SVS cylinder - scratching post issue? (1 Viewer)

[Dr. Anthony Rosalia]

Charlie:
I had begun to reply to this thread yesterday afternoon, got distracted, finished the post some hour later, left abruptly, and never noted the accumulated posts while the window remained open for over an hour. This is the second time such a thing has happened to me making it appear I was less that attentive at reading posts and responding. I blame it on my busy life, multi-tasking and constant interruptions. I was just trying to help, not advocate the cruelty of any animals. I am sorry if my post was misinterpreted out of context without my knowledge of the previous posts. Now that I re-read that post when viewed in proper sequence, it sounded quite cold and arrogant and that was not my intention or spirit of the post. It was rather only an ultimate means to an end if the person was EXTREMELY concerned about his property being destroyed as it seemed it might given the cats already clawing at some other equipment. By researching further and re-examination of the proceedure, I think even that is no longer a viable option and seems very insensitive and cruel at any age.

For the record, I have nothing against cats, just that I know usually they are routinely declawed when they are young so as to minimize the discomfort and minimize the memory effect, just like a human circumcision. In humans it’s a hygiene issue and to prevent penile cancer; with cats I would imagine it is a completely selfish human reason only for stopping damage to property. In older ages I agree it is quite cruel for either animal or human for that matter. I don't think anyone would appreciate ripping someone's fingernails out because they may scratch the paint getting into the Ferrari or hacking away at Mr. John Thomas when you are 6 years old. :frowning: I didn't know the age of your animal/s and presumed they were quite young. Sorry Seth. A child can be born with major birth defects due to cat scratch fever in a pregnant mother in the first trimester of her pregnancy. Toxoplasmosis in an aids patient could kill them with a cat scratch. I have seen both :frowning:. That could be the only medical justification if any for declawing and even that can simply be controlled by separating pregnant mothers in their first trimester and cats in general and not owning a cat when you have aids. So technically there is no "true" justification at any age, save for self-serving human selfishness.

I retract my initial statement that a cat "WILL" rip the covering of an SVS sub as I was misguided and spoke out of turn. My bad: Foot in mouth not tasty ... :frowning: but when I am wrong I have no problems admitting it. Sorry for the mis-statements and misinterpretations guys. I need to do more fact gathering before I speak, check my sources when uncertain and tone down the exuberance a tad.

Seth:
My only advice to you would be if you are concerned, make the subs off limits to the cats... close the door to that room (if at all possible) or give them something much more tempting to play with so they leave them be along with the rest of the furniture.

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It takes a wise man to know when he is wrong but a humble one to admit it to his peers in an open forum. - ARJ

 

[seth_petry_john]

Again, not an option. Its a semi long story, but the bottom line is that I won't have any way of keeping the cats out of the HT. But again, I'm not really WORRIED about damage to the sub's sock, I was just trying to gauge how likely it was that such damage would occur.

From some of the other posts, it sounds like it will be a non-issue.

Hint to SVS-Ron: you mentioned you've seen this topic come up quite a bit, so you guys might want to address it on your website. Shoppers that don't frequent a forum like this may not know anyone to ask about the potential for cat damage, and might therefore not consider a SVS sub as an option for them.

Heck, you may want to link back to these forums for supporting evidence. In addition to people stating that SVS subs are rarely damaged by cats, there are a bunch of threads that sing your praises in other areas as well

Seth

 

[William_Gravem]

Seth,

I'm in the market for a sub, and have the exact same worries. I've also started a thread about it, responded on others, and emailed SVS, HSU and Outlaw. I won't declaw my cats, and I've run into many who post "buy a dog" or "throw the cat outside." And my father's sub was destroyed by my parents cat.

Now, based on the behavior of my cats, I'm mostly concerned one will knock a toy under the sub, on top of the integrated base plate, and hack up the driver while going for the toy... so my concerns are slightly different.

After I've looked into this for the past 2-3 months, (and received a really nice email from Erik at SVS) I think the only thing you can really do is bite the bullet and get one. That's the only way you're ever going to know how your cats will react to it, and it seems like a) many cats don't go after subs and b) the alternative is that you never get to see LotR (or Star Wars coming soon) with an SVS sub.

Hope my 2 cents is worthwhile. Good luck.

---Bill

 

[Andrew B]

I had similar problems with cats and my speakers. My solution was to get a squirt gun and give the cat a squirt every time it went near the speakers. After a week or so the cat did not express any interest in my speakers. Just make sure that the cat has a place to go and scratch. Now the only critter problem I have is my girlfreind's chinchilla climbing into my port on my subwoofer..

Andrew

 

[Dr. Anthony Rosalia]

Andrew:

Make a makeshift plug out of some old clothes/rags, shape a syrafoam/foam plug or buy a port plug when not in use. It may look kinda funny but it works

 

[William_Gravem]

I don't know if this is what Erik was talking about or not, but I know there is a product called Soft Paws that you can get at most pet stores. It essentially caps the claws. Cats don't usually scratch to sharpen their nails, it has to do with marking, when a cat scratches something it's spreading pheromones that lie in their paws. With Soft Paws, (as far as I understand) the cats will still go through the motions of scratching, but will have caps on their nails so it won't damage anything.

