Advice on kitty proofing house.. (1 Viewer)

[Jay H]

My Sharp LCD is mounted on it's base but because my media center (bought from IKEA) is just below eye level, I had to prop it up using an ad hoc piece of the old media center that the seller left when I bought my house, it's basically a black piece of particle board in a shape of an H that I am using to prop up my LCD. What I did was drill very small pilot holes and use zip ties to lash the base to the stand, making the TV a lot less tippy. I have it already ziptied to the stand but with my kitties, I wanted to make it even more sturdy so I added two more. I'm just worried that somebody will knock it over... I will be very careful when I introduce my kitties to the living room... My speaker grills are metal but my subwoofer is on the floor with a mesh grill on it. My components are behind a glass door and I already blocked off to the best I can the area behind it...

Jay

 

[Johnny Angell]

Excellent, I would have not thought of that. Kudos to you for changing things in your home to make life more simpatico for you and the cats.

 

[Malcolm R]

I'm so jealous! I wish I could adopt a cat, but my allergies are wicked.

 

[Jay H]

You know Malcolm, I grew up being fairly allergic to cats, my eyes would itch and out of my family, I'm not bad, my father and my sister just older than I are worse, they would have shortness of breath symptons. However, as I got older I've noticed I can co-exist with them, so long as I'm not like petting them and rubbing my eyes so before I agreed to adopt them, I was somewhat antsy as to what would happen 24/7 with cats... By thursday, it will be 7 days and I have to say it isn't bad. Yes, I've noticed my eyes a little bit on the itchy side but certainly liveable and I think hopefully, after more time, perhaps even better but I'm careful enough to wash my hands often, open the windows when possible...

I should finish my bifold door installation today, need to chop like 1/2 inch off the top/bottom to get it to fit the height....

Jay

 

[Jay H]

Took two shots of my little guys tonight, underneath my platform bed and with some cat toys:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cycleslug/Meow

Turns out it seems Greylock likes wet cat food and Marcy doesn't cause I opened a can of Fancy Feast that a friend of mine gave to me as a gift and Greylock took to it like moths to light whereas Marcy didn't seem too interested although he ate some... Makes me wonder if they are really from the same liter, they are soo different... Marcy is all black, Greylock is grey with black stripes, Marcy is very playful, Greylock is more reserved... Marcy likes dry food, Greylock likes wet... Both are cute!

Jay

 

[Malcolm R]

I actually seem to be the opposite. We had at least one cat the whole time I was growing up and it didn't bother me too much. But once I went away to college, away from the cats for a few months, the symptoms hit me hard whenever I would return home. :frowning:

I have the asthmatic symptoms with prolonged exposure. I just spent a few days at my grandmother's house and she has several cats, but they're mostly outdoor cats, and I was still sneezing up a storm. My friend has 4 indoor cats in her apartment. I can only stay in there a few minutes before my chest begins to tighten and I can't breathe.

 

[Seth Paxton]

This is a massive oversimplification. Cats urinate for plenty of other reasons and it's not uncommon. We have 3 cats and have for years. They have all gone in and out of urine issues over that time. Despite our efforts to add even more litter boxes and place them all over the house to give them options, ramping up the cleaning on these multi-boxes to more than once a day, water bottles, vet check-ups, chemicals to trick them, and so on we've still ended up with urine issues that were more likely to be solved by them just quitting than anything else.

And then out of nowhere it will pop up again. It's personality issues and moods and physical discomfort for whatever reason. It's not just lazy owners who don't keep boxes clean.

Most recently our best behaved cat started peeing all over the place. One of the other cats had jumped at him in confusion/play and scared him. It took about 3 weeks before they could be around each other (apparently this is common), and of course lots of urine to remind us how unhappy they both were about that. This from 2 cats that have been together for years and often sleep together, as well as the older one "mothering" the one that ended up scaring him.


Cats are like babies, they make them super-cute as a defense to keep you from killing them.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Is the top of your lcd exposed? By that I mean could a cat jump on top of it, as they like to do? Has it happened yet?

I'm asking because me soon-to-be-installed Samsung HD lcd will have the top exposed, as least for a while. I'm concerned about my cats wanting to jump on top of it, at least once, thereby knocking it down or scratching the screen.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I've had a suggestions from elsewhere to get some plumber's putty and role it into a rope and use it to stick the tv base to the surface. It sounds good, but I'm wondering if the putty might damage the plastic base?

It was also suggested to put double stick tape on the top of the tv to discourage the cats from leaping up there.

 

[BrianW]

Plumber's putty won't damage the plastic, but it won't stick it down, either. It's very UN-sticky stuff.

The double-sticky tape is a good idea, and you can apply it to a peice of cardboard cut to fit on top of your set so you won't need to stick it directly to the set. It doesn't matter if the cardboard falls off if they get up there. It will still be a deterrent, and the disturbed cardboard will give you a clue of how adventurous your kitties are.

 

[Jay H]

Right now, I think my LCD is safe from kitty hopping, it is on a 10inch stand, then the base, then the LCD.... but when the kitties get bigger..... the cardboard idea sounds like a good idea...

