How to keep cats off my alarm clock radio?

blacknoi

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My first post so forgive me if this was posted (did a search but didn't see anything exactly like it).


I have a bose wave radio next to my bed that I use for my alarm clock as well.

Both my cats, Chilly and Bella (both are 2 years old) love to sit on top of the radio.

Unfortunately, the control buttons are on the TOP.

My alarm would be turned off, the radio volume MAXED OUT, clock time totally thrown off... as my kitties would sit on the top of it.

For a while, I would put a CD case on top of the radio, so they still could sit on the top.

Recently their new thing is to paw the cd case off the radio, then sit on top.

How can I train them to NOT sit on top of the radio?

 

captain ragdoll

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i don't know if there's any truth to this, but i have heard that putting aluminum foil on areas where you don't want cats to go can be helpful. We've used it specifically when our cat repeatedly made a certain patch of carpet his bathroom. He stopped going there and we reached a point at which we could remove the foil and he still stayed away.
 

brittany

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I can't help you with that. My cat just loves to KICK the alarm clock off of the nightstand completely
I'll be watching this thread for anymore tips
.
 

katachtig

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Maybe spray a cloth with a citrus spray or cat repellent and put the cloth over the clock. I would make sure the cloth is dry before putting it on the clock.
 
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blacknoi

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I like the foil idea.... I just hope they don't paw that off the edge.

I wonder if I put something that has raised edges on the top, might keep my kitties away... something that would not be hospitable to their paws?


Our female, Bella (the white one with shock of grey on her head) LOVES to knock EVERYTHING off of counters that is not nailed down.

This includes our small nightstand lamp, batteries, chapstick, hair clips of my wife's, etc.

If its light enough for her to push off with her paw, you can guarantee that it will be on the floor.
 

abigail

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Originally Posted by blacknoi

I like the foil idea.... I just hope they don't paw that off the edge.

I wonder if I put something that has raised edges on the top, might keep my kitties away... something that would not be hospitable to their paws?
they will just knock the foil off, believe me. flower suppliers sell these small metal spikey things that keep flowers upright. I would glue a few to the top of the radio, making it rather like a baroque torture tool.

the other alternative is to put the bose under monitor computer stand that stilll lets you pull the radio out and change setting. your cats can sit on THAT rather then the actual radio. of course you can't hit the snooze button anymore.

The cats probably love the heat it radiates... try a heating pad set very very low on top of the computer stand.
 

gemlady

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Originally Posted by Abigail

the other alternative is to put the bose under monitor computer stand that stilll lets you pull the radio out and change setting. your cats can sit on THAT rather then the actual radio. of course you can't hit the snooze button anymore.

The cats probably love the heat it radiates... try a heating pad set very very low on top of the computer stand.
My thoughts, too. SOme type of shelving that will let them lay there but protect the clock and other items on the stand.
 

clpeters23

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This is sort of related: my sister's cat used to walk on the phone by the bed and somehow pressed the speed dial button and kept calling people at all hours of the night. My sister would freak out hearing voices coming over the speaker.
She ended up turning the ringer volume all the way up and put the phone in a drawer in the nightstand.
 

miao_kitty

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That's funny, I just realized that my kitten likes to do this too. He also likes to sit on top of my boom-box thing and I can hear it creaking at night. (he's getting bigger and soon might actually crunch something haha). I haven't tried aluminum foil, but double-sticky sided tape works too (especially the stuff the sell at a pet store for that reason. It's like as wide as duct tape!). I put that on our breakfast bar edge and My kitten HATES that stuff. And, it's really funny watching him try to pull his feet off the stickies..
 

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This happened to me with my first pair of cats. One was scary-smart, so I wouldn't be surprised if he turned off the alarm on purpose. Anyway, I wound up with a new clock radio in a triangular shape (viewed from the side). Can't sit on top of that. The cats, born in '84, are gone, but the clock radio lives on: It will wake me up tomorrow.
 

kalikat

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Originally Posted by mrrrfff

This happened to me with my first pair of cats. One was scary-smart, so I wouldn't be surprised if he turned off the alarm on purpose. Anyway, I wound up with a new clock radio in a triangular shape (viewed from the side). Can't sit on top of that. The cats, born in '84, are gone, but the clock radio lives on: It will wake me up tomorrow.
What a good idea.

I've tried the double sided tape, which worked the 1st time, then she'd just walk over it. I put the aluminium foil on the edge of kitchen sink but she still jumped up.
 

blast-off-girl

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I'm going to definitely try the aluminum foil idea! Holly is obsessed with my answering machine and tends to erase messages. I know people have called because I see numbers on my caller ID. However, the inbox is totally erased. I know she's intrigued because I caught her bolting to the machine when a friend left a message!
 
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blacknoi

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My wife actually suggested I get the newer bose wave radio CD.

It has ZERO buttons on the top... which actually would fit the bill... but no buttons + trying to fumble for the remote JUST to hit snooze (plus the 500 dollar price tag) might keep me from doing this at the moment.

We already employ double sided sticky tape to stop Chilly from chewing the corners of our wooden night stands. I don't know if I could justify putting tape on my nice radio.

I'll look into that monitor stand suggestion, as it seems the most feasable.

One of the other posters mentioned their cat hopping up on the radio and making creaking sounds.... Our cat Bella does that with my 27" bedroom tv. Its a CRT, big glass thing so its no big deal. I'm really worrried though when we go to a 32" LCD tv. My horror is that we'll hear it crashing down as she tries to balance across the 2" wide top.
 

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Blacknoi,

Find something to block the clock radio (if you're willing to buy new bedside furniture, there are a number of things I could recommend - plenty of cheaper things to add to your existing furniture, though), like the other posters mentioned, and mount the new TV on the wall. It works out cheaper than a new $500 radio. Oh, and wall-mounted TVs are the greatest.
Buy your wall mount online. The big box stores will rip you off. PM me if you need website recs.

My cats kept trying to jump onto our plasma TV when it was on a stand (we had been planning to mount it, but kept putting it off - the cats forced us to make it a priority). I couldn't stand Dave's shrieking every time his beloved plasma was in danger.
 
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blacknoi

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I have found a solution.

$5.00 utility shelf at Bed Bath and Beyond..... WOOOO HOOOO

Fits snugly overtop of my bose radio so the kids cannot paw it off, and its open hole design makes it unattractive to pawpads!!!


Thanks for all the suggestions.

Here's Bella checking out the new rig:




Here's Chilly Willie (he's the main offender at waking me up by turning the RADIO ON AT 3am!!):




Here's the shelf itself:
 

gemlady

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I have somthing similar for my printer.

Willy does have that "I'll get around this" look...
 

barbb

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That is a fabulous idea! I've been reading this thread since I have foster kittens who crawl on anything "warm". That will solve more than one problem for me since I have a square glass lamp they love to perch on too LOL.
 
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blacknoi

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Originally Posted by BarbB

That is a fabulous idea! I've been reading this thread since I have foster kittens who crawl on anything "warm". That will solve more than one problem for me since I have a square glass lamp they love to perch on too LOL.
You'll be glad to know that this rig is the "small" size. They also have two bigger sizes, medium and large (in white as I pictured or regular non-coated silver).

Hopefully one of the sizes suits your cat-fancy
And thank you for the compliments on my kitties. They are pretty cute... then again, so are most of the cats I find on this site.


EDIT:

I just found the product links...

The one I got:
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/prod...1&SKU=12132506
and the larger that I saw
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/prod...1&SKU=12427077

Here's all 3 in one convenient link
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/prod...1&SKU=12132506
 
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