Comments on: Cats in the Studio = Mess and Delays

By: Amy Snively

Amy Snively — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 02:24:36 +0000

Oh my gosh–thank you for saying that, Connie! I’ve been having a bad taste issue here, too! I was worried that my new keyboard was carcinogenic.

Arielle–I use a water bottle for a quick squirt in other rooms of the house, but I don’t want to spray water here in the studio. The air gets a funny reaction because they think it’s hissing a warning at them, but they don’t apparently associate the canned air with me. They seem to think that the can itself is issuing the warning!

By: connieterwilliger

connieterwilliger — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:49:11 +0000

That compressed air tastes really bad too – there is a bitterant added to prevent stupid kids from huffing it. I didn’t realize that – and was truly freaking out after cleaning my keyboard a couple of weeks ago when my lips and fingertips tasted weird – I tend to nibble on my fingernails a bit when thinking.

By: Arielle DeLisle

Arielle DeLisle — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:42:49 +0000

I can relate to this! My husband and I have 4 cats and 2 are very persistent when it comes to joining me in the studio. If I close the door with a cat who demands my attention on the other side, she’ll meow and dig at the floor until I boot her from that outer room as well, or give in and take a break from working. Our smallest cat can fit in the space in front of the keyboard, and she’s learned that she can stay in the booth with me if she sits under my desk or moves over to the side and stays quiet. After a few minutes of petting she’ll settle in and take a nap and I can record!

However I’ve also had to upgrade one of my cables to a thicker shielded USB because it was the target of nomming. I’ve also gone strictly bluetooth for phone directed sessions because the same cat has chewed up 3 Apple earbud/microphone cables. That was mostly kitten behavior but I am conscious to avoid thin white cables for ANYTHING in my studio, just in case!

Amy – I love the compressed air idea! So simple and harmless, thanks for that!

By: connieterwilliger

connieterwilliger — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 15:47:37 +0000

Thanks for that Amy! I will be sure to check that connection if trouble crops up on my lines.

By: Amy Snively

Amy Snively — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 22:18:32 +0000

I was having sudden and mysterious trouble with my ISDN and had to have the Verizon guy out to take a look at things. It took about minutes of this and that, but he finally crawled under my desk and found the cable that the cat had chewed through. :-(

I don’t have the heart to completely ban kitties from visiting (when I’m not recording, that is). But I now keep a can of compressed air on my desk to ‘squirt’ at them when they look like they’re going to start chewing on something…