her hind feet pushed in the paper on the mid and tweeter.

they'll stop doing whatever it is immediately, but that only works if I'm around

Exactly.

 

[Ths364]

This isn't about speakers, but my cat once jumped onto my Pioneer PL-71 while I was playing a record. She jumped from the floor to the closed dust cover;42 inches high. She weighs about 7 lbs. The record didn't skip, but my heart rate jumped up for a second... Only once caught her trying to use the Altec grilles as a scratching post. One yell from me and she hasn't done it since.

 

[ken kantor]

I recommend rat traps or poison.

Hi Kevin... are you the KC I know from Cupertino?

Anyway, I need to warn you: One of my Black Burmese was staring at my screen making odd noises as I was reading your post. I glanced over, and suddenly the cat was not there. Gone. Poof. I'm a bit concerned that the cat has entered your spacetime and is going to tamper with your world line as a result of your unfortunate post. It won't be the first time for this particular cat to do this kind of thing, taking justice into her own paws. Fortunately, she has a sense of humor, and so the results have been more embarassing than dangerous. Still, do keep your eyes open, particularly when sleeping, until this all blows over.

-k

 

[chewie]

Not a big fan of cats.......












But seriously, that's my kitteh in my avatar. We used to let our cats(we had four at one time: 1 - a rescue, 2 - from a vet litter and 1 - at the pound while looking for the one that went missing)outside all the time until one disappeared for about two months and came back with FIV. He died six months later.

My wife freaked out, so to cure the outside problem we built a cattery into our patio and they seem pretty happy with that. Only the 2 boy cats went outside anyway.