Anyone have an idea on a good way to keep the curious little beasts off the layout? I love them to death, but I've been messing with my new dcc stuff on a spare table with an oval to get the hang of it.. and they think batting cars off the rails is the best thing since sliced bread. I'm going to start building this saturday, and would like to build some sort of safeguard against the curious little critters jumping up on the benchwork. I was thinking of possibly using some spare plywood or maybe some plexiglass with some hinges on it that I could raise when I'm not playing, and can lower when its time to have some fun. I figure with 4 foot benchwork, and maybe 1 foot of guardrail over top of that, it might keep them from seeing interesting new toys to monkey with.
Are your trains in an area that could be closed off? If not, am afraid they'll be getting up to where they shouldn't no matter what you do. I've seen many a cat vault over a six foot high chain link fence...........
There was a recommendation about this on the Atlas board a few years ago that said to put loose sheets of aluminum foil around the parameter of your layout board. (i.e. the part where, if the cat jumps up onto the layout he/she will first land) Ideally do this when you're first starting building the layout before the scenery is in place, but it should work afterward as well. Apparently, they don't like the feeling of the foil under their paws or the noise it makes or something and they'll avoid that area like the plague. I had one "problem kitty" with my switching layout at my old house, and this worked. Of course, your mileage may vary.
This thread is just too funny...... My wifes cat (the one who thinks he's my cat and she actually belongs to him..) is the most curious critter I've ever seen, even compared to other cats we've had, and there is NO WAY of stopping him investigating something new in 'his' house. Hes the atypical 'scaredy cat' and the term 'curiosity killed the cat' was coined after our George. We've figured out that the easiest way to make him leave something alone is to let him investigate it thoroughly the second you put it down in the house. New $2000 display case? Open the doors and leave it for 10 mintues. Go back and he should just be coming out of it again, feigning total disinterest (having spent 9 minutes 45 seconds examining every shelf, corner, nook and cranny). Satisy their curiosity and they'll leave it be. 5' of siding wouldnt even slow him down..... He can jump onto our window ledge, which is 4' off the ground, with a VERY heavy drape on his back holding him down. He'd go over a 5' waal "nothing but net". The only solution is to fence em out entirely (floor-ceiling) or let them check it out. The mistake you;ve made was running a train while the cat was there...now he expects to be able to play with 'his toys' and will go looking for em whenever your in the room. You may have to resort to a bit of 'boot training' to break their habit (j/k). Good deterrent? A spary bottle full of plain old water. Cat comes in the room, squirt-squirt, cat hauls ass outta the room. They learn REAL fast that the room is off limits whenever a person is present. If theres noone there, the trains aint running so no biggy. Just be consistent and squirt them EVERY time they go in that room while someone is in there, even if you hafta chase em around the rest of the house.... LOL
hehe.. as I was posting this, I was thinking to myself: "This is funny.. I wonder what kind of response I'll get". Most of my friends gave me the "shoot and eat the cats" type of thing. I think I'm going to go with the squirtgun option, once I relocate the catbox out of that room. I thought of throwing up a partition to separate things, but its going to be too much of a hassle to relocate some stuff (like a door and a window). So off to the store I go for squirtgun. Thanks for the suggestions
I finally gave up with my cat. Luckily there is a door that separates the train room from the rest of the house. The train room used to be where the litter box and food were but I ended up having to move them out. The cat knows she isn't allowed up on the layout. You can always tell she is up on it even if you can't see her because as you approach the room you will hear her jumping down. The final straw was when she decided to validate (bite holes) in the metal disks on my searchlight signals. Before that it was telephone poles and tree tops that were bitten. Now at least twice a day the cat just has to go in the train room to patrol. I follow her on her rounds to make sure she doesn't get up on the layout. After she is sure that the train room is secure she doesn't have to go back in it until we are ready to go to bed. David
You know, I was going to mention the shooting approach but I thought I better not. But since you brought it up!!!!!!
Todd, we solved the Cat problem once before. After explaining what the cat was doing on our layout, our vet gave us a pill that would make the cat lose interest in the smell of our trains. You must follow the step by step instructions to give your cat this nasty tasting pill: 1. Pick up cat and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position left forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow. 2. Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process. 3. Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away. 4. Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm, holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten. 5. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden. 6. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigorously. 7. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth and set to one side for gluing later. 8. Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw. 9. Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink 1 beer to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap. 10. Retrieve cat from neighbor's shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard, and close door onto neck, to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band. 11. Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of scotch. Pour shot, drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Apply whiskey compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw Tee shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom. 12. Call fire department to retrieve the friggin cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrap. 13. Tie the little *******'s front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table, find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of filet steak. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour 2 pints of water down throat to wash pill down. 14. Consume remainder of scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table. 15. Arrange for ASPCA to collect mutant cat from hell and call local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters. We have not had any problems with a cat since then!
There is absolutely no way to keep a cat off of your layout. I have tried before. My planned layout will be in a spare bedroom with the door closed. At least the cat has quit using the track bed of my garden train as his litter box. I was having to do a lot of repairs of feline scat excavations, but for some reason he decided a couple of months ago to use some more private shrub beds..... The cat belongs to my wife and kids. The trains belong to me. As much as I love my trains, I do not like celibacy or sleeping on the sofa......
Make sure you get one of those high capacity super-soaker guns. Hey, you might as well have some fun with the situation...
You might consider one of these instead: http://tinyurl.com/2bcso Should be less messy than the standard blasters
Post a sign - "No cats allowed". Ok, I know it won't do any good, but it was one of the suggestions that appeared in a similar thread some time ago. I can't give credit 'cuz I don't remember who said it, but it sure is funny... or maybe it's just me Andrew
We have 4 kittens from our cat, Sheba, and they're 3 months old & full of mischief. If we want them to get off & stay off something, we use a sqirt bottle full of water, aim at the offending feline, and blast away. One or two hits usually do the trick, and afterwards the mere sight of the water bottle makes 'em scatter. Watash: how much was the hospital bill for the needed blood transfusions, laceration repairs, and plastic surgery?
Watash, I just love your version!! Been there done that too many times (well most of it anyways...). That's why we have no cats anymore - get a dog or two: much much better!!
This is why I like dogs. You can have your trains running full circle at full throttle all day long and they just lay off to the side of you on the floor....not a care in the world.....just happy to be inside in the presence of their master. Of course....the day my 120 pound Great Pyrenees jumps on top of my 55" high layout will be the day I reach down to make sure the ground hasn't frozen over. That rascal won't even jump in the back of the truck. He hops his front half up on the tailgate and then turns and looks at you....just waiting for you to pick his ole' heavy rear end up and shove him in the rest of the way.
I can't believe this. I thought I was the only person with cats who like trains. When I go in the train room to work, my cat wants to join. She comes in and will just lay there for as long as I'm there. If i run trains she will jump up on my lap and watch. she has roamed the layout from time to time ans rarely bumps into anything.
I knew a guy that had trouble with his cats getting into something else. So he connected a photo strobe to a motion detector. This terrified the cats with out doing harm. They wouldn't come in even when he was in there. And no I never inhaled.
