r/blackcats • u/pobels • Oct 23 '23

Mourning Maybe reddit can help, my void wont stop chewing on my electronics. He's caused thousands of dollars in damages. What do I do?

His name is Gibbous btw and he is why I can't have nice things.

How do I stop this behavior :(

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227

u/SweetieLoveBug Oct 23 '23

A friend of mine buys really heavy duty unscented hair spray and sprays his unplugged cords down, lets them dry completely and then reintroduces his cats to the rooms. He says they only try to chew them once after that and then they are done done done.

🙀🙀🙀

130

u/pobels Oct 23 '23

Unfortunately the problem here is less with cables and more delicate screens

73

u/immersemeinnature Oct 23 '23

Crazy man! I've never heard of this. Is he trying to get your attention?

115

u/pobels Oct 23 '23

He destroyed my laptop during the middle of the night

And my TV right in front of me when I was playing Mario.

42

u/purplepluppy Oct 23 '23

How much playtime is he getting during the day?

52

u/pobels Oct 23 '23

Never enough it seems, it feels impossible to tire him out.

66

u/Rothuith Oct 23 '23

Get cat #2.

50

u/leiaflatt Oct 23 '23

Was going to say this. Get the cat a cat and either: 1) all your problems will be solved or 2) the first one will teach the new one all his tricks and then you’ll have two cats chewing on things. But either way you have two cats to love! (In my personal, completely anecdotal experience, cats do SO much better when they have friends)

35

u/paps2977 Oct 24 '23

This sounds counter intuitive but works. Had a really bad cat that I rescued. Got a second even worse cat and now they are both almost angels.

2

u/Swimming-Welcome-271 Oct 24 '23

1

u/paps2977 Oct 25 '23

Just remember… when people call you crazy for having too many cats, toxoplasmosis makes your brain what to care for more. So you are not crazy cat lady/man, it’s the parasites in your brain (and they are right). Cats are awesome.

1

u/FutureDiscoPop Oct 24 '23

Highly recommend this.

15

u/purplepluppy Oct 23 '23

Haha some of them are like that!

I second the dedicated chew toys, and try a bittering agent on the edges of at least some of your screens. Not ones that you regularly touch, because that stuff does NOT get off your hands! But it works well for my chewer. Just had to be reapplied every so often if they don't get the hint.

Another suggestion: if it mostly happens at night, can you keep him in an area without screens to chew on? That coupled with providing chew alternatives may help satiate him during the night.

3

u/Ok_Philosopher_5262 Oct 24 '23

Does he like lasers? They make automated laser toys that can be set on a timer and will restart randomly at the times you set. I would explore other enrichment type things, to tire out his brain. Typically this behavior is due to boredom. Cat trees with varying types of materials, so there’s different textures. Saving cardboard boxes and make a “maze” out of them. Putting a window hammock up for bird watching.

2

u/pobels Oct 24 '23

He gets bored of lasers real quick (and most teaser toys)

Can only fit so many cat trees (~2).

The Gibby is not amused by birds, only humans.

1

u/ledameduchat Oct 23 '23

I had a cat that thankfully only bit my hair all night to keep me up when he was bored. I got a battery powered toy that I put in another room for him to play with while I was asleep. It was like a stick that rotated around a base with a blanket on top for mystery!

1

u/BeautifulEvil77 Oct 24 '23

ik they may be pricey and I'm not sure if your budget, but a friend of mine got her cat one of those exercise wheels, the big ones.. Her babies LOVE that damn thing! it might take some coaxing but once they get it they will wear that thing out🤣. And themselves lol.

16

u/rabbimindtrick Oct 23 '23

I have a cat who would chew cables constantly (I know that’s not your problem) but I would coat the cables in anti-nail biting stuff. You can get it at a drug store - it’s bitter and cats don’t like it. Perhaps you can put a thin layer on the edge of your screens that may dissuade him from chewing further.

8

u/immersemeinnature Oct 23 '23

So bizarre

5

u/Consistently_Carpet Oct 24 '23

Mine don't chew screens for which I am now eternally grateful, but I know the behavior you mean. One of mine has an absolute obsession with any kind of thick plastic or metallic bag.

