Kitty Bad Habits - cord chewing

Humans have bad habits, so do pets.
Lets check out ...



First off - cord chewing can lead to electrical burns, electrocution, singed whiskers, singed fur - I may joke about the annoyance of having to replace cords but the animals safety is much more important.

My cats are very good, they do not chew on cords.
The foster cats...well, considering the amount of different felines that spend time in this house - there have been a few chewers.
Don't worry! None of them have hurt themselves. 
 We also inform the people adopting.

While they are in my care I try and help them stop - they learn to do it when I am not around.

I wonder if the phone cord and laptop cord companies are in cahoots. 
Do they lace these damn things with catnip????
Hey Apple, why not create a cord that repels felines?

Why?
Why do these furry jerks chew cords?

Good question.. yet so far I can not find an answer. Just suggestions.
Geez google... can't you read!

I found - Boredom, and Pica

I will speak in regards to the current meow causing issues - She shall remain nameless.. just kidding - It's Coda.

Boredom I can understand - except these meows are not bored.
I asked.
I have a plethora of toys, scratching posts, tunnels, wands, treats, catnip, oh and there are two 9 week old kittens in the room with them - boredom is unpossible.

Pica - that is basically eating non food things.
A dog will at times eat ...well anything. It may be hard to distinguish dog behaviour from Pica.
I think one way would be noticing if there are certain things they eat over and over...like socks.
Yes, there are dogs who feel the need to eat socks! This can be very serious because of blockage issues.

Cats generally are not random object eaters.
Yet, there are many incidences of cats with pica.
What the hell did I just say?
It would be simpler to tell if a cat has pica because they are not known for eating random things.

Except she isn't eating the cord.. she is chewing it!

I will have to go with my go to response - because cats are weird. 

Okay, so how can this be stopped? 
Or, how can we make the cords less tasty. 

There are actually many ways to deter a cat from chewing on cords.
Face it, it's your own damn fault. You could have stopped this..before having to replace your laptop cord.
Truth is, I saw her doing it.. I just never got around to doing what I was suppose to.. until my laptop cord was visually mangled.

Then I found my printer power cord... it had met the same fate.
It had to be stopped.
She was crossing over into plugged in territory.
Oddly enough... someone had unplugged the power bar which had the printer plugged in. 
Could they be that clever?
Or did they fall off the dresser and manage to pull out the plug on their way down.
I will go with the second option. 
I am glad she was not hurt.
Not so happy about my cords.

Options:

CritterCord

Basically it is a tube sliced down the side - you cover your cord with it - it is infused with a citrus scent that should help deter the cat from chewing.
They do not like citrus.
********
I found a site that may possibly have an economically sound way to cover cords.
Buy in bulk!
Find something that works.
Many different items that can be used to cover cords of any size.
Cable ties and more
If you like the braided sleeving - keep in mind that these are very similar to a cat toy.. which makes me want to buy this to make cat toys.
The stainless steel sleeve may be rather difficult to work with, and the ends would be pokey.
If you are interested in a product I suggest emailing the company and asking if these would be usable for 'baby safeing' your home office.
I think they would be more inclined to consider certain hazards that may not come to mind when thinking about a pet.

*****

AliExpress carries these cord covers.
They look like the old telephone cords.

Not old enough to remember phone cords.
WHAT? PHONES HAD CORDS?

Yes they did. 
People use to sit and talk.. or if they walked, they had a leash. 

Cats like those phone cords too.
So.... not sure if that would work.

Anyone else see the irony is covering our iphone cords with what looks like old telephone cords?

******
Today I bought Braided PVC Tubing.
I sliced it down the side myself.

So far it has been effective
I need to find a smaller size for my phone cord.

It may be available in other colours.
Look familiar?

It is basically a hose.
.49 cents a foot.
 Got it at Home Hardware.




They may attempt to chew it...but it's thick.
You will know long before kitty can work its way though.
Unless you have Cujo kitty.
********
Other methods include:
Spraying the cord with Bitter Apple - you can find these in pet food stores.
Spraying with some sort of citrus - though I am not sure what.. and I am not sure if would be safe.

You best bet is to hide the cords.
Don't trust a previous chewer to just stop cold turkey.
Sometimes they can't be trusted.

Keep your cats entertained. Play with them.
They will get in less trouble if they are sleeping.

Sebby just happened to lay down beside an extension cord... he wanted nothing to do with it... but it made for a good picture.

Next up - Kitty lid thieves.

23 Days till Christmas

Declawing a Cat is no big deal?

