Arriving in my studio soon: Pet cat. (Your advice?)

[PaulSC]

Soon I will adopt a young adult cat from one of the animal shelters in my area. (I am very excited )

But this isn't as off-topic as it might seem for a music forum...

My computers and music equipment have a dedicated space in the apartment, but because of the layout of my place, it will be impossible to keep the cat out of this room. And probably unnecessary, too. But I don't know -- this is mostly a question for the cat owners of KVR:

Do you find it necessary to take any steps to protect your music equipment from your cat, or your cat from your music equipment? I haven't got a lot of hardware, and it sits on two large side-by-side tables: Laptop computer, Desktop computer/qwerty/display, Korg microKONTROL, monitor speakers, and the usual mess of cables.

Any advice would be appreciated!

[vurt]

my only advice/knowledge on the subject comes from my own experience as a cat owning studio user.
perhaps i dont have so many cables,they dont normally chew cables tho unless theyre bored kittens.if however it does a spray called good girl is available that apparently smells awful to cats but has no odour to humans,bunch yer cables together andd give em a quick spray
other than that be ready to share every moment at the pc with your beloved furball
everytime you type shes there nuzzlin your hands,or just sat on your mousemat,or walking across your music keyboard just as you nail that amazing hammond solo

all in all cool
i love cats in studios,over time you will use her/him as a gauge for your tracks(mine leaves the room if its really shit)

[kodama]

3 Cats in mine, no problems here

[PaulSC]

Yay! Thanks vurt, exactly the kind of advice I was hoping for!

(xpost - good to hear, Kodama)

[z15]

when i lived at my parents' place, i used to have a small home studio there (pretty expensive dynaudio speakers, a little mackie mixer, desktop + laptop computers, a few synths and other misc instruments) and there was no problem with the two cats we had. if the cat's trained reasonably well (doesn't pee or crap anywhere else but in the litterbox) there isn't anything bigger to worry about i'd say.

the only thing i might be remotely worried about is that some cats like to sharpen their nails to walls, cushions or whatever nice material they have handy - it's probably wise to buy some "board" or "tower" the cat can sink its nails into (they sell those at pet shops) and teach it not to shred anything else... our cats weren't interested in sinking their nails into my monitors and i doubt yours will either but it's always better safe than sorry, eh?

it might start playing with your cables or fall asleep on your microkontrol when it gets warm, though, but i wouldn't worry that much about that

you'll probably have to clean up a little more often because of the cat hair, of course. and scratch / pat it just when you should record a killer solo, haha.

[ew]

If you don't have metal grilles on your monitors, you may want to invest in some if your cat has claws. I've had a few speakers trashed by cats sharpening their claws on them...
ew

[maximilians1]

bundling the cables sounds like a good idea,

[PaulSC]

Hmm, I have *no grilles* on my monitors (Samson Rubicons w/exposed woofer, ribbon tweeter behind built-in baffle.) I do plan to get a couple of scratching posts and encourage the cat to use them.

i love cats in studios,over time you will use her/him as a gauge for your tracks(mine leaves the room if its really shit)

Vurt's cat obviously has a thing for cool abstract soundscapes...

[CypherOne]

get a dog.

[Meffy]

The cat I raised from a kitten (bottle-fed when her mother couldn't give milk) has chewed through more cables than I can count. Not much I can do about it except keep cables away from any place she can get at. I always cover the monitors (with the boxes they came in) when they're not in use, but she shows zero interest in them. Still and all, I'd rather be safe.

Congratulations on helping to keep a shelter cat from a tragic end. *deep bow*

[Lazarus]

It's the humans you got to watch out for. I adopted one a while back.
It wasn't spayed, dropped one pretty quick and me and my studio were
shunted up into a window-less loft where currently I am enduring
temperatures of 40 degrees centigrade plus. My Intel 3.4GHz
Prescott throttles back so much it's quicker to calculate 1's & 0's
with pen & paper.

[vurt]

I do plan to get a couple of scratching posts and encourage the cat to use them.

never spend money on things like this for the cat,it will just stare at you holding it while it uses the edge of the settee anyway,why waste the money.
also cat beds pffft they just sleep on you anyway so forget that.

if any cat owners can explain the reason behind cats pawing at a pillow before they lay down that would be cool,i mean surely it can be to make the pillow softer as ive seen her do it in the drive

[vurt]

i love cats in studios,over time you will use her/him as a gauge for your tracks(mine leaves the room if its really shit)

Vurt's cat obviously has a thing for cool abstract soundscapes...

i O'D her on catnip

[Distortion]

get a dog.

Dogs can destroy things just as quickly, if not quicker than a cat. Get a lizard instead.

[Hink]

of course this should be a rule with or without pets (it is for me)...no drinks that the cat can knockover onto gear...