Cat Chewing Wires!

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Hi-ya,

My super-friendly cat chewed through some speaker cables in the master bedroom. I like him a bunch and he's a good beastie, however trying to keep him out of the master bedroom's tough, because he keeps insinuating himself with various smooth ploys.

I am reluctant to keep the master bedroom door closed (long story), and I actually like him hanging with me when I'm in the master bedroom.

Any suggestions on how to have the beast hang with me, but not chomp on any more wiring?

He has never chewed any wiring before (that I know of) however I did have to break him of the habit of scratching the living room couches, by putting bowls of Cayenne orbiting the couches (at least I think I broke him of the habit).

I am reluctant to do the same in the master bedroom, because (being a techie) the master bedroom had a ton of gizmo's (and naturally lots of attendant wiring) so it would be a mess to put enough bowls of Cayenne.

The Mrs. Chumly is going to pick up a bunch of floor runner (which when tuned upside-down makes a spiffy scat-mat due to all the little prongs) but again it’s going to be tough to try and place enough of this stuff, in all the areas of the master bedroom having cat-accessible cabling.

If I did put enough scat-mat down to discourage the cat, it would also discourage me from accessing the cabling under tables, bed, etc.

If Le Chat Noir becomes habituated to more cable chewing, then there's an even greater problem, as many other rooms in the house contain lots of cabling.

It would be tough to cat-chew-cable-proof the whole house (using either Cayenne or scat-mats) as we have an open architecture style with rather few doors and it would limit my ability to access the cabling.

I have abunch of cat-scratch posts about and he does seem to use them, I could get more I guess.

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I had to just hide the wires eventually with my cat and dog. I tried a spray that's supposed to make them avoid cords but that didn't work.

They've already eaten through the surround sound speakers, the DVD player's remote, several pairs of glasses, a couple of cell phones, two laptop adapters....

Now I just treat it like childproofing a house and assume that if I leave it accessible to them it's fair game.

So we always close off the rooms with any valuables before we leave or sleep now.

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if your techie stuff can handle all being turned off at once I suggest ( and have done myself so I know it works) -

One super strength spray bottle found at home depot

hot pepper powder

Vinegar

Combine about 1 cup of vinegar and several heaping tablespoons of pepper to almost hot water. Just warm enough to help dissolve that pepper

Spray the HELL out of those wires and the floor around the wires.
If cat is stubborn enough to get past the vinegar smell, one simple nip with that dried pepper powder will send him scurrying.

I have a chew on everything kind of kitty too. I didnt want him eating my plastic christmas tree so I used that spray on the b ottom branches where he could reach and one bite.. he ran off and hid.... never touched it again

oh.
Iforgot to add, though I am sure you know this... turn everything off while you spray. I am not taking responsibility for you shocking yourself. Smile

1 Reply

@Chumly,

Maybe you could run a nice tempting cable with low voltage (enough to give the cat a solid warning jolt without hurting it), and let it learn a lesson. In the end, learning NOT to chew wires might save the cats life.

1 Reply

@rosborne979,

My pets don't seem to be thwarted that way, every wire they've chewed has had a current going through it. Sometimes I think they are doing it for the shock.

"Hey Fiona, bite this and check out the high you get!"

1 Reply

@Robert Gentel,

That's tough for my house because of a lack of doors, plus loads of gear all over the place (musician / electrician / technophile).

My pocketbook and sensibilities can't abide by el destructo!

2 Replies

@shewolfnm,

I can't spray my (precious) cabling as I handle it regularly, Plus I can't have corrosive effects on the sheath or metallic connections.

Poof.........ruined guitars, amps, mixers, effects, electronics!

1 Reply

@Chumly,

Hey I don't pretend my love for my pets wasn't threatened by their penchant for destroying expensive stuff. My dog even drew all over a couch that was being sold that weekend.

I do what I can. I hide what I can, put toys out to keep 'em distracted. But wires are interesting to them, and they aren't going to be completely safe from them as long as they are accessible.

After reading this survey I came to grips with it and figure that destruction of property is part of pet ownership and all I can do is try to minimize the bill.