The only problem with these, assuming this product works as well as people have raved, is that you need to re-apply every month. Anyone who's ever tried to trim cat-nails knows that some cats are feistier than others. Applying something like this may not be a trivial (if not just outright bloody) task with some cats.

 

[JamesCB]

FYI:
Declawing is amputation of the first and second bones of the fingers. Much more than just claws (or just fingernails).

On another note. All this talk about how your cat's haven't scratched the SVS's? All I have to say is "YET". They haven't found out they can scratch them, YET. They will, give them time. I have a pair of floorstanders I was worried about them scratching for a long time. It took them about a year before they started. Now they are a mess. I figure I'll replace the grill cloth soon and make covers (maybe out of black towels or something) for when I'm not around.

And once I did get "cat scratch fever" from a cat bite.

James

 

[Scott Stephens]

Good point about making covers. I've essentially done the lazy-man's version of this...whenever I'm out of town or at work, I'll generally cover my sub (not an SVS...yet) with a blanket or throw, and this seems to deter my cat.

And for what it's worth, the water gun worked for me when my cat took an interest in my front speakers.

I haven't tried blasting the cat with a sub-heavy scene from one of my DVDs, but I kinda doubt it would work. Generally my room will be shaking from the volume of the HT, and the cat will be asleep somewhere not too far away. But I'll give it a try anyway.

 

[Paul.X]

Those cat claw covers don't really work.

My girlfriend has two cats. One gnawed all of them off, the other gnawed off half of them.

 

[Brian Elwood]

Well - I at first laught at his post as it was not MY concern. Well - our old cat died saturday and we're getting a new one - WITH CLAWS - AAAAGH

I'm actually goign to get some chicken wire and put it around the SVS. Even MORe to talk about lol.

Also - concerning the declawing.

GUYS - do you remember getting your privates snipped at birth? GEE - it would hurt NOW but it goes away right?

Getting a KITTEN declawed IF it is a 100% indoor cat is fine in my book!! I had my winky wacked when I was a kittin and I do not remember the pain.

 

[seth_petry_john]

This is WAAAAAY off topic, but I just can't bite my tongue. Declawing a cat is NOT comparable to circumcision. Cats use their claws to stretch, relieve tension, defend themselves, and mark their territory. Declawing is essentially amputation, akin to having the tip of each human finger (up to the first knuckle) removed.

The problem is that some cats that can't extend their claws have a hard time stretching their muscles and relieving tension which, in some cases, can turn an otherwise mild mannered pet into a foul tempered animal.

Obviously many cats can recover from the surgery just fine, but the point is that circumsizing a "winky" and amputating a cat's claws are in no way comparable surgeries. You don't use that extra skin for self defense, and you're just as capable of using that winky to relieve tension without it.

Seth

 

[Brian Elwood]

I guess you are against the latest fad in Europe of cutting off a knuckle then? LOL

Calm down dude!

 

[seth_petry_john]

I guess some of my SO's zeal and passion for this topic has worn off on me.

Seth... off to find some sedatives

 

[JamesCB]

Close, but like I said, it is the SECOND knuckle. Both the first and second segments of the fingers are removed. If they only took off the first segment, there would be too much pressure on the joint, causing severe discomfort and possible joint problems down the road.

I agree that it is more acceptable to have it done when the cat is very young. The cat can adjust to it better.

We have to remember that cats walk on their tip-toes. When you cut them off, they have to learn how to walk again (Well, it becomes different for them.)

One of the main reasons some people are against declawing is the fact that you can never be sure the cat will always be inside and safe from danger. What if, somehow, your "indoor" cat gets out? It is very limited on how it can defend itself and can't climb to escape. I'm sure many declawed cats have been killed for this reason.

In the end, I think it's strange to modify an animal for your benefit, especially a defensive mechanism.

James

 

[Brian Elwood]

Well - if we just chopped off their entire leg they would be much easier to find (although not so playfull).

SORRY!!

I think everybody agrees that declawing is not a nice thing to do.

 

[Dan Lindley]

Hi,

I made a kiddie barrier for my SVS, but it, or a modification, should work for cats and other threats...

Here's the info: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=84203

Dan

 

[Brian Elwood]

That's good - I put some black chicken wire around mine - about 6 inchs out - cat does not even go there . . .so far.

 

[seth_petry_john]

Seth

 

[BryanZ]

Haven't had a problem with either of my cats. They tend to leave it alone. However, to be fair, my girlfriends cat was declawed very early on, even before we met, and mine was already declawed when I got her from the SPCA. I've never seen a more social cat than the Russian Blue (pure bred from what I can gather though she doesn't have the paperwork) I have now. The reason she was given up? Her owners were being transfered overseas. Amazingly enough she had been brought in on Friday and we visited the SPCA on Saturday and fell in love. Talk about getting the right cat!

Cat hair, OTOH, .... the sub is a magnet. Then again, so is everything else.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Good grief, but you make this sound like you're tossing a broken DVD player and getting a new one.

Remember: Cats are living, breathing, feeling beings who experience pain and emotion. And the previous posts noting that the mutilation known as declawing is amputation and akin to lopping off human fingers at the knucles are spot on.

Frankly, I cringe whenever a cat-related thread starts here. People who would never make cruel jokes about dogs seem to have no compunction about suggesting innovative ways to kill or mutilate cats. I get sick of this.