BJFE / BearFoot fx Guitar Effects Community

Hi everybody,

I have been wanting to get a cat or maybe two and a dog eventually, so when I saw The Warmth's recent pics of Jimenez, Iit sparked a question:

For those of you that have cats and dogs that live inside, are their any procautionary measures that you have to take to protect your guitar rig?

We always had cats and dogs, but outside only (in the country).

Also, as far as dogs go, what breed of dog do you have and what is his/her personality like?

THANKS!

Matt aka Eskimo_Joe

I've never really had any problems and I have two cats. I used to catch Oscar J. sleeping on my synthesizer, but I have a cover on it, so it's alright. I don't think he does that anymore.

Cool, thanks Warmth. Are your cats declawed? And what does declawed mean? Does that include their back feet too? Any risk that my speaker cab would become an ideal scratching post?

If you're going to have a house cat, it'd be best to have him or her declawed (just the front ... no real need to declaw their back feet, but you can if you want to). You'll definitely run the risk of furniture or amps becoming scratching posts if you don't.

^ what He said
I havent had a Cat in the house since PDQ ( my first "son", pick of the litter past after 17 yrs). In a way, I do not choose a "pet", I refer them as a companion. There life is just as significant as mine. That said, I feel reluctant to "pick out" a companion... I feel a bond will be present when the situation happens... After PDQ's passing, my life (not because of) was doing a nose dive, life changing situations out of my control. A baby Tortoise found me and I took her in. She will probably out live me and is a true charachter. Don't think for a minute that a reptial has no personal personality... A few years ago in a pet shop a baby Blue faced amazon parrot with a robust attitude and personality ( she thinks she is a Umbella Cockatoo) came home with me, the bond was instant and undinialble, the owners never saw such a quick bond. Love at first sight. Her name is "The Mearill Venjea" (matrix movie) but I just refer to her as Mearill
Judy (significant other) has had the same parrot for about 20yrs, Miles.
And her dog has reunited back with us from her hiatus with Judy's ex. She is a collie type mutt (rescued) Maxine is elder, but a very sweet kind Dog.
I would love to have a Cat to be a part of the family, but, in honesty, I am waiting till we purchase a home this year. Maxine is enjoying her elder years of last with us, Miles is a stubborn old man parrot set in his old ways and puts up with Mearill,..... Mearill is a pain in the joyness and makes light of any situation... Little Bit the tortoise is waiting for nice weather so she can enjoy her outside pen. We enjoy our companions
I highly encourage to look into the rescue, adoption resources in your area. There are alot of great companions out there that have been put aside due to being just a "pet" and no longer "needed" or whatever other excuse. The love is out there, and you will find it, or... it will find you when you start looking

TheWarmth wrote:If you're going to have a house cat, it'd be best to have him or her declawed (just the front ... no real need to declaw their back feet, but you can if you want to). You'll definitely run the risk of furniture or amps becoming scratching posts if you don't.

+1 on that! my cat thinks grill cloth is there for her to sharpen her claws on! she's indoor outdoor so i leave her with claws and keep lots of scratching posts around and leave obstacles in front speaker grills this works pretty well but before i got some scratching posts she did a number on an old amp i have.

I have 2.
They do not pay too much attention to my amps. My cats like sleeping or sit on my guitar when I don't pay attention to them. (my guitars are ususally thrown on the couch.)


declawing the front paws will not make them perfenctly safe for your amp, I don't think. Both of mine are declawed, but they did some damages to my beloved leather couch that I eat, sleep, and do pretty much everything else on. , but oh well,,, what can I do... I know these cats for almost 8 years now. That's whole a lot more than what I can say about female companions.

My cat is just barred from entering one room by screens and/or doors.

I have to keep him out when nobody is home because he will claw everything including my stereo speakers, amp, monitors and sub. He has also shown me that he is interested in getting on my turntable and pissing about with the stylus.

He's an outside cat mainly but spends plenty of time inside especially in winter. I'm lucky I have the space to let him out and obviously I can't de-claw the guy - dogs and other cats would get him when he goes out.

The thing about cats is that if they are closed up somewhere when you're out they will just sleep through it until you get back, as long as there's somewhere comfortable to curl up.

I've had little buddies through oput my life growing up...and didn't have any around for a couple years when I lived in apartments and with friends.

When I got my house, my girlfriend's cat was the first buddy I had around...she was a very nice well mannerd young cat. We got another kitten from the Humane Society shortly after we moved into the house. In September My girlfriend's cat passed from a lymph/respritory condition. A few days later I saw a pug at the Humane Society, and immediately fell in love. Ofcourse it seemed that everyone else loved them, so I had my work cut out for the next few months.

In the meantime one of our friends found an abandoned kitten and he couldn't keep it because he already had two and his roommate wouldn't allow him to have another...so, he came to our home...has similar looks to the cat my girlfriend had....just a whole different personality.

Then about a month later I finally found my pug. He's probably the most well behaved/mannered dog I've ever had. He also knows who is buddy is. He loves anyone, but if I'm around he's right next to me.

As far as amps and equipment go, none of my cats have been declawed even the ones I had when I was growing up. They've never touched my amps (knock on wood) they'll just stroll by and sniff around them or if my amp has been on recently they might lay on top of it.

I think I get more freaked when my pug sniffs around my gear

yup grill cloth is almost irrisistable to a cat with claws..... we have a number of 'scratching posts' about that are even better than grill cloth to try and disuade them.....so far pretty good...

tho the Deluxe Reverb has been reliced a bit....