cat proofing a computer

[H]Opterown;1031252129 said:
Most canned air has a bitterant in them so I'd assume they don't like the taste, I don't like it either lol. I use it on my keyboard, so if I eat after playing I know it :p
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Yeah my dumbass friends sprayed it for about 10 mins straight at each other while i was getting some food. I come back and their coughing and hacking with the most hilarious faces. All i said was "I could of told you that was going to happen."

Anyways, I third the cinder block and bag. "Dogs think their master is God, Cats think they are GOD." That was a magnet off of a "cat ladies" fridge. Just goes to show how crazy cat owners are.
 
Dogs are needy....they depend on you for everything...Killer, the shop cat.....if he could figure out how to open a can he wouldn't need me....:D...so when he is friendly...it's cause he wants to be......hell, he has more personality than some people I know.....:p
 
You have to be very careful about cats near the computer and should install some parental controls.
Once I came home and there was this kitty porn site called icanhascheezburger.com/ or something like that on my browser!
 
Unfortunately for my cat the top of my lian li is pretty much always cold...and unfortunately for us he still remembers the days of crt monitors...we've had a few cat related incidents with our lcd displays since the switch.

I'm just hoping (for his sake) he doesn't make the same mistake with the apple cinema display that has recently punished my credit card.
 
Cats can be pretty rough on the air flow if they're close to the machine. It's even worse if you smoke! Here's a machine I worked on a couple of years ago cleaning up...
cathairpc01.jpg


Here's more pics and my thread about it
 
I have a cat, and a miniature pincher.... the dog was easy to train... the cat is usually chased away by the dog... so my cat proofing solution was the addition of the Miniature Pinscher Protection System!

cat_proof.jpg
 
Give them something more stimulating to do than wander around your computer, perhaps. People say cats are idle, but that's only because they've fuck all to do with themselves. I got a few months off recently, and I got so bored I ended up just sleeping all day. Something more interesting than the PC = a healthy and happy cat, and a healthy and happy computer.

Also, just for good measure, take a cricket bat to a dog's face, because it probably deserves it. Any one'll do.
 
Get a desk with a door for the computer compartment. Should still have plenty of airflow.

Also, the cat got yelled at, pushed, and then sprayed with water each time she was up on the LCD ledge. Took only a few lessons before she learned.

I worried about her being up there when we were gone, but I've yet to come home and the LCD is bumped over *shrug*
 
Wally said:
Give them something more stimulating to do than wander around your computer, perhaps. People say cats are idle, but that's only because they've fuck all to do with themselves. I got a few months off recently, and I got so bored I ended up just sleeping all day. Something more interesting than the PC = a healthy and happy cat, and a healthy and happy computer.

Also, just for good measure, take a cricket bat to a dog's face, because it probably deserves it. Any one'll do.
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wtf... i have two dogs and neither of them deserve having a cricket bat to the face. maybe ill take a cricket bat to your face and see how you like it eh ?
 
forrehmmnd said:
wtf... i have two dogs and neither of them deserve having a cricket bat to the face. maybe ill take a cricket bat to your face and see how you like it eh ?
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I will swat my dog with a plastic bat if he does something that deserves it, but not so hard hes hurt.
 
Cat-proof PC recommendations (from experience):

  • Buy an SFF PC. I have a Shuttle XPC, myself. Great thing about these is that it's:
    A) Too small for the cat to lay on top of
    B) Can be easily put on a desk next to the monitor, where it won't suck up NEARLY as much cat hair (and yes, we vacuum every day anyway - still does no damn good)
  • Fry's sells these "cable covers" for cleaning up your wiring. As I'm a huge OCD freak, anyway, I've zip-tied all my cabling and wiring and such long ago. Discovering these, though, was awesome - not only does it even clean up the look of zip-tied cables, but it keeps a cover over them so the cat CAN'T chew on them.
  • Makes sense to use the screensaver, with a password-protected user, so cats can't walk across the keyboard or anything in your absence.
 
JLangevin said:
I will swat my dog with a plastic bat if he does something that deserves it, but not so hard hes hurt.
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well yeah, dogs occasionally need negative reinforcement, it occasionally give my dogs muzzle a light thwop if shes bad, but just seeing a random dog and smacking it in the face with a cricket bat is wrong in my book. they feel pain just like we do. (sorry to sound like the whole animal activist thing, but ive got a sweet spot for dogs.)
 
forrehmmnd said:
wtf... i have two dogs and neither of them deserve having a cricket bat to the face. maybe ill take a cricket bat to your face and see how you like it eh ?
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Yeah, you do that over the internet, you hard nut. Good show. :rolleyes:
 
Nope, it's over and done with now. Just as well, or people would have ended up feeling inadequate.
 
How to stop a cat from messing with your PC stuff:

1) Keep the room door shut
2) Use a hammer or axe
3) Give cat away
4) Use an electric cat pad and put it where you dont want the cat to walk - it will zap the cat untill he/she steps off the pad
5) Invisible fence concept, but make it around your desk
6) Proximity cat spray - Monitors the area and if a cat enters said area, it gives a loud beep and a blast of air.... eventually it can be reduced to a beep, and after that it can be removed
7) Waterspray bottle or compressed air can (or aircompressor, lol)
8) Cat spray - Bitter apple - Spray on all your cables
9) Give the cat something else to play with, obviously the cat is bored or needs attention
10) Buy a dog to put in the computer room
11) Buy a bird to put in the farthest room
12) Block access to the rear of your tower, or relocate your tower


Most cats will do things owners dont want them to simply becuase they need attention or there is another reason for it. They also have instinct to do things, so give them a toy, scratching post, catnip, or anything else... keep their minds off your computer area.

