Cat damage prevention

The Lounge General Discussion
#1

So … I know there is a cats thread with pics. But I have no pics yet.

I’m cat sitting for a coworker for the next two weeks, first time ever.

I just saw a post about decksavers and it prompted me to ask: how much “cat protection” for music gear do you recommend? Before the cat arrives.

I know it’ll depend on the cat. The cat is old and apparently mostly eats, sleeps, and cuddle. Which is perfect for a beginner I hear :blush:

Currently out of boxes/storage, I have an OT, a A&H mixer and ofc two monitors - plus cabling. The OT has a deck saver and is setup in an (open) flight. The rest of it has no protection at all.

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#2

My feeling is this: worry about the safety of the cat first and the gear second. Younger cats like to chew on cables, they take off running and knock things over, you don’t want them getting shocked or things falling on them. There is a lot of trouble cats can get into accidentally, without meaning harm, after all it’s an animal. Some are clever, but their understanding is not the same as ours.

For the gear: pets shed fur, they have dander, they eat food and drink water, but they don’t do it on a table with a plate, a fork and a napkin. They poop in a box (if you’re lucky). If they go outside, they bring the outside in with them. Basically, a pet brings dirt with them whether they like it or not.

The best solution for both: If you have 2 rooms, keep the gear or stuff you’re worried about in one room, keep the pets in the other room. Otherwise, it’s not as bad as people make it out to be, but I see people with their cats sitting on their gear and yes, it’s cute but if you’ve ever cleaned pet fur off black synths or looked at reverb gear photos with a bunch of cat hair it’s not as cute as you think it is.

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#3

It really depends on the cat. When I had roommates, one of their two cats would just chew absolutely every cable in sight, while the other wouldn’t. Neither was particularly young.

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#4

+1000 for cat safety first and foremost.

When I cat sit and if I bring my gear, I try to keep it covered and stored if it is not going to be in use, including cables of all kinds - probably the most important thing. My goal is to avoid a cat getting electrocuted by gnawing on cables (and for my cables to not be gnawed). Cables aside, my goal is to minimize the amount of fur, food gunk, cat litter dust, puke, etc that could get on the gear. The gear you listed does not run the chance of getting slapped off and thrown on the floor.

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#5

…decksaver are more a safe and solid travel and safe storage guaranttee…dust is also a thing to consider…while cats are way more into chewing ur cables…

have ur cables not on the floor and put a blanket to top all over ur gear should be fine…

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#6

Thanks for your replies!

While I’m a newbie with cats I had a couple of rabbits when I was a teenager… these things loved cables so much! Never the high voltage power supply ones though … maybe they were too thick.

I got pretty good at soldering cables back together though :man_shrugging:

Anyways, I’d never suspected that cats were into cables as well! That’s good to know, as safety first!

I think it’s clear what I have to do. I don’t have a spare room except … for a storage room. So I’ll box everything from my music corner. And most important check the « other corners » for exposed cables.

But first, I’ll finally record that track I was working on …

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#7

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yum yum! (not my cat or pic)

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#8

Keep the cat indoors to avoid cat damage. :stuck_out_tongue:

(sorry)

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#9

I don’t have any cat door and it’s an indoor cat so it should be fine. (Also living in Norway now so no chance of leaving a window open or opening one at all :roll_eyes:)

With my SO we also planned on cat catching strategy should the cat try to run out the door when we come and go.

#10

I remember my cat pissed on my MPC 2500, its why I had to sell it. I tried to clean it as much as possible and opened it up eventually because of the smell. But cat piss is just evil.

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#11

Mine doesn’t tend to chew things and the last one didn’t either but she does have a thing for scratching record sleeves that are in one of those Ikea cube things. When it comes to gear she’s inquisitive like they all are but from day one a stern word regarding where she can and can’t go has been enough so now she knows where she can go (everywhere else) and where she’s not allowed (mainly my work bench)

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#12

Never had problems with cats chewing cables. I guess it depends on the the cat.
For sure, they like to rest/sleep on warm surfaces, so be careful with laptops.

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#13

I have 2 cats.
One name is Virus. Yes, you are completely right, there is something related to Access Virus here.
During his first day at my home I found him sitting on the desk and chewing the resonance knob of my VirusTi.

But genrerally you don’t need much of protection for cats. I have my synths on Jaspers rack and they are pretty safe there. I used to keep them on the desk before and cats were not that interested. However, few days ago the second cat wanted to sleep on my midi keyboard. But I moved it closer to the screen so he can’t lay on it any more and it’s safe.

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#14

Did you charge extra for that “vintage vibe”?

#15

I would for sure ask your coworker about the cat’s gnawing habits. As everyone says, some cats like chewing on cables, others don’t. If your coworker has had the cat you’re taking care of for any period of time, they will know the cat’s proclivities, and you can prepare accordingly.

I have two cats who occasionally like to jump up and walk around on my gear. I don’t have decksavers (I probably should) but I just keep a clean paint brush in my desk which I use to dust off my gear, pretty much every time I sit down to play, several times a week. It seems to keep everything plenty tidy.

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#16

Don’t worry! Cats just want to spend some time with you, or inviting you for play with them. I have two cats, sometimes they walk on the gear or lie down on it, so far nothing has happened :slight_smile: Usually my cats are not interested in the gear at all, but what is behind it or above it. Sometimes they like to push themselves into tight spaces. Therefore, it is always worth making sure that the gear is properly put on something stable.

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#17

I love cat !
They like to walk on anything, specifically the knob of your synth if this allow them to climb somewhere inaccessible easily.

And they have 9 life so they don’t care if it’s dare possible or not they will do whatever to see if it’s possible :sweat_smile:

Protect your gear and unplug the power cable. Better lock the door with the gear :blush:

When you are sure of cat habits you can let it in. They are absolutely not evil

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#18

My experience with cats in a new environment is that it takes time before they accept the place as secure. It gets easier with age, but still. So expect it to hide, at first.
A small room with food+water and a place to :poop: is good to start with.
No outside of course.

Don’t try to take it in your arms if it doesn’t ask for it.

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#19

Sometime it’s attention but with mine at least it’s a battle of wills…she likes to let me know who’s in charge in terms of territory… so she’ll jump in, my seat even if it’s cold, get on my lap to keep me where she wants me…it’s hilarious :rofl:

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#20

I had a cat live with me for 6 years, when her human was renting a room in my house.

This cat never showed any interest in music gear. Never tried to jump on top of my digital piano in the living room, never had a taste for cables, left the guitar amps alone, never tried to nap in a guitar case, never tried to do any of the “cats on synthesizers” behaviors reported on synth forums.

If she felt ignored when she was hungry, she would scratch the stair balusters or one of the dining table chairs, but even when she was in those moods, she still did not go after music gear.

Thus I agree with everyone else who basically stated you won’t know if you need to protect your gear from the cat until the cat arrives.

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