Cats in the studio? What to do?

[Silverfish]

Hey team-

I'm cat sitting for my girlfriend this week while she's out of the country. So far, the cat and I are getting along quite well, but I have some concerns. Since I know EVERYONE ON THE INTERNET LOVES CATS, I thought I'd ask here for your advice.

My "studio" is in my living room. The cat is in the living room. The cat is now jumping on stuff. Directly onto the keybeds of synths and midi controllers. Do you allow this behavior in your studio? How do you manage your cats in the studio? Use a compressor? Make them analog for that warm, vintage sound? Switch to protools?Send bug reports to Ableton HQ, and revert to 7?

In the next thread, I'll ask how to make my new cat sound like Daft Punk.

[Machinesworking]

Oddly enough I've never had this problem. My old cat was big, didn't jump too high, and my set up isn't cat friendly, most things are at slight angles and as tall as a tall office chair can allow, so that playing standing up is also possible.

Miss having cats though.

[UKRuss]

By christ I'd give the cat a thrashing if it jumped up on my gear. 'GET DOWN!', 'Get DOWN YOU STUPID DOG!', I'd shout.

Like that.

[e.g.:]

To cure this behavior you will need

--One burlap bag
--One brick
--One body of water deep enough to cover a cat in a burlap bag with a brick in it

[rosti]

You should get yourself a blender defender:

http://www.plasma2002.com/blenderdefender/

[john doe by choice]

Contrary to the posts made, I would advise against violence, especially if post-vacation nookie is something you desire.

Keybeds on most keyboards are built to withstand much worse than a cat jumping on them, although, I would worry about your monitors, if you have the kind with exposed speakers that are accessible to cats. I'd cover the keyboards/tabletop equipment with a towel or two, which should work just fine. Something that I also do is keep around a can of compressed air, and if I see my cats doing something stupid (one of them is always doing something stupid, I don't get it), then I'll give a little blast of compressed air in their direction, which sends them running fast, since it usually sounds like a much bigger cat hissing at them. Works like a charm.

[ChiDJ]

I have two cats and a dog and they all hang with me in my studio. They love the bump bump. They were poorly behaved initially, but they now each have a spot to chill. The biggest thing to watch out for is the mangy beasties snacking on your cables and cords.

Bitter Apple FTW!

Tod

[logic_user99]

You should get yourself a blender defender:

http://www.plasma2002.com/blenderdefender/

GENIUS!

[Sandrah]

My dog used to do everything to make me stop doing my work and start playing with her, so I bought some toys and bones and she's just happy! Sleeping under the table with her favorite toy in tooth, not sure that peace will last long, but at least hope so...

[ethios4]

I recommend getting a Car DVD. That really helped with my problem.

[Bleep Blop Ima Robot]

Most cats don't like the smell of ganjah, so if their up on your stuff - pop the lid and give em a whif, they'll be off it in no time

[Silverfish]

There are some absolute gems in this list. Amazing.

[ethios4]

On a more serious note...

I've had to cover my gear in a cloth before to keep the cats away, or at least keep their hair off everything. I've also had good results training cats by spraying them with water. I would scare them off the gear and then chase them with a spray bottle. In one case my cat kept chewing cables, and once he chewed a $50 cable I pinned him down, put the cable in his mouth, and sprayed vinegar water in his mouth. He hasn't chewed a cable in the 7 years since then.

[Thomas]

my cat once scratched my monitors when a low sine wave was playing

[john gordon]

To cure this behavior you will need

--One burlap bag
--One brick
--One body of water deep enough to cover a cat in a burlap bag with a brick in it

bite my tongue.