Any tricks to keep cats away from speaker grills?

A small, low-amp electrified grid made from chicken wire (recycled from an old psychology experiment with rats), extending about 9 inches around the base of the speaker, worked very well with our cat. One good zap is usually all it takes (grin).....

Now, before the SPCA or some irate cat lover contacts me, I'll share what I really did. During the day, when away at work, I put long cloth socks over the speakers. Then, in the evening when I was home, I kept a small, hand-held vacuum nearby, rigged to blow rather than suck. When the cat started to investigate the speaker, I'd turn the vacuum on and give the cat a good air blast. Definitely did the trick -- the cat has never scratched the speakers, and she's now too old to bother (kinda like me, actually...) Of course, the cat has a phobia even today about vacuum cleaners -- heads for the hills when anyone vacuums the living room carpets -- but I consider that a small price to pay (heh, heh, heh). All in all, this thread may offer some of the best arguments I've heard for owning a dog...

my 100lb. sheepdog keeps cats away from anything.

We couldn't bring ourselves to having our cat declawed either, but after she climbed my Vandersteen 3Asigs (cloth on all four sides) 2-3 times, I kept chicken wire around them for over a year. It looked like hell but was very effective. BTW, when I up-graded to V5s (wood on lower 1/2 of all 4 sides), the cat now no longer bothers them. Kenscollick (above post) ended up with my 3Asigs, so it worked out well for both of us.

BTW, we tried the water spraying for quite awhile with only limited success, ie we couldn't guard the speakers 24 hours a day. Our Vand. 2Ces also ended up getting replaced with stand mounted PSB Stratus Minis to eliminate cat problems. Hey, we like the cat.

Cats don't like tinfoil, and it worked for 2-3 weeks on the floor around the speakers. Good Luck Craig.

Sound from the bishop's HT room:

GRITCH... GRITCH... GRITCH... (longer pause)... K'CHIC... K'CHIC... KCHIC... WHUMP!!... RANNHHHHHHH... &(*&(#$&%

Translation:
GRITCH = kitty claws being sharpened on full-length grill cloth of Paradigm Studio 100s.
K'CHIC = kitty claws detaching from grill cloth as kitty ascends grill.
WHUMP = grill detaching from speaker and falling on top of kitty.
RANNHHHHHH = kitty expressing outrage.
&(*&(#$&% = bishop employing colorful metaphor.

Kitty does not enter bishop's music listening room, ever, ever, ever. Six mousetraps concealed under several sheets of newspaper for a week assured this. Only minimal surveillance is now required. Kitty thinks that an evil god lives in the music room. Kitty is right.

Note: If you use the spray designed to repel cats, be sure to remove the grills and let them dry thoroughly after you spray them. Repellant and/or propellant could be bad for cones/surrounds.

Sincerely yours,
Alice
(Bishop's kitty, whose full name is "Chinese Food You Haven't Eaten Yet")

i like the idea of the shock method, but i was thinking more along the lines of disconecting the dryer outlet ever so carefully, and by all means DO NOT FORGET, what you did. watch the cat approach with a video camera. i think it will be simalar to what happened in the movie christmas vacation. send me a video as well, i will show it to the neighborhood cat owners so the next time one crawls on my car the will see what can happen.if you do decide to take ezmeraldalls idea please let me know so i do not bid on your speakers.