Content
Cats love all those hanging elements like rope, rubber bands, ribbons and especially cables. For your cat, it's the best distraction to play and play with them. I'm sure your cat is an expert at chewing cables. You must have already damaged computer cables, headphone cables and connectors of all kinds. And you no longer know what to do to stop this behavior, which in addition to being uncomfortable can hurt and even be fatal to your pet, or even cause a fire at home.
Therefore, in this PeritoAnimal article we will give you some tips to prevent your cat from biting the cables, to get rid of this habit of your pet.
Why do cats bite cables?
Although it seems that your cat has an obsession with house cables, the taste is not just for this element. What happens? When cats start teething they chew on anything that comes their way and even more so if it hangs and swings from somewhere, because it also becomes a game for them.
Most cats outgrow this problematic behavior from their second year onwards. However, if it is not completely eliminated at this stage of life, it can become an obsessive habit.It must keep the cat and the house safe. Chewing on a live electrical cord can burn your cat's tongue, break its teeth, electrocute it and do internal damage and even death (depending on the intensity).
If your cat is an adult and continues with this behavior despite having left the teething stage behind, it may be related to the factor. boredom. Cats, even those at home, need a lot of activity and play. If your cat goes crazy with the cables and in addition to playing with them in a delicate way, he also chews and breaks them, you can help him correct this behavior. diverting your attention, distracting him with toys that simulate fun and a purpose, while interacting with his human family. Some toys you can use are cardboard boxes, bedding, fabrics and fabric animals, something cats really like. You can see the funniest toys for cats in this other article.
Recipe to keep your cat away from cables
Gather all the necessary ingredients to make the following magic potions that will manage to keep your cat away from the cables. For this you will need:
- 1 tablespoon of petroleum jelly
- 2 teaspoons of acidic lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon of ground red pepper
For prevent your cat from biting the cables, mix all the ingredients and spread the result over all the electrical cables you have at home. Although cats are attracted to the smells, they hate the taste of a very acid lemon and the itch of hot pepper. Vaseline acts as an adherent of the mixture to the handles and helps keep it compact.
While it's not very visually pleasing, while you're in the process of eliminating this behavior in your cat, wrap the handles in aluminum foil, double-sided tape, or that bubble wrap you use to wrap, as cats don't like of the sound it makes when the bubbles burst.
Cable and cat proof house
As always, at PeritoAnimal, we recommend prevention. And although we know that in virtually every home in the world, electrical cables tend to hang, it's very important to do everything possible so that this doesn't happen, if you have pets and children at home. Make sure your home is safe for your pet and your family.
First, save all video game console controls, try using wireless headphones, and block out spaces in your home where there might be any interest from your cat. Second, any cable must be involved firmly and hidden behind furniture. Avoid the snake and pendulum effects, you can avoid these temptations by using some duct tape to get the cables out of the way and stick them to the wall.
Follow all our tips to prevent your cat from biting the cables and you will see how, little by little, you will put aside this practice that can be so harmful for both the animal and the house.
