wjr@frog.UUCP (STella Calvert) (02/07/86)
In article <345@muddcs.UUCP> uribe@muddcs.UUCP (Lydia Uribe) writes: >[....purrrr....] > Bernie, my 3-year-old domestic shorthair, has taken to chewing on >electrical cords. > > Does anybody out there have any comments, suggestions, etc. as to why >Bernie might be doing this and what I can do about it? Don't let your critters gnaw cords! First, your cat's probably making trouble because she's bored. If you could get her a kitten of her own, that would probably help. But the urgent question is how to stop her from gnawing cords before she kills herself or starts a housefire. >Indoor pet repellent sprays don't stop her for very long. Sometimes I think those things are purposely weak so we'll keep on buying more. >I'm afraid that she's going to electrocute herself (at least so far she's >limited herself to one side of the plugged-in AC cords!). Yeah, they can get through. When I was about 10 I got to give mouth-to-mouth to my dog when he got both sides at once. He was lucky to survive with minor mouth burns, and I gagged for a week -- dogbreath, feh! But I'll tell you what worked for me since as soon as his mouth was healed he started back at the cords. I'd imagine it would work on cats too, but all my cats since then have gotten early childhood terrorizing every time they even battybatted a cord. So none of them chew, and most even give me a "I'm just walking here" look if they have to brush past a cord. Take some HOT peppers. Soak them in cooking oil (or just buy chinese "red oil") till the oil tastes pretty potent. Wipe every cord in the whole house with this nasty taste experience. Renew the coating every so often, especially if you see teethprints. A cat who has just gotten a taste of hot will make delightful expressions, so if you get the chance, watch Bernie in action. Since cats don't like being laughed at, you could giggle and point at him too. If you can catch the cat munching the cord, hit her with a squirt of vinegar water from a plant sprayer. Shriek "NO!" Do whatever your cat knows means you're on the homicidal edge. And look for the _Home Pet Vet Guide_ at your bookstore or library for information on how to give artificial respiration and cardiac massage to your cat, since if she doesn't wise up, you might be lucky enough to find her before she was quite dead. If so, unplug Bernie before touching her! Good luck! And if you do get Bernie a buddy, take the time to instill a phobia about cords. I put as few restrictions on my cats as possible, but I don't ever again want to have to pushstart one of my animals. STella Calvert Every man and every woman is a star. Guest on: ...!decvax!frog!wjr Life: Baltimore!AnnArbor!Smyrna!<LotsOfHitchhikingAndShortVisits> !SantaCruz!Berkeley!AnnArbor!Taxachusetts Future: ... (!L5!TheBelt!InterstellarSpace)
manheime@nbs-amrf.UUCP (Ken Manheimer) (02/13/86)
> In article <345@muddcs.UUCP> uribe@muddcs.UUCP (Lydia Uribe) writes: > >[....purrrr....] > > Bernie, my 3-year-old domestic shorthair, has taken to chewing on > >electrical cords. > > > > Does anybody out there have any comments, suggestions, etc. as to why > >Bernie might be doing this and what I can do about it? > > Don't let your critters gnaw cords! > [...] > Take some HOT peppers. Soak them in cooking oil (or just buy chinese > "red oil") till the oil tastes pretty potent. Wipe every cord in the > whole house with this nasty taste experience. Renew the coating every > so often, especially if you see teethprints. A cat who has just > gotten a taste of hot will make delightful expressions, so if you get > the chance, watch Bernie in action. Since cats don't like being > laughed at, you could giggle and point at him too. > [...] > STella Calvert > > Every man and every woman is a star. > > Guest on: ...!decvax!frog!wjr > Life: Baltimore!AnnArbor!Smyrna!<LotsOfHitchhikingAndShortVisits> > !SantaCruz!Berkeley!AnnArbor!Taxachusetts > Future: ... (!L5!TheBelt!InterstellarSpace) Briefly, my cats seem to avoid any cords that i've swabbed with denatured alcohol. They sometimes get to ones i forget to treat (new phone cords and modem cords seem to go quickly if i neglect the treatment). I suppose the toxin they use is sufficiently noxious to the cats, and i'm certain it's not harmful since they avoid it so rigorously. If anybody else has tried this (or tries it) please let me know how it goes. (it goes...) Ken Manheimer ...!seismo!nbs-amrf!manheime or manheime@nbs-amrf.uucp (Everything leaks. Not excessively; just enough.)