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Cat gnawing on wires



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 14th 09, 06:15 AM posted to alt.pets.cats,rec.pets.cats.health+behav
jamina1
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Posts: 21
Default Cat gnawing on wires

Thank you all for your recent help with my cat Sylvanas. But now my
problem lies with my current cat, Pagan. She's very spunky - and for
her health I have started feeding her holistic wet food - I've settled
on Merrick brand and she's happy with the flavors available.

My problem is that if I am not on the dot with her feedings (if I
sleep in on weekends, or if I am otherwise not awake) she will come
into my bedroom and start gnawing on things (for some reason she
prefers wires! - predominately the ones behind my computer). So far I
have lost 3 pairs of headphones to her and a charger for my Nintendo
DS, as well as the power cable for my cable modem.

Not only am I worried for her safety - what if she chews through an
actual higher voltage power cable? - I am annoyed at her behavior and
want her to stop. Luckily, I believe she only does this when I am
home!

Even if there is food in her bowl, but it is not a flavor she enjoys a
lot or if it has been sitting for a little while, she will come in and
start gnawing. I know that my behavior has only "trained" her to
continue - every time she does it I get angry, fed up, and end up
feeding her, so technically I'm rewarding her.

As I've pretty much always had her on wet food which requires smaller
portions more often, I'm wondering - should I sacrifice her ultimate
long term health with this natural food and get dry food that I can
put down in quantity? (Which then ultimately means she will overeat
and become fat and unhealthy)

I'm just kind of troubled as what to do here. I am currently
unemployed and can't afford to continuously replace these things she's
eating through - nor do I want to wake up and find her electrocuted! I
tried hot sauce, I tried Curry paste - Help!

  #2  
Old April 14th 09, 11:51 AM posted to alt.pets.cats,rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Linda Boucher
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Posts: 39
Default Cat gnawing on wires

Hi
try putting rubber tubing around the wire or wrap foil
paper around them cats don't like foil wrap.. my cat is afraid of it
Linda




  #3  
Old April 14th 09, 12:45 PM posted to alt.pets.cats,rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Spider[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default Cat gnawing on wires


"jamina1" wrote in message
...
Thank you all for your recent help with my cat Sylvanas. But now my
problem lies with my current cat, Pagan. She's very spunky - and for
her health I have started feeding her holistic wet food - I've settled
on Merrick brand and she's happy with the flavors available.

My problem is that if I am not on the dot with her feedings (if I
sleep in on weekends, or if I am otherwise not awake) she will come
into my bedroom and start gnawing on things (for some reason she
prefers wires! - predominately the ones behind my computer). So far I
have lost 3 pairs of headphones to her and a charger for my Nintendo
DS, as well as the power cable for my cable modem.

Not only am I worried for her safety - what if she chews through an
actual higher voltage power cable? - I am annoyed at her behavior and
want her to stop. Luckily, I believe she only does this when I am
home!

Even if there is food in her bowl, but it is not a flavor she enjoys a
lot or if it has been sitting for a little while, she will come in and
start gnawing. I know that my behavior has only "trained" her to
continue - every time she does it I get angry, fed up, and end up
feeding her, so technically I'm rewarding her.

As I've pretty much always had her on wet food which requires smaller
portions more often, I'm wondering - should I sacrifice her ultimate
long term health with this natural food and get dry food that I can
put down in quantity? (Which then ultimately means she will overeat
and become fat and unhealthy)

I'm just kind of troubled as what to do here. I am currently
unemployed and can't afford to continuously replace these things she's
eating through - nor do I want to wake up and find her electrocuted! I
tried hot sauce, I tried Curry paste - Help!



  #4  
Old April 14th 09, 01:27 PM posted to alt.pets.cats,rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Spider[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8
Default Cat gnawing on wires


"jamina1" wrote in message
...
Thank you all for your recent help with my cat Sylvanas. But now my
problem lies with my current cat, Pagan. She's very spunky - and for
her health I have started feeding her holistic wet food - I've settled
on Merrick brand and she's happy with the flavors available.

My problem is that if I am not on the dot with her feedings (if I
sleep in on weekends, or if I am otherwise not awake) she will come
into my bedroom and start gnawing on things (for some reason she
prefers wires! - predominately the ones behind my computer). So far I
have lost 3 pairs of headphones to her and a charger for my Nintendo
DS, as well as the power cable for my cable modem.

