My #@%$ Cat Destroyed My ARC REF 5SE. Soliciting Suggestions.


(Public service announcement-keep your pets away from your audio equipment)

I love my cat. But not as much as I once did :-)
The short story is cat pee corroded the main board to my ARC REF 5SE. 

Homeowners insurance doesn't cover repair or replacement because owning a pet means you assume liability/responsibility. Ironically, or strangely enough, If my neighbor's cat or dog did this, I could collect.

My options-
Repair it. Fixing it will cost 7K. The main board alone is 6K.
Buy a pre-owned replacement at close to similar price. And if I go pre-owned, what's the market on a REF 5SE with a destroyed main board.
Go in a different direction.

What would you do?

TIA,
David
wharfy

Showing 2 responses by rikkipuu

Sorry to hear about your cats behavior.

I have some experience with cat behaviors,  it is common for cat owners to anthropomorphize  reason(s) for cats behavior that they can relate to.

Urinating outside the litter-box is either a medical condition usually called cystitis, or a behavioral condition.  I suspect your cat is behavioral.  Behavioral conditions usually are related to you cat being unhappy or stressed about something.  There are medications that can help with un-happiness or stress as it is often difficult to identify the source of the un-happiness or stress.  Common sources are

Cat-cat

• Living alongside an incompatible cat
• Despotic cat(s) entering or threatening to enter cat's home and/or intruding into resident cat's outdoor territory

   • Cat-other animal

• Frequently visiting dog or new dog or puppy come to stay

   • Cat-human

• New member of the family such as new baby or frequent visitors
• Family member or frequent visitor displaying inappropriate handling and/or other interactions towards cat
• Use of punishment such as verbal correction and/or physical correction (e.g., water sprayers)
• Living as a pet when not socialized to people

Physical

• Physical disruption to territory such as building works, redecoration, new furniture
• Moving house
• Unpredictable and restricted outdoor access
• Lack of key resources or inadequate distribution of resources
• Irregular and unpredictable feeding times and cleaning of litter boxes

Health 

  • Pain

• From disease or injury and inappropriately managed (e.g., inadequate pain medication)

  • Illness- commonly gastro-intestinal (chronic vomiting) or skin (itching/biting)

• Challenging medication administration

Sensory

• Intolerable and/or unpredictable noise (e.g., frequent episodes of loud music)
• Strong smelling detergents, perfumes or other chemicals regularly used in the home
• Regular removal of scent marks in the home such as facial secretions from facial rubbing


The above is from a paper from a Board Certified Veterinary Behaviorist and it does mention loud music.

You might ask your veterinarian for some help with medications if you can't identify the stressors.