If you have cats at home, how can you prevent them from scratching and biting wires?

Feb 15,2024
10Min

Many people have cats at home, and cats often chew on wires. It is also easy for cats to get electric shock, and it is more likely to cause electrical hazards to families. So what can we do about cats scratching and biting wires? How to prevent cats from scratching and biting wires? But first of all, one thing to be thankful for is that cats are not as destructive to household electrical wiring as dogs.

However, accidents often occur because kittens chew and scratch at wires. Moreover, playing in a messy line makes people feel panicked when they see it... Is there any way to solve this? Don't tell me, it really does exist. But before that, let’s understand why cats love chewing wires so much.

1. Kittens prefer to scratch and bite wires

How to prevent cats from scratching and biting wires if you have cats at home?

Do cats chew on wires because they have a problem with them? Not really, essentially, they just want to chew something. Compared with adult cats, kittens like to scratch and bite wires more. In other words, kittens at this time like to scratch and bite anything that they think is interesting and easy to bite. This is because the kitten at this time is in the socialization period of learning to hunt and is in the teething stage. It needs to grind its teeth and has a stronger desire to bite objects and simulate hunting. Compared with other groups, kittens are also more vulnerable to harm because they have smaller bodies and are more likely to get into gaps such as refrigerators, behind desktops, and backs of tables to scratch and chew various wires, and they are also more likely to be caught by wires. Injured due to entanglement.

2. Will kittens get better as they grow up? Not

The reasons why cats like to bite things are very complicated, and it is not just adult or elderly cats. The desire to simulate hunting and chewing things will last throughout a cat's life, and chewing behaviors caused by oral diseases, pica, etc. are also common. Adult cats have stronger biting power and are more destructive to wires, thus causing more serious safety problems. Fortunately, there are still many tricks to keep cats from having wires to chew on!

3. A clever trick: make the cat unable to see the wires

Love to bite wires? It’s okay if you can’t see it. It’s important to learn to hide wires, and it will also make your home look cleaner. Make the gap smaller: If various lines naturally hang down behind the electrical appliances, such as TVs, refrigerators, computers, etc., the gap space can be made smaller. For example, the refrigerator or computer desk should be as close to the wall as possible, leaving only a punch or less. The space in and out on the side can also be blocked with things so that cats cannot get in and play with wires.

Secure the cord to the wall or under the floor: the wiring can be securedPlace it on the wall or near the corner line, and fix it with embedded pipes or PVC wire troughs. Without messy wires hanging down, the cat will not have the desire to bite and the space for its mouth, and the storage will also make it easier to store. The room is more aesthetically pleasing. There are also many designs that bury various wires in the wall during renovation. If you are a cat owner in a newly renovated house, you may also consider taking a look.

Use hubs and storage tubes: Lots of wires and clutter? Organize them first, and then use tape, plastic tubes or ready-made cable storage tubes from the store to store them together, which will also reduce the chance of cats chewing. There are simpler emergency solutions, such as taping these lines to the wall or floor with wide tape, but they don't look as beautiful.

4. Tip 2: Make the cat lose interest

Why do cats like wires so much? Is there any way to make them less "cat-attracting"? Of course! Do not use brightly colored wires: Cats like colorful wires more than black or white wires. Bright colors will make cats excited. Therefore, black or white lines are used, and it is even better to unify the connecting cable boards into one color.

Let the wires have a nasty smell: For cats who already have a bad habit of chewing wires, you can try applying a bad smell to the wires. Such as essential oil, lemon water, garlic juice, chili pepper and vinegar. But disinfectant water is not allowed, because some cats like the smell of disinfectant water. However, be careful that the liquid you apply is not actually harmful to your cat. At first, be careful to apply it repeatedly, as the smell will dissipate easily. However, one drawback of oil-based applications is that they will coat the wires with cat hair, so they need to be cleaned frequently.

Attract it with something else: See your cat having fun tangled in a tangled mess of wires? You can try to immediately take out a colorful vertical cat-catching stick to attract it and divert its attention. Remember, there is no reason for a cat to play with wires, as long as you have a better alternative on hand that will arouse his desire to hunt and interact with him.

5. Three Tips: Security Check

Have you ever thought that sometimes you don’t need so many wires in your home? Remove unnecessary wiring: In fact, many electrical appliances may not need to be plugged in all the time. For example, the plugs of electrical appliances that are not commonly used, especially small household appliances, do not need to be plugged into the wiring board when not in use. Not only is it unsafe to leave the power plugged in for a long time, it actually consumes a lot of electricity. Wouldn’t it be better to save the money to buy canned food for the master?

Check the safety of the plug: For some plugs connected to the wall, pay special attention to whether they are loose or the connector is not tight enough. Sometimes the metal part of the plug is exposed, in case the cat is not small.It’s really dangerous to grab your heart!

Store all kinds of charging cables well: Sometimes it’s no wonder that cats are the reason why many people now pile all kinds of charging cables and data cables on the table or hang them on the wall. If you are in a home without cats, it doesn’t matter if you buy some wire hangers to hang them up. But if you have cats, you should roll up the ones you don’t use and store them in a drawer.

Departure and upgrade equipment: Cat ownership sometimes forces people to change some small lifestyle changes, which is also a reasonable compromise. For example, if you don’t buy electrical appliances that you don’t need, or you can use wireless mice, keyboards, and headphones to replace the original wired ones, then there won’t be any room for cats to waste these things. Technology is advancing, and spending a little money is actually more cost-effective, especially for families with cats, you know.

6. Create a more perfect gaming space

Some foreign studies have pointed out that cats will be happier if they live in a home with a richer play environment. But the premise is that this gaming environment is a safe gaming environment created by you yourself. For example, there are more toys and cat climbing frames with gaps, more time for game interaction, teething sticks that satisfy cats’ desire to chew, etc. When these are satisfied, cats may have less desire to torture various wires.

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