No snack or candy is safe; he'll systematically chew the bag till it's riddled with tiny holes. If I leave any kind of bag out it gets chewed. If I get a boba tea he'll sink his teeth into the plastic covering on the top of it repeatedly because he likes the feeling of puncturing the taut plastic. It looks like how they milk venom out of a snake.

I have no guidance as I haven't been able to stop him myself (I hide the bags, but you can't do that easily with a TV), just sympathy. But they are lovable little bastards.

1

u/BerlyH208 Oct 23 '23

Do you close your laptop when you’re not using it?

Try different bitter sprays. Our cat didn’t mind the taste of the bitter apple spray, but he doesn’t like being sprayed with it!

Also try putting aluminum foil wherever he’s been jumping/climbing to try to keep him down or get your tv mounted so he can’t get to it.

1

u/eva_thorne Oct 24 '23

That’s so interesting! I never heard of cats doing that.

16

u/A_Gent_4Tseven Oct 23 '23

My cat Binx starts to chew on my Xbox controller and my Laptop… bought her toys and stuff but she only stops this stuff once I played with her more. As for the standing TV’s I’m sorry… idk what could help stop that. I think it’s an anxiety thing, cause she does it when she feels she needs to “protect” her food from her sister as well, she’ll cover her food and then chew something of mine to be like “Yoo, get your other child under control.”

I used to try rubbing chille powder on stuff, supposedly stops them from chewing, but now Binx just likes hot shit… can’t do that to like your Switch or TV screen..

The person that said Hair Spray though.. if you cover and wrap around the front and back, with some kind of Reynolds wrap and packing tape, you can section off the sides around the TV(spray while it’s off obviously and be mindful of over spray) and maybe that will be deterrent enough? Never tried it myself, but I may have to on my laptop.

5

u/[deleted] Oct 23 '23

A pet feeder that you can programme to open for one cat could be helpful for your cat with food insecurity. It helped ours. Surefeed sell them.

1

u/A_Gent_4Tseven Oct 23 '23

Thank you!!! Definitely going to try this.

Yeah. The other cat doesn’t even touch her food, but they do have a shared hard food bowl she’s constantly either covering with plastic bags/clothes or she tossed her toys in them.

4

u/OliviaGood23 Oct 24 '23

Silly question is Binx from Hocus Pocus 😅

3

u/A_Gent_4Tseven Oct 24 '23

Yes lol

3

u/OliviaGood23 Oct 24 '23

One mine is Thackery, another Binx and my last one Seymour 😅 its rare for people to use

5

u/Cyan_UwU Oct 23 '23

Perhaps you can rub citrus essential oil on your screens? Cats hate the smell if it.

2

u/dancingpianofairy Oct 23 '23

Screen protectors, then?

2

u/GlGABITE Oct 23 '23

I also have a screen biter. Worst offense was my then-boyfriend’s fancy folding touchscreen phone… he gets lots and lots of attention, he just compulsively wants to bite phone screens whenever he sees them! For phones I just made sure he didn’t have access to them, for screens that stay in place I’d maybe do something bitter or otherwise nasty to cats on the edges

I have four cats, so the comments suggesting another cat are definitely a bit of a crapshoot

1

u/SmaII_Cow__________ Oct 23 '23

Maybe put masking take on the screen and then spray the plastic with hairspray, let dry, reintroduce cats...?

1

u/ApprehensiveLeg6017 Oct 23 '23

Double-sided sticky tape around all your screens (on the black plastic part), or use a cotton ball and wipe those parts with white vinegar and let it dry. Cats hate both those things, and since it’s the screens, the plastic edges are going to be the best place to put anything without damaging the screen yourself.

2

u/astropelagic Oct 23 '23

That is incredible! I’ve covered all my cables with the cable protector thingies but this is brilliant.

1

u/Edaryl Oct 24 '23

Can you find out the brand for us?

1

u/Far-Play6944 Oct 24 '23

There’s a motion detected sprayer called ssscat. It might help

Mourning Maybe reddit can help, my void wont stop chewing on my electronics. He's caused thousands of dollars in damages. What do I do?

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