Boyd On a pet program on the radio I heard the suggestion of putting double sided tape on the surfaces you don't want your cat on.
On a pet program on the radio I heard the suggestion of putting double sided tape on the surfaces you don't want your cat on.
Just beware that when a cat gets something stuck to it, he/she will possibly go berserk. I still remember the night that Chessie sat on a piece of clear packing tape and then went to stand up. You would have thought the devil was grabbing him. I've never heard that much commotion before or since.
Kevin
http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html
http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html
rustycoupler The problem is your bed is in there. The thing i would suggest is to get a track sensor, you know for signals and hook it up to a loud horn, it should be 12 volt and thats it .My cats hate loud noises and they stay the heck out of there.
The problem is your bed is in there. The thing i would suggest is to get a track sensor, you know for signals and hook it up to a loud horn, it should be 12 volt and thats it .My cats hate loud noises and they stay the heck out of there.
Like this?
watch?v=9r7apNSGQQY
You think that's bad, try a 50 pound dog sitting on your cotton snow (clean, and she sheds) when you're trying to put your Christmas layout up..... :D
She did figure out pretty fast that putting a wet nose across both the inner and outer rails at the same time will feel quite unpleasant. She hasn't really disturbed my christmas layouts since.
Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.
Good luck with that, I've never had any sucess. Layout still in construction phase. The big 13lb female likes to plop herself down right in the middle of progress.
CJ MeyersMember TCA
Erkenbrand We have 3 cats, but only one is attracted to the train. She loves to climb up on the layout and watch it go. I gave up trying to keep her down, and she doesn't really hurt anything. Except the wiring. She loves to chew on the wires, so when I find a dark light, or the train won't run I first check the wiring to see what she's chewed through now.
We have 3 cats, but only one is attracted to the train. She loves to climb up on the layout and watch it go. I gave up trying to keep her down, and she doesn't really hurt anything. Except the wiring. She loves to chew on the wires, so when I find a dark light, or the train won't run I first check the wiring to see what she's chewed through now.
Try what I do for electrical cords. Take cayenne pepper and a few drops of water to make a paste and then smear the paste on wires, cords, etc. where she has chewed on. After one taste, my cats don't even like the smell of cayenne pepper.
Rita likes to get up on the layout to be eye level with me.
Rita can also imitate Chessie the railroad kitten.
Andrew
Watch my videos on-line at https://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewNeilFalconer
Erkenbrand The one time she stepped in front of the running train she got a real surprise and hasn't made that mistake again.
The one time she stepped in front of the running train she got a real surprise and hasn't made that mistake again.
LOL, is that when she discovered the space over the layout?
She's also figured out how to get into the drop ceiling in the basement. A couple of the panels are missing . . . probably from the weight of a cat standing on them. Now, she climbs up there and looks down on the train to watch it go.
Overall, it's been fun to have her around the layout. Of course all of mine is O, so she can't really hurt any of it. The one time she stepped in front of the running train she got a real surprise and hasn't made that mistake again.
I took pieces of cardboard and made a cover with a peak over the top of one bridge when it is in the up position. She can no longer jump over to that section of elevated tracks and wake me up at night.
Some cats can be taught to watch the trains and not get on the layout. My late Chessie loved to come down to the basement with me and sit or stretch out on the stairs to watch the trains and me.Granted, there were a couple times when he was a kitten that he got on the layout, but other than that, he was my #1 railfan.
Pixie-Bob?
Jeff-Z These passengers are about to have a bad day...
These passengers are about to have a bad day...
Jeff look at the cat in the middle look familar? lol
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Catzilla...
Special OPs Cats...
My, my...
This IS a dangerous world we live in!
Seriously, I have 2 cats and I have found the best solution was a door on my train room. I keep it closed at all times. Even when I am "working" in there. You just never know when your room may be infiltrated by a "Special OPs Cat!"
Cobrabob.
Toy Trains, they are not just an adventure, they are a way of life !
Rene S.
I have been told by a vet. that a cat, in good shape & not overweight, can jump up to six feet from a stand still position, so your wall around a layout has to be quite tall.
Also I have found that cats are very curious and will find a way to get into the layout, if not put in a seperate room.
Lee F.
Andrew: EATING catnip leaves is supposed to relax a cat. However, smelling the leaves and rolling in them gives them a temporary euphoria. Not a good idea near a layout.
As for adding a clear plastic barrier, that's not a bad idea, but it would have to be quite high, as cats are efficient jumpers. I've seen our cats jump five feet high or more.
Rene Schweitzer
Classic Toy Trains/Garden Railways/Model Railroader
I absolutely cannot give my cat catnip. She gets absolutely out of control running around the apartment like she is wired up on drugs.
