[RobJ]

Do any of you have problems with your cats (cat in my case) chewing on cables?. I have one cat that chews my speaker cable, apparently constantly when I'm not around.


Does anyone have any cures for this? Aside from getting rid of the cat.



Thanks,



Rob

 

[Sean D]

I'd try rubbing down the cables with citrus oil....cats don't like it at all. Either that or use a squirt gun on the cat when you see it chewing. They don't like getting squirted.

 

[Namlemez]

Citrus oil? I read someone smeared tabasco sauce on them. Teach the little guys some proper household manners

 

[Man E]

One of my cats used to do that all the time - the little ****. The squirt gun doesn't work, just like it doesn't work to keep them off the counters. They know when you aren't there and are smart enough to take advantage of it. Go to your local pets store. There is this spray bottle that you can buy that is a bitter citrus. It's harmless to both them and the cables. The number of chew toys here went waaaaay down The one image that kept coming to mind as I was finding chewed cables, was the cartoon character of the cat that is getting zapped! That'll learn 'em.

 

[GJones3]

We've had kittens and cats eat cables. They seem to especially like very thin cables, like those from a wall wart to power computer speakers. I solved that by getting a pair of DIVA M200s which have a real AC power cord and #12 speaker wire. They don't seem to bother the bigger wires. The stuff at the pet store is called "bitter apple", as I recall, not "bitter citrus". Another thought: why not put the cable up higher than the cat can comfortably reach; although some of my wife's Maine **** cats can jump from the floor to the top of our speakers and then to the top of a seven foot high equipment rack.

 

[RobJ]

Quote:

Originally posted by GJones3 They seem to especially like very thin cables, like those from a wall wart to power computer speakers. I solved that by getting a pair of DIVA M200s which have a real AC power cord and #12 speaker wire. They don't seem to bother the bigger wires. The stuff at the pet store is called "bitter apple", as I recall, not "bitter citrus". Another thought: why not put the cable up higher than the cat can comfortably reach

I've tried the bitter apple stuff and it worked for a while, but had to use it almost everyday. Forget once and the cat was right back at the cable. I'm using 12 ga speaker cable now and it's coming from under the house, so raising it out of reach isn't an option. Was hoping there were some longer term solutions to the bitter apple. Dang. Thanks all for trying though.


take care,


Rob

 

[theSSthatcould]

Get a Dog

Regards.

 

[rbhargan]

We have four cats, and while they have lots of bad habits, they have not started chewing on cables - yet.


One suggestion that occurred to me is to wrap the cable in aluminum foil. I don't know how it effects cats, but if you have ever chewed a piece of foil, you will know that it is not pleasant. I am not sure if it has the same unpleasant result if you don't have fillings, but it might be worth a try.


I am sure the audiophiles will come up with a reason not do do this, since the foil will interfere with the electromagnetic flow resistance of the isometric hydrodiscontronation effect, but hopefully it will keep the cables in one piece. You may want to substitute a different material in place of foil.


(for the humor impaired)

 

[theSSthatcould]

Quote:

Originally posted by rbhargan I am sure the audiophiles will come up with a reason not do do this, since the foil will interfere with the electromagnetic flow resistance of the isometric hydrodiscontronation effect, but hopefully it will keep the cables in one piece. You may want to substitute a different material in place of foil. (for the humor impaired)

I have had very good results with gold foil in place of alum. The isometric hydrodiscontronation of gold is much better. I tried this at home and the sound stage was soo much more open with sharper harmonic harmony esp thru the inaudable spectrum. It was almost akin to acoustic ESP. Made me one with the sound source. I have read on AVSforum that platinum improves the soundstage even further, esp when used with a infrared voltage stabilizer.

Regards.

PS. Want me to pass the pipe to you?

 

[David D]

Go to Radio Shack and buy some black plastic tubing designed for holding cables. It is inexpensive, easy to use, and has not interested my cat in the least.

 

[RichardMA]

Why can't cats be taught to chew power cables instead of

speaker cables?

 

[rbhargan]

I think Darwin had an explaination for that. Something about survival of the less stupid.

 

[deanzsho]

I actually had a cat that did chew threw the power cable, damn thing lived through it to, but did have to go to the vet. Missing some skin on the side of his mouth to this day.

Dean

P.S. cat no longer chews cables.

 

[Glen Graham]

Quote:

Originally posted by RobJ Does anyone have any cures for this? Aside from getting rid of the cat.

Have you considered trying Super-Glue? One chew, and the cat will learn (as it takes a day for his saliva to break the glue down and get loose)


Seriously, the idea suggested above about wrapping the cables in either foil or conduit should suffice. Or, duct-tape them down to the carpet, or put them under the edge of the carpet...


Cats I used to live with hated the rustle of plastic bags, so to keep them off the furniture and counters, we spread grocery bags around.


I got tired of having to put them out and put them away every day... Problem solved when I got rid of the girlfriend instead (her cats)

 

[lwang]

A good solution would be to get those spray insulation and coat each cable with a thick coat of that solid foam stuff. It will keep the cats off. Additional benefits includes keeping each cable far from each other, reducing inductive effect and vibration isolation.


You could get rid of those styrofoam cups that keeps every one of your cables off the ground after you do this.

 

[zooplancton]

lol!


the problems we have!!


man, if *my* cat chewed through my speaker cable, we would be serving up "baked kitty" that night. i accidentally touched the two *wrong* ends together once while hot, and a serious arc threw!!! ---cables coming from my amp.


and in the end, you hear yourself saying:


"man,..... ***** and audio gear"!





cheers.

 

[apg]

You could try shielded Cat 5 cable. As the name suggests, it is designed with cats in mind, it already has the foil sheild, but the electromagnetic flow resistance of the isometric hydrodiscontronation effect is balanced out by the twisted pair construction.

Another possibility is mice. My cat lost all interest in Hi-Fi Harrassment once we installed mice. You'll need a good selection. And you'll have the added benefit of being able to utilize the used mice as damping material on your CD player.

 

[SiliGoose]

Quote:

hydrodiscontronation

And today's vocabulary winner is...

 

[rbhargan]

Word of warning. If you install mice and are using an HTPC, makes sure you have blanks covering all of your card slots. Mice seem extremely attracted to the high tech aura of the interior of a PC. Not only is it warm, but the glow of various green lights makes for a very chic environment. With a little redecorating a Christmas'y effect can be achieved by inducing some red lights to come on.

 

[apg]

" Not only is it warm, but the glow of various green lights makes for a very chic environment."

Who'd have thunk it- an optical mouse.


Which reminds me... last week I took my DLP projector to a friends' house. We settled in to watch "BuffY.

My friends have a number of cats, who seem to be oblivious to the whole HT thing. Anyway, during one of the scary bits, Night, so called because of his coloring, jumped onto the sofa in front of me, casting a perfect shadow on the screen. Then it looked into the projector.

Imagine, if you will, a black cat, framed by a large black shadow, staring at you. And where you normally see eyes are two globes of swirling rainbows...