Storage Solutions For Remotes / Game Controllers With Kitten Around?

[James W]

I live in a roughly 600 square foot apartment and have a decent home theater system... 55" TV, game consoles, all in a TV unit that's caged (even if my kitten, Tali, goes back there.... going to try some air can solution very soon to train her to get outta there).

On the subject of storing things like TV/receiver remotes and game controllers. Do you store them in lidded storage? An ottoman? Right now, everything just sits on a lower shelf in my already small coffee table. But Tali walks through the things - which wouldn't bother me if I am not constantly reminded that she tracks litter with poop sometimes (I am learning this on my 7th day of ownership for an 11-week old kitten, btw) >_<

Looking to sample how those of you with nice entertainment setups store thing with curious cats around.

 

[Margret]

I had some old blue jeans that were way too big for me, and I made hanging blue jean bags for the sides of my recliner. 1 bag available/pair of pants. The body of the jeans (waistband to crotch) forms the body of the bag, with the front zipper facing away from the chair; this gives you two extra pockets for small items (like a laser pointer or pair of clippers). Cut off the legs and sew the bottom of the bag closed, of course. Then you take one leg of the jeans and cut off the bottom couple of feet or so (you'll be using that bottom two feet, not the top of it). Slit the leg so you can lay it flat as a single layer. Trim the sides so that it's as wide as your bag and then sew the top edge to the back waistband. If you use pinking sheers (zig-zag scissors, available for a few bucks at places like Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores) you don't need to hem, and because you're using the bottom of the leg the bottom edge is already hemmed.

Hang the bag on the side of your sofa or comfy chair by draping the fabric at the back over the arm of the chair and tucking it under the cushion. It's a perfect place for remotes, cat brushes, small interactive cat toys, TV Guide, your current book, etc.. If you don't have any old blue jeans that are too big (better than too small -- you want the bag to be big) try Goodwill or some other thrift shop. If you don't have a sewing machine ask a friend if you can use hers. (If you're lucky, she'll take pity on you and offer to do it for you. )

It appears that you just joined TCS less than a month ago. Congratulations on your new kitten (pictures please -- we're all suckers for cat pictures here, but especially for kitten pictures) and congratulations on finding the best community of cat lovers on the internet. We hope you and Tali will be part of our community for many years to come.

Margret

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

i only have two remotes here, but they do get displaced as my two girls (now a little over two years old, but still just as active and silly as they were when kittens) zoom around the house.

i did want to mention cords/cables though, just in case your Tali should develop an urge to chew on them. my girls will chew on cords/cables, so virtually every cord and cable is covered in wire loom here. i bought the wire loom at Amazon, in bulk -- something like 100 feet of 3 different diameters of wire loom.

Margret , that's an awesome idea there! i think i'll make a hanging bag for the two remotes i have that get knocked around. thank you!

 

[Winchester]

Welcome to TCS! I love your cat's name.....how pretty!

We have five cats and they don't really mess around with remotes. Every once in a while one might step on a remote in the bed; I try to keep it program-side down, so she doesn't hit any buttons with her paws. I like Margret's idea of the little pouches. Or you could just buy a case for all your remotes and controllers and keep everything stored in that.

After our cable company went digital, one of our older cats actually puked in the new cable converter! I'm serious. She got up on the stand, sat down right in front of the converter, and up came her dinner. Try explaining that to the cable company rep!

 

[Margret]

micknsnicks2mom , it wasn't my idea. Most of my friends are fabric crafters of some sort and one of them showed me how. We're also (mostly) aging hippies; I suspect this dates from the same era when we were turning blue jeans into skirts and such.

Winchester , after we got the new HD DVR from DirecTV I discovered that the power button is one of those touch screen things on the left front corner, right where Jasmine's paw hangs when she's sleeping on a nice, warm DVR (while the DVR is trying to record something, of course). I had just gotten some museum wax so I could display my mother's hand-made lace angel Christmas tree topper on top of a cabinet/book case in the living room without Jasmine pushing it off and I had a sudden change of plans. The tree topper is now displayed on top of the DVR, secured with museum wax (though I don't think it would stand up to a concerted effort by Jasmine to push it off, because the aforementioned warmth loosens the wax a bit), and I'm thinking of getting Jasmine one of those "self-heating" cat beds to go on top of the book case.

Margret

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Our game controllers sit in charging stations. The girls never bothered the remotes and things when they were younger. The rest of the remotes usually end up on the tv cabinet or a small table we have in the living room. We had a basket for things years ago. That was more temptation for our kids than just leaving them on a tv cabinet. The kids were always more into things than the cats.