Cat issues? Not exactly the Hannibal Lechter line but you could try a little barbeque sauce, maybe a spin on the rotisserie, and then finish this off with fava beans and a nice chianti...
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What is yellow-brown and looks good on a lawyer? A Doberman. Sorry, I couldn't resist. The only way to cat-proof (as well as child-proof) your house is not to let them in. Cats cannot be stopped. They have to investigate everything for the reason of their safe being. The only way is to place items so high that cat cannot reach (jump) - not likely. I have tried to spray nasty smelling stuff designed to keep cats from the furniture but it did not stop my cat from scratching. Young cats are the worst. |
I have two books "100 Uses for a Dead Cat" and the sequel "100 More Uses for a Dead Cat" Once you do the deed I would be happy to make some suggestions. The most creative is have a taxidermist install a pencil sharpener just beneath the tail:) But in reality and seriousness, I don't think a cat can learn to not do what it has grown used to doing. De-Claw it or make it an outdoor cat. A leash? A cage? A good dose of qualudes in its milk each day? Electric pads around the speakers that won't ruin the bass response? Just some ideas that probably won't help. One last one leave the door open and wait for it to run off with that Siamese down the street. |
You can get glue-on soft-plastic caps for cat claws. They periodically shed with the claws as they grow out, but for a scratcher, it's a good solution that's a lot safer and more humane than de-clawing, and it's not permanent. They last a few weeks before falling off, and are cheap and easy to apply. As cats get older, they usually calm down, and disruptive behaviors are less of a factor, and easier to control (as in, yelling starts to actually work). I would not have made it past kitten stage with my latest cat without the claw caps, but thanks to them, things are cool. |
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Kij is once again pretty spot on. I put it a little differently. You can hope for 'cat resistant'....probably not more. Cat proof? Nearly impossible once they get there single cell brain on a subject. IF you make an 'issue' of something with violence or spanking the cat, it'll take that as a challange. You are than done-for. Try water / amonia in a squirt bottle or perhaps a heavy citrus smell which cats do not like. My cats NEVER looked twice at my nice, tall, Magnepans.....But they DID like music. Socialize the cat to the room with you there. lock the door when you leave. keep an eye on 'em at all times as you build confidence. |
I've had my cat for 18 years now. In all that time she made one move on my speakers. As I was listening to some music one day she decided to jump on top of my Spendor 1/2e. Did it very gracefully without scratching anything. I went over, picked her up off the speaker and told her not to do it again. End of story. However, when I leave on a business trip I cover my speakers with BBQ grill covers just in case she has a senior moment and forgets herself. As for scratching, she confines herself to one of a number of corrugated cardboard scratching posts that are distributed around the house. These are available at PetsMart and other pet supply stores. http://cgim.audiogon.com/i/vs/s/f/1242581289.jpg |
The caps you put over the claws are called "soft paws". They work but are a pain to put on a cat because you have to restrain a cat and glue caps to it's nails. Sound fun? Also, if they dont all fall off it can can be dangerous to the cat as the nail will keep growing and curl into the pad and trap the cap in between. It happened to our cat so you just have to keep your eye out. Another option is double stick tape, they sell it at pet stores to keep cats away from furniture corners etc. It's a very thin 1.5-2" wide tape and cats hate it. Supposedly it trains your cat to not scratch the areas it is applied to but it looks fugly because it's tape after all. The suggestion to remove the grills all together seems like a good option also and perhaps the best if possible. Fortunately for them, our cats have never touched my speakers so yours may do the same. Other than that just make sure you have a scratcher or scratching post they can use and put cat nip on the scratcher to get them attracted to it. Hope that helps! |
Cats getting harmed is hardly funny, cats can be trained. I have one still with claws as thats cruel to remove them and leaves cat with no defense should he escape. I should add that in 90% or more cases the cat is only as good as its owners effort, there really are no bad pets just ill equipped owners. Squirt guns, tinfoil, clickers, closed doors and sprays can work but all require owners to make time and effort to balance loving a cat and devolping its habbits. |
When I got married 20 years ago, 2 cats came along with the deal. I learned to love those cats but I (we) were never able to get them to stop scratching stuff they wanted to scratch. In fact, we could never get them to stop doing anything they wanted to do, including getting me up at 5 AM to be fed. Good luck. |
Ok so lets hear your true point about John Wayne, I am waiting. In the meantime get over yourself there was plenty of off color jokes hinting harm to cats and I find that as offensive as you do Cancer. You do realize I didnt give JW cancer right? I will go on record and assure I had nothing to do with just in case you cant understand that. Cheers |