Your cats are gifted, Pete. I can almost hear the 'tires screeching and crash' noises as ours jump on something
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
We got four cats. One of the boys gets on the layout occasionally, the other boy rarely, and the girls never do. Hmmm.
I've only ever found one car so much as tipped over. The "scenery" is strictly plastic buildings and action accessories, I figure that helps. Dunno what I'd do if they were more troublesome, especially since I like to encourage them to be themselves.
I do model planes too, and one morning I was amazed to spy our late, great cat, RIP Tuffy, carefully tiptoeing over the ribs of a six foot wing I had on the building board. Not a tool was moved, nor a glue bottle tipped.
Pete
"You can’t study the darkness by flooding it with light." - Edward Abbey -
Catnip is supposed to mellow out cats and make them relaxed.
The only way to keep the cats off the layout is to put a clear plastic barrier around the edge of the layout.
Get a Quiet Time brand Pet Bed.
The layout could be llifted up to the ceiling.
Rene S Hi everyone, I'm from the Garden Railways staff, but hubby has an O-gauge layout in our basement and we own three cats, one of whom loves to yank out trees by the dozen.
Hi everyone,
I'm from the Garden Railways staff, but hubby has an O-gauge layout in our basement and we own three cats, one of whom loves to yank out trees by the dozen.
Appears as if they have you guys well trained by allowing you to think "you own them".
Remember the Veterans. Past, present and future.
www.sd3r.org
Proud New Member Of The NRA
Cats have been led to believe they own the trains.
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
I'll have to look into that CatStop product, I know someone who can use something like that.
Have fun with your trains
There is a solution that will work 100%. The electronic collar or ecollar.
It was first invented about 40 years ago for/by hunters who needed a reliable recall for their field dogs since the dogs would often get out of either the sound of their voice or/and out of the line of sight. The ecollar works by providing an electric stimulus that acts like a tap on the dog's shoulder and, when trained properly, is the dog's signal to go back and find his owner. It's use was also employed to signal the dog to retrieve game. The owner/handler uses an RF transmitting remote control while the dog wears a receiver collar.
The market and for the use of the ecollar for dogs was expanded for similar dog training exercises for the average dog owner. One use was to similarly provide for a reliable, off-leash recall of the dog and has become a sensible and humane tool to keep dogs safe......in the yard, out of the street, or away from dangerous situations when the dog is off leash. Another use was obedience training. It's use was further expanded for use in military and law enforcement canine training.
Canine trainers and behavioralists discovered that reactive dogs previously deemed untrainable and/or dangerous responded very well to ecollar training. I use the word "reactive" because "aggressive" is not a totally accurate term. Many dogs react aggressively toward other animals because of a high prey drive, a matter of simple genetics. Most reactive dogs act aggressively towards other dogs and humans because of inadequate formative development/training.
Without adequate leadership and consistency from the owner or handler, or other members of the household, they take matters (leadership and decision making) into their own hands and use their teeth to get their way. From the tiniest of dogs to the massive. Zillions of dogs have been successfully and humanely trained to control their impulses, defer their decisions to their handler, and have gone from incorrigible beasts to well-adjusted, safe, and reliable family pets and neighbor dogs.
Enter more marketing. The use of variations of the ecollar have been used to create the virtual fence, the electronic fence, or pet containment systems. They are used in place of conventional fencing to keep pets contained on one's property. If one's dog is out in the yard, they learn to stay on their property regardless of distraction (other dogs, people, kids with/without bicycles and skateboards, motor vehicles, prey like rabbits and squirrels, balls, food). When approaching their trained boundary, the dogs receive an audible warning. If they ignore the audible and proceed, they receive the electric correction. Should a dog accidentally escape the house, the containment system still keeps them on one's property because the dog has learned their boundaries. And the e-fence is there to reinforce things.
Those with small children or less than careful family members and friends (or workers in the home) can live in the relative assurance that should their dog accidentally get out of the house, they won't leave the yard, get hit by a car, get lost, or worse.....become the victim of other dogs or animals in the wild, mean-spirited people, or succumb to starvation and the elements. Strays make up the vast majority of millions of euthanized pets in the custody of shelters each year. As our dog trainer observes, life's corrections are far more brutal, unforegiving, and permanent than the alternative, the humane and effective use of an electronic collar by a properly trained individual.