Not only am I worried for her safety - what if she chews through an
actual higher voltage power cable? - I am annoyed at her behavior and
want her to stop. Luckily, I believe she only does this when I am
home!

Even if there is food in her bowl, but it is not a flavor she enjoys a
lot or if it has been sitting for a little while, she will come in and
start gnawing. I know that my behavior has only "trained" her to
continue - every time she does it I get angry, fed up, and end up
feeding her, so technically I'm rewarding her.

As I've pretty much always had her on wet food which requires smaller
portions more often, I'm wondering - should I sacrifice her ultimate
long term health with this natural food and get dry food that I can
put down in quantity? (Which then ultimately means she will overeat
and become fat and unhealthy)

I'm just kind of troubled as what to do here. I am currently
unemployed and can't afford to continuously replace these things she's
eating through - nor do I want to wake up and find her electrocuted! I
tried hot sauce, I tried Curry paste - Help!

Sorry about that .. finger trouble!

Hi Jamina,

I think we all have this trouble, especially with younger and 'spunky' cats.
My Panther was a (loveable) menace as a kitten and she's still full of spunk
... attitude, mischief, however you want to name it!

I put all my kittens through cable, chemical and car training, in the hope
that they'll live longer. With cables, I simply start by having cute,
bouncy kitten in the room while I'm ironing. At first, I don't get much
ironing done :~). After a while, if repeated "no's" and "leave it - it will
hurt you's" don't work, and a *light* slap doesn't help, then I teach kitty
about what is on the other end of the cable. I would never, NEVER hurt my
cats so you must believe this is done with extreme ca I pick kitty up,
make sure no lashing paw can escape, then I carefully bring the hot iron
closer to kitty's nose - this being the most sensitive part, so you really
don't have to get too close. Most kittens learn almost instantly; Panther
took a while longer :~), but both my cats leave cables alone. If my husband
is handling cables so that they 'dance' or 'wriggle' (which is very tempting
to a cat), then I only have to say firmly "leave it - it will hurt you", and
kitty gets the message. If I feel there's still some danger, both cats are
shut out of the room until the work is done. This is not always possible
with open plan homes, so cats need to learn that cables aren't toys very
early on.

I feel sure you will think the above is rather extreme, but it is done with
great kindness (my cats love and trust me) and for the best reasons, and it
*works*.

Don't let her fool you - her cable biting is not about hunger: it's about
getting your attention. As you perceive, it seems to work :~).
I'm sure there is nothing wrong with the wet diet you already give her. If
she eats it, she's happy with it so if it ain't broke, don't mend it.
However, you could supplement it. Cats are natural 'browsers'; that is,
they like to snack lightly, little and often. Continue with the wet food,
but make sure she always has a bowl of (yummy flavour) biscuits which she
can chomp on at will. There are plenty of 'light' (low fat) biscuit recipes
out there which are also good for urinary health and even teeth.

It would help, of course, if you could close the bedroom door and exclude
her, but that may not be possible. Make the most of your unemployment and
use this time to train her. Good luck.

Spider


  #5  
Old April 14th 09, 03:21 PM posted to alt.pets.cats,rec.pets.cats.health+behav
AZ Nomad[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 280
Default Cat gnawing on wires

On Mon, 13 Apr 2009 22:15:49 -0700 (PDT), jamina1 wrote:
....
My problem is that if I am not on the dot with her feedings (if I
sleep in on weekends, or if I am otherwise not awake) she will come
into my bedroom and start gnawing on things (for some reason she
prefers wires! - predominately the ones behind my computer). So far I
have lost 3 pairs of headphones to her and a charger for my Nintendo
DS, as well as the power cable for my cable modem.


Not only am I worried for her safety - what if she chews through an
actual higher voltage power cable? - I am annoyed at her behavior and
want her to stop. Luckily, I believe she only does this when I am
home!

....

Get some super-hot hotsauce and coat the wires with it.
Stuff like "dave's insanity sauce" will break kitty of the habbit before
she discovers what high voltage is like.