holy moly, nothing like a cat question to lower the maturity level of this board even further. i'm with chadnliz. the comments on this board can be less mature than the comments on a youtube girlfight video sometimes, it's amazing. as to your question, cocoabaroque, other than what a few of the previous people have said, i found it's easiest to go with on-wall speakers in our family room. i have a set of gallo reference avs that sound amazing with a sub and they are absolutely cat proof. the other thing i suggest would be to just buy whatever speakers you like and get an extra set of grills to pop on when you want the speakers looking their best (company coming over, etc) if something ever does happen to your everyday grills. i would also cover the tops with something, though. some of the brands i can think of that sound great and have fully-coverable drivers (many of which are high up on the speaker so that the grill doesn't extend all the way to the floor) are: vienna, proac, totem, usher, and devore. and one note about "declawing" a cat to anyone who might consider doing that, it's a very vicious thing to do to a cat - it's basically chopping off the last segement of their paws in a very unprecise way. sometimes you crush the last knuckle, sometimes they get a bit of the middle bone... it's not a nice thing to do. |
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so much responcses and nothing concrete.look for bigge ror even better for smaller yg acoustic named kit-kat or kit-pod(not remember exact name at the moment) in silver finish. their sound is not veiled, they have very unusual and unfortabile top up to level not to even consider jump on top(from cat perpective), a anodized aluminium is very resisitive to scrach if any and is worst material which can actract to sharpen his nails. good luck |
Lets talk ""MINE FIELD"".......yes,surround the speakers with mice traps for the first wave,then a Catapiller battery set on some chicken wire for the second wave and finally(you will like this one) a infrared laser light trigger that when breached sets off a ultra high pitch that will send all animals a running!!!!!!! OR Train it to stay away |
Guys, Stop this nonsense already. A member has asked about catproofing his speakers, and you give him all these silly ideas. In all seriousness, here is the ONLY thing, that works. You will have to spray the grills of your speakers with the OTHER cat's urine- that will stop YOUR cat from approaching the speakers. The first spray usually is good for about 6 months, and then you'll have to re-spray every 3-4 months, or so. You will get used to the smell fairly soon, but your cat won't, and so won't your visitors. Some urines work better, than the others. One of the Mongolian Hi Fi mags published a review, comparing different species, but I cannot recall now, which one came out on top. |
yeah, four cats here, no smell. and as to what sprink mentioned - the feliway - i will say that we have a couple of the "diffusers" (feliway comes in several different forms) and they are incredible in their ability to chill the cats out. they do minimize - probably eliminate, but i won't make that claim to be safe - scratching. in fact, every time i notice the beginning of naughty cat behavior i check the feliway bottle and sure enough, it's out of liquid. they're expensive, though, that's the problem. so i would definitely try the spray around a pair of speakers, the diffusers are magic. |
I understand your concern... I'm awaiting the delivery of some Tekton Lores any day now and am worried to death that our cats are going to find the whizzer cone and go to town like they did my Moth Audio Cicada's. In fact, I purposefully ordered the ones with rounded corners so they didn't get the idea of scratching/rubbing their little faces (which leads to mouths and teeth) on the corners. I plan to place spikes on top of the speakers, upside-down, while I'm not listening to them, so they'll at least stay off the tops (where they'll get at the drivers). I do this with my current monitors and they no longer pirch atop them, contemplating a feast. I seem to remember another thread about this some years back, as well, and someone suggested placing aluminum foil around the base of the speakers, stating that cats hate the texture on their feet. I've never tried it - and it would obviously be darn unattractive - but as one of the posters alluded, they really can't be stopped. Cats are curious little biggers and will stop at nothing to fully investigate their surroundings, paying particular attention to things new to their environment. Lastly, I must defend my wife, who's a defense attorney, and say that much like there are no atheists in fox holes, everyone hates lawyers until they need one. Cheers all. |
One of our cats likes to chew on cables, the more expensive the better. I'm having some moderate success with strategic, upside-down placement of deep pile carpet protector. It might not be decor-acceptable for everyone, but it seems to be working so far. And I feel compelled to say that all of the hateful cat comments in this thread are, frankly, hurtful to us cat lovers. I imagine that if I said something comparable about dogs, people would be jumping down my throat about it. Why are cats fair game for your mean and unnecessary comments? How about being respectful of what's important to others? A big three-finger salute to you all. |