The ecollar concept then moved indoors to keep dogs (and cats) free to roam yet confined to certain rooms of the house without the necessity of gates or closing them off with closed doors or with crating. The use was further expanded to keep pets off of furniture and to mitigate uncontrolled barking inside and outside of the house or the apartment. Dogs bark, it's normal. But I have not seen a dog that could not be quickly, effectively, and humanely trained to keep barking down to to a normal acceptable amount. A lot of folks we know buy a "bark collar," train on its use, use it a few times, and then it becomes another dust collector because the dog no longer needs it. Problem solved.
The strange thing about ecollars is their humaneness and effectiveness. Dogs learn their physical and social boundaries very quickly, and they assume a comfortable deference position to the expectations of their owner/handler. Most people we know find the ecollars with the remote controls are not needed after successful training, once order has been restored, and the dog settles into a new and comfortable,structured, less-stressful (for the dog and owner) existence where the pup has an owner doing all of the decision-making and worrying. Dogs thrive on being dogs and the security and comfort of their pack.
Back to your cat issues. Cats are pretty smart, and they are indepenent thinkers. But cats have also been successfully trained on these electronic pet containment and control systems. We know folks that use them to keep their cats on their property. Some ecollars like the ones used to keep pets in certain rooms, without supervision and without the use of the transmitter, would be the best to keep cats out of a certain room or off, say, a train layout. I am not sure if these indoor systems work with RF or light beams, like many home security system.
The trained cat wearing the ecollar would receive an electric correction either entering the (forbidden) train room or the approaching the train layout, your choice. Within a correction or two, the cat would figure the train room or the train board is an uncomfortable place to be and not think much more about it other than to simply avoid the train room or the layout. It would be more effective than the scent avoidance approach, without the smell.
You can learn more about these systems by doing some reading on the internet for the specific application that suits you and your cat. New equipment is reasonable priced, and there is a plethora of used equipment on Ebay, for example.
As with any pet training tool..... the humaneness, effectiveness, and safety depends on you and your proper training on its correct use.
Jack
PS: My wife volunteer in pet rescue and adoption. We have adopted Dobermans. The proportion of strays winding up in shelters is well more than half, if they make it that far. And there are far too many "no-kill" shelters out there. It saddens me that there are so may irresponsible pet owners out there who wouldn't spend a dime on training or training tools, folks who are not qualified or responsible enough to own an ant farm.
If you have any reservations about the e-devices mentioned above. their humaneness, and their effectiveness, seek out a dog trainer, expert in their use, and ask them. Ask them to show you. I tried the ecollar out on myself before I bought them for our dogs. I would not risk the loss or injury of a beloved pet over someone else's mistaken perceptions about the effectiveness, safety, or humaneness of any dog training tool used correctly.
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
Because our basement doesn't have any doors, we installed a CatStop. It's a motion-activated unit that emits a high-pitched sound only the cats can hear. I hate to sound like a commercial, but it does work. It's got a decent range, so when positioned in the far corner of the layout (4x8), the entire surface is protected. We've had it up long enough now that we don't even need to have batteries in it all that often. They know "it's" up there.
As for cost, I think it was around $50. Seems a little pricey, but add up the cost of the destroyed scenery and IMO it was worth it.
I like the photos of the cats by Spankybird and rtraincollector, a bit amusing, especially the cat with the gun.
Anyway keeping a cat off your layout is next to impossible!! I had to install a door in a hallway area to keep a cat off my layout about 6 years ago, when I lived in Stuart FL. With this layout, where I live now in WPB FL, I didn't think about having a cat getting into the layout as there are doors seperating the train room and the cat, however the rooms are not totally finished upstairs as the walls don't go all the way to the ceiling. So my cat found a way in at least four times, even after I took down some train display shelfs that I thought he was using to jump over with.
I talked to a vet. (pet doctor) and was told house cats can jump almost 6 feet from a standing position, maybe further in a straight line if they are running across a ditch.
Boyd Our first cat 3 years ago was mellow, very vocal and only jumped up on the bed. We lost him last april and got this young and very high strung tortoise shell calico. She is so high strung we absolutely won't give her catnip. She goes in, on, over, under, behind, in front every anything in this apartment. She still doesn't have a name. I have thought of: Trouble, Houdini, Escape artist, Sneaky. But for now we just call her "cat".
Our first cat 3 years ago was mellow, very vocal and only jumped up on the bed. We lost him last april and got this young and very high strung tortoise shell calico. She is so high strung we absolutely won't give her catnip. She goes in, on, over, under, behind, in front every anything in this apartment. She still doesn't have a name. I have thought of: Trouble, Houdini, Escape artist, Sneaky. But for now we just call her "cat".
That's the problem, Boyd.
Once you give her a name, all of the trouble will stop and life will be good again. She is rebelling.
Rich
Alton Junction
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