How to thwart cats


A question for cat owners: I just had to send my BAT VK-300x integrated amp back to BAT for what I assumed was a warranty repair after having it for 3 months--it had begun spitting out white noise and then sent sparks out the top grill. It turns out in fact that it was full of cat hair and--putting it as discreetly as possible--other cat-related material, which had caused it to short out. The cats have long used my audio gear as a sort of large, centrally heated cat bed, but those days have now ended. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep cats off your gear?

I keep the VK in a rack , with about 4" of clearance from the shelf above--it would be easy enough to add a piece of nonresonant material underneath it to reduce the clearance and thereby catproof it, but I'm wondering about the other components too.

Any thoughts? And no, throttling the cat responsible is not an option.
bradgregg

Showing 1 response by sgr

I've seen a few postings about cats that like to sleep on electronics. Here is a unique solution.

1. Obtain a piece of heavy paper about the size of your component.
2. Buy a roll of duct tape and tear off a piece about 6 inches long. You'll probably need about six pieces for each piece of electronics. Make a loop out of it sticky side out by attaching one end to the other. Place the duct tape loop on the paper. So you should have one sticky side of the loop on the paper with a sticky side up. Do this with all 4-6 tape loops (depends on size of your component.)
3. Place the paper tape side up on your component when you are not playing your system. (You don't want to overheat your amps!)
4. The kitty will unsuspectingly jump up on your amp for a nap, and find itself on the duct tape which they detest and immediately jump back off.
5. After a week or so, the cat no longer even attempts to rest on your stereo equipment with or without the duct tape paper. (If the kitty forgets, you can always do this again. I used black contruction paper and store it under my mono block ampstands for use when needed.
6. Now you've solved this problem without ever fussing with the cat. You might want to provide a small box with a towel next to your listening chair so the kitty can have a warm, comfortable place to listen.
Sgr
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