I solved my problem with using a spray bottle and being consistent.
 
Ockie said:
How to stop a cat from messing with your PC stuff:

1) Keep the room door shut
2) Use a hammer or axe
3) Give cat away
4) Use an electric cat pad and put it where you dont want the cat to walk - it will zap the cat untill he/she steps off the pad
5) Invisible fence concept, but make it around your desk
6) Proximity cat spray - Monitors the area and if a cat enters said area, it gives a loud beep and a blast of air.... eventually it can be reduced to a beep, and after that it can be removed
7) Waterspray bottle or compressed air can (or aircompressor, lol)
8) Cat spray - Bitter apple - Spray on all your cables
9) Give the cat something else to play with, obviously the cat is bored or needs attention
10) Buy a dog to put in the computer room
11) Buy a bird to put in the farthest room
12) Block access to the rear of your tower, or relocate your tower


Most cats will do things owners dont want them to simply becuase they need attention or there is another reason for it. They also have instinct to do things, so give them a toy, scratching post, catnip, or anything else... keep their minds off your computer area.
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Both my cats are attention whores and hand sluts. They often bug the shit out of me for attention. Sometimes they'll bug the shit out of me but only because they need something. I think you are right. If you give them something else to do they'll leave you and yourstuff alone when you want them too.
 
Michael Daly said:
I hate to break it to you ,but you've only trained your cat not to do that when you are there. Trust me, I know cats. :)
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QFT.

Cats will always do what they want. If they are afraid of you then they will wait until you leave and do the thing you told them not to.

What I do to make sure that my cat does not bite on wires is very simple, I close the door to the computer room. :D

Also there is an apple (bitter) spray you can get from the pet store that keeps the cats away from the surface you srayed it on. You can use that as well on your hands especially if your cat bites and scratches too much.
 
boxterduke said:
QFT.

Cats will always do what they want. If they are afraid of you then they will wait until you leave and do the thing you told them not to.

What I do to make sure that my cat does not bite on wires is very simple, I close the door to the computer room. :D

Also there is an apple (bitter) spray you can get from the pet store that keeps the cats away from the surface you srayed it on. You can use that as well on your hands especially if your cat bites and scratches too much.
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Well as I said before, I keep the door to the computer room shut when I am not in there for that reason. That and I have sprayed all the areas I don't want them to be. I realize they can't be trusted fully. There are indications they don't do some of the things I have "trained" them not to do, but there are other indications that show they prefer doing different things I don't want them to do.
 
I seem to remember a program a guy wrote a few years back...

It was designed to keep cats off the computer when he wasn't there, by using an algorithim to recognize "cat-typing", and then scare them off.

Ah, you can find anything with Google! Looks like its a commercial product now.
http://www.bitboost.com/pawsense/


I used to have a big, fluffy, kitty, and I had to clean the fliters every two weeks. Even if you keep the cat away from the PC, the little tiny hairs from the undercoat float around in the air and get sucked into your PC. Just resolve yourself to clean the PC more often.
 
That software is retarded... if my cat is gonna do something around my computer, it's piss on the carpet, not walk accross an uneven and loud surface.
 
oneil said:
That software is retarded... if my cat is gonna do something around my computer, it's piss on the carpet, not walk accross an uneven and loud surface.
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Put another sandbox near your computer?
 
oneil said:
That software is retarded... if my cat is gonna do something around my computer, it's piss on the carpet, not walk accross an uneven and loud surface.
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I don't have a carpet near my computer. :p
 
I have 2 cats, and they pretty much leave the PC alone. The only time they jump up on the desk is if I am eating something and they are hoping for a handout. As long as there isn't anything "interesting" on the desk, they leave it alone.
 
Dan_D said:
As a cat owner myself all I can tell you is that cat proofing your computer is a waste of time. Your cat needs to be trained. Mine no better than to mess with the computers. Them getting near the box gets them blasted with the canned air and they really hate that. So they don't do it. They also find getting yelled at or knocked away from stuff is unpleasant.

Anyone who says you can't train a cat is full of shit, I've done it plenty of times. Just teach them to behave properly and your problems will be resolved.
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You are "correcto-moondo". I am also a cat owner and the only cinder block trick I'd use is on some arrogant morons I've met. (kinda like 'Nam)

I use the ole' compressed air trick and it works, I've run up to 5x C2D's and 2x single core rigs 24/7 folding with no problems (I've shut down all but my WC'er until winter). After a few blasts of compressed can air she (my cat) got the idea the computers were "off limits" and that was the end of any playing with cords or cables.

You're right about training cats, they learn quickly.
 
Just learn to train your cat. I own 3 cats, none of them will even get on my desk, or any other horizontal surface in my house for that matter-much less near my computer.
 
strend said:
Just learn to train your cat. I own 3 cats, none of them will even get on my desk, or any other horizontal surface in my house for that matter-much less near my computer.
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please re-think that statement...
 
strend said:
Just learn to train your cat. I own 3 cats, none of them will even get on my desk, or any other free standing raised horizontal surface in my house for that matter-much less near my computer.
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Fixed
 
I actually had the same problem with cats. I bought fan filters and tried to train the cat, but it nothing worked. So instead i bought my cat his own PC. I helped him pick out all the parts, he was just interested in Word Processing and Web Browsing so it didnt set me back to much. Now he just sits around and plays WoW on his own computer and stays far away from mine.

Alot of my problem rooted from the fact that i used to pepper all my components with Cat Nip....:D
 
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