Wire eating critters
The new kittens, Barney and Boo, are excellent in so many ways. But they do have a down side. Obviously there are the normal things like smelly cat litter, scratched furniture, "accidents" and them trying to wake you up in the middle of the night. However, these problems have been reasonably easy to get round. You can get cat litter that is very effective in masking the smell and using litter liners (like bin bags) makes it easy to change the litter. We have given them a number of scratching posts and what not so, touch wood, they haven't destroyed any furniture. Only once have they had an "accident" (not sure which the culprit was) but that ain't bad in two months and we stopped them waking us up in the night by closing the bedroom door.
However, there is one dastardly crime that has remained unsolved! Because Boo is much smaller than Barney and is all black like a witches cat, we have always characterised him as being the criminal master mind and Barney being his hulking henchcat. So when it became clear that there was a wire chewer in our midst, Boo was immediately in the frame. The first time Ali came down to find that one of the headphones from her Walkman had been chewed off we were quite amused. Ali is certainly not amused any more since she is now on her 3rd set since the boys arrived! I still found it quite funny until I today spotted Barney tucking into my Sennheiser HD 447's (very nice headphones). He had chewed through the left hand wire and was half way through the other one. Our criminal is revealed and Boo's in the clear (unless Boo convinced Barney to do it).
It is one thing knowing who the guilty party is but quite another thing preventing him doing it any more. My mate Marcus suggested putting chilli oil on the cables but that seems a bit harsh. Aside from covering the wiring, which is totally impractical, or sending Barney down to the Glue Factory, which Ali has ruled out, how can we stop the little fella chewing? If he starts chewing a power cable it could be very dangerous for him not to mention being a fire risk. Any suggestions welcome.
However, there is one dastardly crime that has remained unsolved! Because Boo is much smaller than Barney and is all black like a witches cat, we have always characterised him as being the criminal master mind and Barney being his hulking henchcat. So when it became clear that there was a wire chewer in our midst, Boo was immediately in the frame. The first time Ali came down to find that one of the headphones from her Walkman had been chewed off we were quite amused. Ali is certainly not amused any more since she is now on her 3rd set since the boys arrived! I still found it quite funny until I today spotted Barney tucking into my Sennheiser HD 447's (very nice headphones). He had chewed through the left hand wire and was half way through the other one. Our criminal is revealed and Boo's in the clear (unless Boo convinced Barney to do it).
It is one thing knowing who the guilty party is but quite another thing preventing him doing it any more. My mate Marcus suggested putting chilli oil on the cables but that seems a bit harsh. Aside from covering the wiring, which is totally impractical, or sending Barney down to the Glue Factory, which Ali has ruled out, how can we stop the little fella chewing? If he starts chewing a power cable it could be very dangerous for him not to mention being a fire risk. Any suggestions welcome.
Comments
http://www.petplanet.co.uk/shop_store/P_and_G_Bitter_Bite_p0957.html
What works even better is a nail biting treatement, something like Sally Hansen nail biter, but this is more expensive than the bitter bite.
Hmm, could have found a niche market.
Pink
The best advice regarding stopping this (probably nocturnal) activity is to provide plenty of other toys, usually coated with an unhealthy dose of catnip. That way, there is something more atractive to chew on.
The good news is that he/they will usually grow out of the bad habit, and instead take to sleeping 80-90% of the day and night, coming out of whatever dark corner they prefer to sequester simply to 'forage for food'.
Hopefully, (and this is the best thing about having cat brothers) is that they will likely play with each other most of the time, and this is something they won't tire of.
[The 'word' is "ozhni". It's definition might be 'name of a famous animation-based theme park, located outside Sydney, Australia.']
As an aside, some of the messages were talking about dogs. Dogs and cats are two different animals. One would expect a dog to chew on everything, but a cat is a different story. I don't see how trying to divert a cat's attention is ever going to work.
As an aside, some of the messages were talking about dogs. Dogs and cats are two different animals. One would expect a dog to chew on everything, but a cat is a different story. I don't see how trying to divert a cat's attention is ever going to work.