How to keep cats off your layout?

[Sheffie]

(Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere. I did a quick search but couldn't find a discussion on the topic.)

 

How do you prevent cats getting on to your layout? Deterrence, locked doors, barriers, scents...?

 

I have a 4 months old kitten. That means inquisitive, springy, and fast. She jumps onto my layout as often as she gets in to the office. It's a sad day when the biggest problem with the new cat turns out to be that my hobby is suffering -or- that I have to keep the office door closed.

[gavino200]

Closed door at all times. And stick to it. Never give in. Resist their cuteness. They will never learn. Keep them out. Be strong!!!!

[cteno4]

Training a cat is an oxymoron, they train you or get back at you if you don’t get trained. Doors, cats can walk straight thru a closed door like it wasn’t there. The more you make anything forbidden territory to them the more they want at it.
 

Kittens man, they are chaos incarnate! I could imagine the fun they would have on a layout, all those cool little things to swat around and leap on! Kittenzilla!

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[disturbman]

Depends on your patience and your cat. There are two ways, take the time to teach yourself how to train a cat, people have done it but I don't find cats very malleable, or leave the door close.

[railsquid]

Get a webcam or two and create your very own "Kittenzilla" Youtube channel with paid subscriptions, merchandise etc. - if done right, that should cover the ongoing damage costs ;).

 

In a former life we were successfully able to persuade the cats not to climb onto the kitchen counter, but then they were older (rehomed rescue cats) and relatively accustomed to the ways of hoomins. I can't absolutely be sure that they never waited until we were out to jump into the forbidden zone, but we never saw any evidence that happened.

[cteno4]

15 minutes ago, disturbman said:

teach yourself how to train a cat, people have done it

Hogwash, the cats trained them into thinking they had trained the cats!  Any trained cat is a dog in cat’s clothing.
 

jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

Build the layout underwater 😉

 

It sort of depends on the cat. Back in Norway I had 2 cats, one was really relaxed and couldn't care less about the trains. I didn't have any scenery, but she'd just sit on the table where I had a loop set up, and watch the trains. The other cat though.. Well, he was just a whirlwind and chased absolutely everything.

[MeTheSwede]

My layouts are behind closed doors. That's the full proof option. It also helps against dust and hair.

 

I have however successfully had cats and a lego layout in the same room. Here is some advice:

 

1. Deny the cat easy access to the layout by not having conveniently placed chairs etc. A jump from the floor to the layout should be the only possible access point.

2. Raise the height of the layout to make the jump more inconvenient and make it harder for the cat to see a landing spot.

3. Avoid large empty areas at the edge of the layout which can function as convenient landing spots. Put some stuff there.

 

The key here is that cats don't like to make jumps into the unknown.

 

 

 

 

[Wolf]

Suddenly I am very happy my cat is scared of the trains noise ... 

[marknewton]

Don't have a cat. 😉

[Tony Galiani]

After Typhoon Gerry Radar severely damaged Chihiro Tetsudo - twice actually as the second time it was in a closet but he apparently figured out how to open the door - and Typhoon Haku had a hand (or should I say paw) in the destruction - I have been covering my layouts to keep the cats away from them.  That has seemed to work okay.  However, my layouts are relatively small so that is easy to do.  I am sure I will find a new set of cat challenges if I ever get going on my planned shelf layout.

Ciao,

Tony Galiani

[disturbman]

Alternative is to surround the layout with a temporary moat. I once lived in an apartment with a fish tank and a cat. The cat loved to sleep on top of the fish tank, where the light was warming up the lid. Until it jumped while I was cleaning the aquarium and it fell into the water. It didn't try sleeping up there again.

[railsquid]

TBH I think there's not much hope of keeping away a 4 month old kitten other than a door closed firmly in a way which requires opposable thumbs to open it.

 

Maybe after a few trips to the vet you could try suspending a dummy wearing a white coat over the layout, one of our cats was so traumatised by the sight of one she would run away and hide.

[gavino200]

3 hours ago, marknewton said:

Don't have a cat. 😉

 

The solution can't be worse than the problem!!!!

[Tony Galiani]

I am a bit hesitant to suggest this as not everyone might like it ... but a little spritz with a plant mister can work.  A few sprays when the kitten goes near the layout can actually train it to stay away from that spot (after a few tries) and it is harmless.

 

This generally works well and is painless though there are some cats it does not work on.  When we got Haku (who I still miss terribly after all this time), he did something (can't remember what) and my wife said words to the effect:  "oh no, that is not a habit you are going to keep" and whipped out the plant mister and sprayed him.  At which point he looked up at here as if to say "are you serious? You made my fur wet."  And then proceeded to clean himself off while ignoring her.  She was pretty stunned by his complete disdain for her efforts.

 

Ciao,

Tony Galiani

Edited February 21, 2022 by Tony Galiani
spelling and grammar correction

[Cat]

Kittens, they're so darn cute!  They have to be, or else we would kill them.  It's an evolutionary feature.
 
Yes, spray bottles can help train some cats.
 
Another technique that works on some — immediately after they have hopped up, or tried to, pick them up and hold them by the scruff of the neck right by where they were jumping to and smack just beside them very loudly with a rolled up newspaper.  Then put them down and chase them away with great fanfare.

[marknewton]

17 hours ago, gavino200 said:

 

The solution can't be worse than the problem!!!!

It's not! 😉

[Kamome]

Funnily enough, I watched a TV show about the guy in Osaka with the Diorama restaurant who had a small shop with a rental layout. He was struggling for business then he introduced cats, a kind of Cat/Train cafe.  His business picked up massively, although seemed to be a lot more lonely women than previously.

 

I honestly couldn’t think of anything worse for this hobby than introducing a cat. So I didn’t.😁 Also couldn’t imagine going to eat somewhere with blimmin’ cats everywhere. 🚃🐈

 

I wish you luck with your predicament @Sheffie but i really don’t envy you. If all else fails, could be a business opportunity if you start serving food as well.

[Szdfan]

My wife and I have the problem that when we’re on the toilet, the cats push the bathroom door open and try to sit on our laps.

 

I’ll think about keeping cats off a layout once I figure out that problem.

Edited February 22, 2022 by Szdfan

[railsquid]

Have you tried a strategically positioned empty cardboard box? Or if that doesn't work, a strategically positioned empty cardboard box with a little catnip inside?

[disturbman]

The box has to be smaller than the cat and should be placed inside a cupboard. This is tantamount to cat heaven. You'll never see it again.

[Wolf]

Try strategically placed N-scale cats on your Layout. They will assert dominance and make your cat stay away every full moon when jupiter and venus align. Its basically flawless.

 

[cteno4]

My cat growing up never got on my layout as I always left a drawer open on my clothes chest for her to sleep in. At most she would disdainfully look at the trains running from the drawer and yawn in total lack of interest. That being said she was an awesome cat that never had any bad behaviors (or she just had us trained very well) and made it to 23 years old!  But she was an in and out cat so was able to get her mischief out in her hunting and being queen cat of the neighborhood.

 

On 2/21/2022 at 3:36 PM, Cat said:

Kittens, they're so darn cute!  They have to be, or else we would kill them.  It's an evolutionary feature.

True dat!

 

My belief is domestic dogs and cats were actually aliens that crash landed on the earth thousands of years ago. Cats were the masters and dogs their slaves bread to please. Once on earth cats just enslaved the humans and humans became dogs’ masters and dogs go after cats whenever they get the chance. Fits well with the current situation.

 

jeff

[JR East]

Best option to keep the cat away is …. Alf !

[toc36]

Glass