🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <345@muddcs.UUCP> uribe@muddcs.UUCP (Lydia Uribe) writes:
>[....purrrr....]
>     Bernie, my 3-year-old domestic shorthair, has taken to chewing on 
>electrical cords.
>
>     Does anybody out there have any comments, suggestions, etc. as to why
>Bernie might be doing this and what I can do about it?

Don't let your critters gnaw cords!

First, your cat's probably making trouble because she's bored.  If you
could get her a kitten of her own, that would probably help.  But the
urgent question is how to stop her from gnawing cords before she kills
herself or starts a housefire.

>Indoor pet repellent sprays don't stop her for very long.

Sometimes I think those things are purposely weak so we'll keep on
buying more.

>I'm afraid that she's going to electrocute herself (at least so far she's
>limited herself to one side of the plugged-in AC cords!).

Yeah, they can get through.  When I was about 10 I got to give
mouth-to-mouth to my dog when he got both sides at once.  He was lucky
to survive with minor mouth burns, and I gagged for a week --
dogbreath, feh!

But I'll tell you what worked for me since as soon as his mouth was
healed he started back at the cords.  I'd imagine it would work on
cats too, but all my cats since then have gotten early childhood
terrorizing every time they even battybatted a cord.  So none of them
chew, and most even give me a "I'm just walking here" look if they
have to brush past a cord.

Take some HOT peppers.  Soak them in cooking oil (or just buy chinese
"red oil") till the oil tastes pretty potent.  Wipe every cord in the
whole house with this nasty taste experience.  Renew the coating every
so often, especially if you see teethprints.  A cat who has just
gotten a taste of hot will make delightful expressions, so if you get
the chance, watch Bernie in action.  Since cats don't like being
laughed at, you could giggle and point at him too.

If you can catch the cat munching the cord, hit her with a squirt of
vinegar water from a plant sprayer.  Shriek "NO!" Do whatever your cat
knows means you're on the homicidal edge.

And look for the _Home Pet Vet Guide_ at your bookstore or library for
information on how to give artificial respiration and cardiac massage
to your cat, since if she doesn't wise up, you might be lucky enough
to find her before she was quite dead.  If so, unplug Bernie before
touching her!

Good luck!  And if you do get Bernie a buddy, take the time to instill
a phobia about cords.  I put as few restrictions on my cats as
possible, but I don't ever again want to have to pushstart one of my
animals.

				STella Calvert

		Every man and every woman is a star.

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