0 Replies

@Robert Gentel,

Robert Gentel wrote:

My pets don't seem to be thwarted that way, every wire they've chewed has had a current going through it. Sometimes I think they are doing it for the shock.

Wow, you've got some masochistic cats. Oh well, it was the only thing I could think of.

0 Replies

@Chumly,

Can you train the cat by getting a strong water pistol, having it whenever cat is in bedroom, (assuming cat is locked out when you are not there) and squirting cat when it approaches cables?

This is usually a bit labour intensive at first, but works after a bit.

I am intrigued that cable chewing is so common in cats, it seems!

Never had it (touch wood).

I had also kind of assumed they only ever got to do it once, so to speak.

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@Chumly,

Chumly wrote:

My pocketbook and sensibilities can't abide by el destructo!

well then the only sensible thing to do is kill it.

1 Reply

@shewolfnm,

This seems like a problem that will solve itself.

You don't need to do anything.

0 Replies

Get yourself a bunch of these

http://www.bulkfoods.com/pictures/4407.jpg

Bulkfoods.com has 4 oz of them for $6

and get a bunch of these

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41bWw8Lan5L._SL500_AA160_.gif

Amazon.com has a pack of 100 for $3

Then connect peppers to hooks and hang them along the wiring where you want to discourage cat nibbles.

Gardeners use this trick to keep cats out of their plants. Should work just as well for keeping them out of the wiring. You won't risk electrical shock and can temporarily remove them when you need to handle the wiring.

1 Reply

@Butrflynet,

I like! I like!

1 Reply

@Chumly,

I have a 4 yr old siamese who is relentless chewing every wire he can find even when I covered them with blankets or towels. Has cost me a bundle in laptop cords, ethernet cords, phone chargers, blenders, etc etc etc. I tried every commercial spray, I think he actually liked them. I tried mustard, tabasco, hot pepper sauce. All I got from that was goopy wires & sticky floors. I finally found some wire covers at the pet store. They are clear plastic tubing with a slit in one side. You cover the entire wire, from end to end. He actually leaves these alone!! So I covered every wire in the house with the stuff. Not terribly expensive and certainly cheaper than all the wire replacement. The only problem is the wires that I need to transport when I travel: laptop, phone charger etc. Now I keep the phone charger cord in an outlet in an unused room with the door closed. For the laptop, I bought one more (dang this cat... sent my kids to college cheaper) and covered one to use at home & one to leave safely in my briefcase. Hope this helps.

1 Reply

@giddie2,

one more thing, if I hung peppers on xmas decoration wires, my siamese would eat those too, wires & all. My Christmas tree was totally eaten all around the bottom. I do mean eaten, I found cat vomit with green bits & ribbon. Gee, as I type all this I think... Anyone out there want a really pretty siamese, cheap? Surprised

)

1 Reply

The price people pay for a pet!

I have a bunch of split wire loom, it is a flexible polyurethane corrugated tube with a split down the side where you enter your cable bundle. If you have to add another wire later on, you can easily slip it into the split wire loom without having to remove the whole cable or wire bundle.

http://www.cabletiesandmore.ca/blackloom.php

1 Reply

@Chumly,

I used those wire looms for awhile. They got lots of teeth marks, but the wiring survived. How old is your monster, Chumly? Mine outgrew wiring somewhere around the age of two.

0 Replies

@giddie2,

Good Luck on that one!! LOL I feel a little bit better! I thought it was my Siamese cat that was just crazy and chewing on everything. I just bought a new pair of skull candy pink earbuds for my iPod Monday and they were laying on the dining room table and up under some paper notes. I went to use my iPod yesterday as I was going out the door to catch the bus and realized that I didn't have my bus pass. When I went back to the table to get the pass I saw half of the pink earbud..... I thought I was seeing things because I had just put my iPod & buds in my purse.... Sure enough she had found them up under note paper and chewed them in half. I have done everything that was listed here and nothing seemed to work. I just thought I had a crazy cat.
sapphirebleue

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Wrap your cables in double-sided sticky tape. Cats hate sticky stuff and will usually leave them alone. They certainly won't try and chew through it.

It also helps to keep cables ran along the wall as much as possible... neatens the place up too.

Cycloptichron

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Cat Chewing Wires!

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