Help, How do I keep cats off of my Layout ?

[davekelly]

FBM? Hmmmmm. I have a similar devise - the DBM!

[davekelly]

train_geek,

Just out of curiosity. If the wife and daughter go, how much more square feet would the layout gain?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by davekelly

gsetter,

Congrats to you and those you work with. I've always made it a point to make a donation of either money or food to one of the local shelters here that operates without any government funding at all. A bag of dog food doesn't cost all that much and the smiles from the volunteers makes me know it will be put to good use!

I wish folks that can't properly take care of animals would either not get them, or donate
them to someone that can. It's a shame when there is a dog, a cat or whatever that is mistreated - like kids, they can't fend for themselves. I've not seen any terrible things at our local shelter - but the show "Animal Cops" was enough to make me want to punch out some humans.

I am sure, however, that most, if not all the folks who wrote the cat jokes are fine, upstanding people who would never do what they posted themselves and would stop someone from doing the same. Model Railroaders are generally great, kind, loving, helpful people.Dave

Thanks Dave. I just blew off the jokes as not being serious, but I just thought I'd reflect on what Wayne said.

Shelters depend on donations from folks like you. Donations have droped off quite a bit after 911. Everything seemed to have went to NY or DC and a million other charities.
Most shelters need towels and blankets. We go through cat litter like crazy. It's kitten season again (April - November) and shelters will get overloaded with kittens. They will need kitten food too.
Thanks again Dave.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by davekelly

train_geek,

Just out of curiosity. If the wife and daughter go, how much more square feet would the layout gain?

Now that's funny! [(-D]

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Muddy Creek

I don't know if Rich got any helpful suggestions about keeping a cat out of the layout room as a result of this thread, but I've got a short list of people that will never set foot in mine.

There should be a registry of people who enjoy cruelty to animals posted in every town.

Wayne

Chill Hoss....

In my very first post I suggested pepper, which I have heard works.

We have no cats in the house, both my daughter and myself are allergic to them. It does not mean we are cruel to them. We do have..two dogs, two birds, 1 fish and a frog..a regular zoo. We donate items and money to the shelter frequently. I do not support cruelty to animals or humans....and cats like everything else need to know their boundaries.

If making jokes about cats is what gets me on the short list so be it. I can live with that. I've had alot worse done to me.

[hdbob]

tabasco sauce works wonders on animals, also i heard of a product called boundry for dogs hell worth a try on cats

[Anonymous]

Duct tape torn off into small squares laying sticky side up. Once the cat steps on just one of them it will retreat somewhere for the all day task of getting the duct tape from its paw.

[Anonymous]

All Joking aside, as i see its gotten a tad outa hand in here, there was an article in the JULY 1993 Model railRoader Mag, In the BULL SESSION Department, Conducted by James Kelly at the time, Entitled "Cat Wars" on page 133. Jimsays that the squirt bottles with water and the mouse traps worked both well, and HUMANE! Its a funny article with a serious point. worth a look into. RYAN

[brokemoto]

The GF has Tweety Birds all over the house, yes, even in the train room. More than a few of these Tweety Birds have VER-RY large hammers. Some have bows and arrows and other things.

The Bad Ol'Puddy 'Tats don't even come NEAR our house. Armed Tweety Birds are EXTREMELY dangerous to the health of Puddy 'Tats. The Tweety Birds have made a policy that "Puddy 'Tats are not Awwowed!!!!"

[Bikerdad]

With any of the methods used, I'd suggest that you give some thought to exactly how the cat is going to react when your method kicks in. For instance, the wax paper and tin cans. I'm sure that'll be funny as hell to watch, highly unlikely to actually hurt the cat, BUT, the cat is going to do a pretty enthusiastic job of attempting to keep from falling. The flailing cat will be throwing claws about pretty liberally, and a panicky cat can do a lot of damage.

The same goes for the mousetraps (which can hurt a cat, so should be off the list), duct tape, and most other solutions that "activate" AT the layout, rather than before. I've used water and sounds before to discourage cats from getting on the counters, and a cat explosively accelerating and changing direction can shoot papers, magazines, dishes, etc in wondrous and froggle directions. Escaping/startled cats can wreak havoc on your layout.

Just something to think about...

[bikerraypa]

I've found that the Hartz spray (OFF or NO or HELP or something like that) works pretty well, but an even better solution is just a very very very very very diluted ammonia spray. spritz it around a bit. You won't notice, and the cat won't come near. I have kitties all over the place, but no problem around my trains. Plus, the occassional cat on the scenery is FAR FAR FAR FAR preferable to baby mice in the roundhouse.

Ray out.

BTW, this is Snowball, my newest layout design assistant:


Don't look at me, I didn't do it

Snowball out.

[dave9999]

Bikerdad,
Your "panicky cat" reference reminded me of something that happen to me. I have an SUV
and one morning I jumped in to go to work. Well, I had left my window down all night and a cat had
decided to sleep in the back.

When I slammed the door, he came, like a cat out of hell, into the front with me. Now, picture this if you
will. The cat is scared senseless...the cat scares me senseless and we are both trying to get out of the
truck!

The cat scratched me from head to toe before I could get the door opened and everytime I would
throw him off of me, he would come back trying to get out of my window. This went on for just a
few seconds, but it seemed like DAYS. I FINIALLY get the door opened and we both exited truck
at the same time. I had scratches all over my arms and face for a week.

Needless to say, now my windows are always up before I go in for the night. Dave

[Anonymous]

I have found an effective way, and cheap I might add, to remedy the situation of cats jumping up on any countertop.