Right now, the kitties like to hang out by the baywindow and hasn't shown any interest in the TV right now...

Jay

 

[Jay H]

Update: I just got an email from the kittie's mom's Mom that the mom tested negative for feline leukemia... Does that mean that I can skip it on my kitties? One less test to run.. I will mention that to the vet when I call.

Jay

 

[Johnny Angell]

Was mom and indoor only cat and were the kittens also? If yes, that increases your chances they have not been exposed. However, I still recommend getting the tests, it's the best way to really know. Remember, if you do end up with an HIV positive cat, that cat will most likely have a long and healthy life.

 

[Marty M]

When our two identical brother kittens were about six months old we got a 55" HDTV. (The two kittens in my avatar, as a matter of fact.) It's a rear projection that is on a solid base. They climb all over the top without any damages.

One funny thing happened about a month after we got the TV. We were watching a nature show on PBS about wild animals in a forest during the winter. There was a wolf on screen that one of the kittens was watching. When the wolf walked offscreen, the kitten went and looked behind the TV to see where he had gone. That has never happened since then, though.

 

[Jay H]

On a real tangent, my sister used to always think real bands were playing when you listened to the radio.

My kitties have always been inside kitties but my kittie's mom's Mom has a menagerie of cats/kittens so I can't be sure they were completely indoor cats.

I tried to call the vet near me but for some reason, when I can, I get the standard "Your call cannot be connected, check the number and try again" and all my google searchs come up with the same number so they must have just changed their number or perhaps they are no more (but I doubt that)... I'll check an actual phone book when I get home.

Speaking of Cat food:

http://www.elegantmedleys.com/

That food looks good enough for me to buy and feed myself... sheesh.

My kitties had free range in the living room yesterday while I was at work, they managed only to knock a bunch of seashells off a pedestal on my stairs to my second floor but no damage! Whew! I left the hallway door open last night too.

Added two more photos to my photo album above, both of Marcy
(http://picasaweb.google.com/cycleslug/Meow)


Jay

 

[Jay H]

Marcy got his shots yesterday, he is about 5.03lbs at about 15 weeks but still a very active kitten and is certainly the more aggressive and more active eater of the two... It is confirmed male and he got his vaccine for distemper and other things (the FVRCP shot) and the 1st Combo for FeLV since although my kittens aren't going to be outdoor kittens, at least not unsupervised and on a leash, I do leave the windows open sometimes to the mesh screen and I know I have stray cats running around. My vet also told me the lakes where I live has a well known stray cat population w/ FeLV so to be safe, I had the FeLV vaccine given as well. Marcy goes back in 3 weeks to get the second vaccine...

Greylock has an appt tomorrow since I couldn't get both cats in the same cat bag and my friend forgot to bring in the other one... cat#1 goes in, cat#2 jumps out... cat#2 goes in, cat#1 jumps out!!!!!!! D'oh!! I wish I had it on video. Anyway, so Greylock goes in... tomorrow.

Also, my vet is one of the vets who will neuter a male at 6mos so the day has not arrived and I'm not going to tell him!

Jay

 

[Thomas Newton]

Even though my current cat ignores about four or five scratching posts, in favor of violent clawing of my sofa, I can't recommend this "idea".

Declawing a cat isn't like cutting your fingernails.

Declawing a cat is more like cutting the front segment of each of a person's fingers off. Would you want your fingers mutilated like that? And afterwards, the cat is defenseless against other predators should it ever find itself outdoors.

The shelter where I got my cat had one butcher who adopted a cat, then declawed it (in explicit violation of the adoption agreement -- if I remember correctly, the no-declawing clause is highlighted more heavily than anything else in it), then brought it back because it didn't use the litterbox correctly. He hadn't even given the cat long enough for the wounds to heal ...

 

[Jay H]

New kitten pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cycleslug/Meow

The last one is of a brand new scratching post I made for the price of about 5 1 7/8" nails... scrap 3/4" plywood, a spare 2ft 4"x4" deck beam and carpet scraps my friend gave me (you can see the leftovers next to the post). My my, the kittens are going crazy over the post. I sprinkled catnip behind the carpet pad and the kittens are tearing it up!! They are jumping all over it (and of course, themselves) and playing king of the post... oh, so fun to watch. It's a good thing they don't seem to use their claws when they are playfighting...ouch...

Anyway, makes me want to make some more, I have plans to make a pedestal thing and then carpet that.... if you've ever seen the price of them, they're like $150+ at the store for what one can make pretty easily with wood, spare carpet, and a staple gun.

Jay

 

[Johnny Angell]

That's a good looking cat tree and starting them off early will form good habits. I've noticed they've come a long way from hiding under the bed. They look like little lovers.

 

[Jay H]

Thanks Johnny, Greylock, the one that was the most shy is now actually quite the friendly kitty, he will now jump on the sofa and lounge right next to me when I'm watching tv! A most amazing reversal, if I say so myself. Marcy has gotten pretty big and is still the more active, playful one that is a bit more aloof. I think I should have no problem getting greylock into the carrier now and will schedule his shots too.

Jay