If you coat the wires using your hands, wash them at least four times in a row
to remove all traces. You don't want traces getting in your eyes or worse.
  #6  
Old April 14th 09, 04:53 PM posted to alt.pets.cats,rec.pets.cats.health+behav
James
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 263
Default Cat gnawing on wires

On Apr 14, 8:27*am, "Spider" wrote:


I put all my kittens through cable, chemical and car training, in the hope
that they'll live longer. *


Please describe car training. My cat is but I don't know how I did it
other than being out there with her and watching out for cars. There
are few cars except during rush hours. When she was young she would
leisurely cross the street even when a car was coming down the road.
I would of course call her and made sure the driver saw her. When she
was young she would try to follow me into my car. I had to make sure
I can see her far away before starting the car.
  #7  
Old April 14th 09, 05:41 PM posted to alt.pets.cats,rec.pets.cats.health+behav
[email protected]
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Posts: 22
Default Cat gnawing on wires

First, one question--how often are you feeding her the wet? It's best
to serve twice per day, approximately 12 hours apart. Cats don't need
more frequent feedings than that. IMO I would stick to the wet food.

Second, is it possible to shut her out of the room where the computer
wires are? If this is not possible, you can buy clear plastic tubing,
cut a hole in it lengthwise, then stuff all of the wires insides that.
The wires are safely encased and kitty is much safer. You can use hot
sauce but IMO it's more mess than it's worth.

If she starts going for the wires, do NOT get up and feed her. Yes,
you are rewarding this (or any bad) behavior. Shut her out of the room
if you have to, but do not feed her if she does this. Since she's
already in the habit of bothering you for food, it will take some time
to break the habit, but it can be done. I suggest that, when you get
up, to NOT feed her right away. Read the paper, have some coffee, etc.
then feed her. She will learn that just because you get up, doesn't
mean that she gets fed.

I did this a number of years ago for our cats and it's nice not to be
bothered in the mornings. Even our kitten, now 7.5 months old, has
already learned this rule, since that's all she's known in her life so
far.
  #8  
Old April 14th 09, 07:40 PM posted to alt.pets.cats,rec.pets.cats.health+behav
jamina1
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 21
Default Cat gnawing on wires

On Apr 14, 8:27*am, "Spider" wrote:

It would help, of course, if you could close the bedroom door and exclude
her, but that may not be possible. *Make the most of your unemployment and
use this time to train her. *Good luck.

Spider


Thanks for the helpful tips.

I have done this before (my computer is in my bedroom) and I did it
the other day, but only afterward did I realize that she had already
gnawed through the headphone cables. Thankfully I managed to fix both
pairs, but still it is very annoying to deal with.

I'll try what you suggest, and I think I may have to break down and
try the bitter apple stuff or some seriously hot hot sauce.

  #9  
Old April 14th 09, 07:42 PM posted to alt.pets.cats,rec.pets.cats.health+behav
jamina1
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 21
Default Cat gnawing on wires

On Apr 14, 12:41*pm, wrote:
First, one question--how often are you feeding her the wet? *It's best
to serve twice per day, approximately 12 hours apart. Cats don't need
more frequent feedings than that. *IMO I would stick to the wet food.

Second, is it possible to shut her out of the room where the computer
wires are? If this is not possible, you can buy clear plastic tubing,
cut a hole in it lengthwise, then stuff all of the wires insides that.
The wires are safely encased and kitty is much safer. You can use hot
sauce but IMO it's more mess than it's worth.

If she starts going for the wires, do NOT get up and feed her. Yes,
you are rewarding this (or any bad) behavior. Shut her out of the room
if you have to, but do not feed her if she does this. Since she's
already in the habit of bothering you for food, it will take some time
to break the habit, but it can be done. I suggest that, when you get
up, to NOT feed her right away. Read the paper, have some coffee, etc.
then feed her. She will learn that just because you get up, doesn't
mean that she gets fed.

I did this a number of years ago for our cats and it's nice not to be
bothered in the mornings. Even our kitten, now 7.5 months old, has
already learned this rule, since that's all she's known in her life so
far.


Well, when I had a regular job routine, I would feed her when I got up
in the morning (7:30) and when I got home from work (6-6:30) so about
12 hours apart.
I know she is only doing it because she feels like the food is "done"
or she wants fresh, not because she is actually starving or needing
food (there's a supplemental bowl of dry food she can eat but she
rarely does).
She's just doing it because she figured out that it gets me moving,
which is what she wants - attention.
 




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