Get yourself a bunch of soda cans. Put a quarter in each one. Place them such that the cat will hit one when ever she/he jumps up on the countertop so as to knock it over and onto the floor. The racket that is produced scares the heck out of the cat and they will run off. Just keep putting the cans back in place. After a period of time they will not go up on the counter any longer.

It takes a bit to train them but it does work on almost every cat I have used this trick on. Yeah there are a few that are contrary and you're on your own with them (your best off talking to a vet) but for the most part it works.

--Rich
my name not my condition

[ben10ben]

Every once in a while, our cat gets the urge to jump onto the kitchen counter. The solution that we use is that once he starts doing this repeatedly, we spread several sheets of aluminum foil on the counter. The cat walking on the aluminum foil makes enough noise and is slippery enough that after a few times, the cat tends to avoid the counter top. Of course, he forgets after a few months, and it has to be done again, but it always works.

Although the aluminum foil would put your layout out of commision for a few days, it would be a very non-destructive and humane way to keep the cat away.

We've also found that two or three of the ultrasonic bug repellers plugged into wall outlets in one room will sometimes the cat out of that room. That method's not guaranteed, but it may be worth a try.

Finally, is your layout in such a position where you could shut it off when you're not working on it? Cat's are stubborn animals, and sometimes a firmly shut door is the only 100% guaranteed method to keep a cat away from something.

[willy6]

Run #8 bare copper wie at the bottom of said layout. coat it with sardine juice, connect wire to a house current source, ensure floor surface is conductive, one lick on wire, kitty will not return for more reasons than one.

[Anonymous]

Well, one of my cats finally did it to me. Prior to today, I have always read with interest the problems of cats on the layout. I have 2 cats, neither of which has ever gone on the layout in over 2 years I've had it up. Extremely well behaved, or so I thought.

Today, the worst (well almost, anyhow) happened. And I guess, they still haven't gone on the "layout", per se. One of my cats knocked my Rivarossi Challenger off its' display on the top of my desk! (Like I said, could have been worse, could have been my Trix Big Boy).

Now I have lots of spare parts. The engine is pretty much junk. Broken cab roof, broke off detail parts, broken rear drivers, bent motor shaft, broken trailing truck and other damage too numerous to list. D*** cat is lucky he's alive. And, no, I don't hit my animals, but he got a real tongue lashing. He won't be out from under the bed in quite awhile.

I have no idea why he went up there, he's never been on my desk before, so I guess I have to revise my desk display. I was thinking of modeling a wreck on my next layout, now I have a spectacular one to work with.

Anyhow, even if you have the "best behaved" cats, be aware, they are never goof proof. Now I'll keep my train room door closed when I'm not in there.

[trolleyboy]

Your best bet if you can is to get a door on the layout area.It's the only way I keep our cat away the spray repellants just duidn't work(except on me man there awfull smelling)Make sure that you can lock said door though because our cat is good at getting her paws under doors and pulling them open. Rob

[underworld]

Many places that have garden supplies have various sprays etc. to deter certain animals from invading the garden. I have seen some spray in home catalogs (I think one was a catalog called Carol Wright) to keep pets off of furniture.

underworld

[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

[underworld]

Maybe this.....

http://www.critter-repellent.com/cat/cat-repellant.php

[underworld]

Or possibly this......
the first link is a video clip showing the product in action, the second is the companies website.

http://www.ssscat.com/shk/scataction.mov

http://www.multivet-inter.com/eng/product/ssscat/ssscat.html

underworld

[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

[tutaenui]

1) Get large dog

2) Put dog on layout

3) When cat jumps up dog scares cat off.

[Anonymous]

Lucky for me, a four-point landing into some nice & wet freshly poured plaster cured my kitty years ago from ever wanting to hop up on the layout again.

The main problem I have now is that everytime I sit down at the workbench, he immediately wants to get up and sleep in my lap. If you think looking for dropped parts on a carpet is fun, try looking for them after they fall on a long-haired cat LOL!

And what is it with cats and cabeese? They'll watch an entire 25-car train go by and never try to take a swipe at it until just after the caboose has passed. Never fails.

[Anonymous]

Yes Dave, cats and salamanders (laying eggs) are the bane for model R.R. layouts. The cat solved my reptillian problem and destroyed hours of meticulous work in the doing! The "feline" problem is easily solved by leasing a large rat (from a reputable dealer). Then, of course, it is only a matter of inventing the "perfect mouse trap." Funny... my cat loves HO but she isn't too enthusiastic for G gauge. Cat's name? Minnie the Moocher!

[red p]

GSETTER,
And just how does being a Volunteer at my local animal shelter keep the cats off my layout?

[Anonymous]

I really appreciate all the helpful and funny suggestions.

QUOTE: Originally posted by gsetter

QUOTE: Originally posted by davekelly

train_geek,

Just out of curiosity. If the wife and daughter go, how much more square feet would the layout gain?

Now that's funny! [(-D]

I really think I might lose square feet when I got kicked out, I did ponder for a moment the helix into the living room and how nice a string of ore cars would look rolling across the fireplace mantle, I would only need two duckunders, hhmmm........

[Anonymous]

My Girlfriend Use to have a ton of cats and she says to put touble sided tape on the edges of your layout, they cant stand the way it feels on their feet

[Anonymous]

Border the layout with tobasco sause.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ftwNSengineer

GSETTER, And just how does being a Volunteer at my local animal shelter keep the cats off my layout?

Absolutely nothing ftw NS engineer.

Why do you ask?

Maybe you missed my first post to this thread.