Big Fat Evil MYTH

DECLAWING A CAT IS MUTILATION  

You can tell your self any lie you want to but the reality is - you are declawing your cat because of your precious furniture.

Or fear your tiny humans will get hurt. 

Chances are your kid is going to get scratched. 

Hell, I have accidentally scratched a kid!

Your cat may scratch your perfect child because...

•  The kid is a jerk.
• The cat is a jerk.
• The kid scared the cat.
• The cat scared the kid which in turn scared the cat.
• The kid was holding the cat when you turned on the evil vacuum.
• The cat had one to many pulls of the tail.
• The cat is sick.
• The cat is in pain.
• Your kid smells funny.
• Your kid stuck its hand in a cage.
• Your kid stuck its hand in a cage after eating pizza.
• Your cat asked for space but the kid did not understand.
• Your cat asked for space but the parent was busy on the phone and did not tell the kid to back off.
• The cat got freaked out and the kid was in the way.
• The cat got freaked out and the kid looked like a good target.
• The cat jumped out of your kids arms.. Or into your kids arms.
• You have a kitten.( I am not listing reasons kittens scratch. They are kittens. Don't be stupid)

My point.

You all need to learn the proper behaviours. 

If your child was scratching its sibling- you would not rip out its nails.

I am not suggesting you do, are you really that dumb?

I honestly think people believe I am suggesting it's the same thing.

Seriously, I may be crazy but I'm not stupid or evil.

I am simply stating that if this were happening you would have to change the behavior.
You can't just eliminate the nails. 

When thinking about a cat that scratches furniture .. what comes to mind?
Do you think that Fluffy is just pissed off and taking it out on your couch or chair?

Nope.

Kitty uses scratching as a means to stretch, mark its territory, leave its scent, condition its claws, and as a stress reliever.

So again.. no your kitty is not scratching your furniture just to annoy you.. that may just be an added bonus.

An interesting, and sorta fun in an evil mwhahaha sort of way - Sniper Spray Bottle - The idea is to catch the cat scratching something you do not want it to, then from a distance away.. or maybe hiding behind something..you spray it with the water.

Don't be a jackass and use something that has a strong spray - use a water bottle. 
Don't be a jerk and aim for the head - aim for the back or side.
The idea is to startle them, not harm then in any way.

You do not want Fluffy to know you are the source of the evil water.
You want kitty to correlate scratching furniture with mysterious sniper water.

The most difficult part of this is trying not to laugh at your very confused kitty when it looks around the room going WTF? where did that come from????

You have to be vigilant and try to catch Fluffy when ever possible.

While doing this you may also want to provide kitty with a scratching post that is sturdy and tall enough for it to stretch up on.
Maybe buy some catnip spray...same effect, less mess.
You can allow your cat to see you do this.

Cats are not stupid, if the options are -
1. Evil Sniper Water Couch
or
2.Fabulous drug covered scratching post.

Kitty will pick the nip.

Other options

• Removable double sided sticky tape ( test furniture in small spot first to make sure you don't destroy it by trying to save it)
• Sticky Paws - you can find them at most pet food stores. 
• Tinfoil - bonus also stops alien mind control. - You only need to use this for awhile, once the cat stops you can try and remove the tinfoil. 
• Citrus scents - kitty no like. You can use actual things like lemons or orange peals, or maybe one of those car hangy things...technical term...
• Trim your cats nails! Less pointy daggers.  
• SoftPaws - available at most pet food stores. 

Check out cat sites and forums as well - there are hundreds of ideas people have found.

If you are an idiot, jackass, asshat, stupid jerkface who thinks hitting your animal will help change it's behaviour?
I hope your cat pees on your head, then someone who loves the cat removes it from you and keeps it.
HURTING AN ANIMAL TO TRY AND CHANGE A BEHAVIOUR WILL NOT WORK.
Though if you like, I can test the theory on you?

Yelling, swearing, scolding, writing mean stories, posting embarrassing pictures - none of that works either.. Though I will not try and stop you from swearing or posting pictures...
Skip the yelling  - it only scares them and probably makes them want to do the behaviour more.. just not when you are looking. 

You can not say - at all - that you are going to declaw your cat for its benefit.
You can not say that it's is no big deal.

If by chance your cats paw became infected after you had the procedure done..
If by horrible chance your cat lost a limb due to this infection..
How could you look at your cat and think.. well I had to do it?

Image from PETA website. 



In my opinion declawing should be banned. 



Still want to Declaw?
Watch this film.
You owe it to your cat to watch this.
It's not an expose style in your face movie.. It is not meant to shock and horrify you.

The Paw Project