Shoelaces!

[kehorner]

Any suggestions on how to get the boys to stop chewing on my shoelaces? Both Pat and Captain Hook are going after them. I've tried the squirt bottle, but Pat doesn't really pay any attention (he knows that he can get in a few seconds of naughty before I can grab the bottle, and then he sees me grabbing it and runs before I can spray him). And Captain Hook is just dumb. Actually, Captain Hook is already really skittish, so I feel bad about yelling at him. Even after 2 years with me, he still runs or cowers anytime I walk towards him too fast. I just don't know how to convince him that I'm not going to beat him (I've had him since he was 6 weeks, and he was NEVER beaten!).

Anyway, the boys are destroying my shoelaces. I have to keep tying them together in strange places. Is there anything that I can do to get them to stop chewing on them? (Yes, I know that I could put them in the closet and shut the door, but I always forget when I've just come home from a long day...)

They have lots of toys, and it's not even like they are playing with the shoelaces... they just get them in between their molars and start chomping for a few seconds until they get through.

[Traci]

They like them for three reasons:

1) shoelaces are live slithery creatures that move and are therefore fair game to pounce on and kill.

2) they feel and taste good when chomped on.

3) because they are attached to what you wear, they are again, fair game, just like leaving cat hair on your favorite black clothes.

Make a habit of putting your shoes in the closet as soon as you come home. I had to do this too, now it is just habit and I don't even think about it.

[kehorner]

Yeah... I suppose there's no choice.... Here are the victims... Note the total of 10 wounds, 9 of them fatal to the integrity of the lace. I was in the lab the other day with gloves on and asked somebody to tie my shoe for me, and she got really confused when presented with four loose ends of lace!

[Traci]

Ah, the evidence (naughty, naughty kitties)

Let me guess, you've pieced them together just until you get new ones

[kehorner]

Ummm.... if you mean "just until I get new ones" as in however long I can get by until the knots get out of hand and I absolutely cannot keep the shoes on my feet without new laces, then yes. The lab shoes have looked like that for months now... I just have to double knot the top fragment of lace that's looped through the top two eyelets, and I'm good to go. But I think maybe someday soon I'll get some new laces for the other shoes.

[Traci]

Yeah, that's what I meant. No sense in ruining a perfectly good pair of mangled, chewed-up shoelaces until you absolutely cannot get your finger wrapped around the last shred of a thread, and only until you've used your knitting needles to accomplish that feat, absolutely not until necessary.

[Beleriphon]

As a quick question here, is it okay for cats to chew laces? I have a beat up old pair of laces from some construction boots I don't use any more that would be perfect for Fiz. I just want to make sure that his playing with them wont cause any problems.

[slvrwhispr]

Don't let them play with them unsupervised, because I've seen cats try to swallow long stringy things whole. As long as there aren't any chunks that could fall off, and as long as it's an interactive toy that you don't let them have otherwise, it shouldn't be a problem. But if they're work boots, I'd give the laces a good wash first in case there's any kind of iffy substance on them.

[Traci]

Agree with slvrwhispr, never leave strings, etc out without supervising your cats at all times. Put them away when you're not able to supervise.

Leather shoe or bootstrings could be prior treated with substances (oils, to preserve the leather)....I wouldn't allow your cats to chew on these type of strings.

Shoelaces that are made with cotton or synthetic material should be fine.

[Beleriphon]

Oh their just standard high density "tear proof" nylon thread. As for goop, I've only ever used them while working in mud, I did however dig up a pair of preshredded pair of cotton laces from some old dress shoes that should be more Fiz's speed.