# Studio Monitors and Cats



## ctsai89 (May 13, 2017)

I've always dream about owning a cat... they are just too cute.

But as you know cats are curious beings and they fly/jump around the house everywhere.

Studio monitors are especially delicate in that the tweeters and the cones are easily damaged if not covered with grill (which is like 90% of all monitors) making it vulnerable to cat's scratches

What can I do if I wanted to have the cat around me while making music?


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## JPComposer (May 13, 2017)

Learn to work with key commands. You're not going to want a mouse on your desk.


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## airflamesred (May 13, 2017)

Cat or Kitten? Cats spend an inordinate amount of time not flying and jumping around - and just sleeping.


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## ctsai89 (May 13, 2017)

airflamesred said:


> Cat or Kitten? Cats spend an inordinate amount of time not flying and jumping around - and just sleeping.



but when they're not, would I be risking my studio monitors being scratched?


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## James Marshall (May 13, 2017)

Cat owner here, no issues going near my EVE's. They like stuff they can get their claws stuck into, tweeters and cones are far too smooth. She prefers our furniture


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## pmcrockett (May 13, 2017)

In my experience, cats tend to be more interested in smaller, easily pushed objects (cups, pens) and fabrics (curtains, couches) and less interested in larger, heavier things such as monitors. As long as the monitors aren't the tiny desktop kind and the cat can't easily knock them onto the floor, you'll probably be fine.


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## Smikes77 (May 13, 2017)

pmcrockett said:


> In my experience, cats tend to be more interested in smaller, easily pushed objects (cups, pens) and fabrics (curtains, couches) and less interested in larger, heavier things such as monitors. As long as the monitors aren't the tiny desktop kind and the cat can't easily knock them onto the floor, you'll probably be fine.



Depends how determined the cat is. Last thing you want is a cat that sees that as a challenge, and you come home to Robocat (in full on cyborg gear) pounding away at your monitors, looking angrily at your car.


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## Smikes77 (May 13, 2017)

But the chances of that are fairly slim.


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## fiestared (May 13, 2017)

Cats owner Here, no prob at all, they don't even have a look to my PSI especially When I use solo strings that they hate


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## Rodney Money (May 13, 2017)

Go get the kitty!  At one time I was composing with as much as a cat, a dog, and 23 birds, lol.


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## Smikes77 (May 13, 2017)

Rodney Money said:


> Go get the kitty!  At one time I was composing with as much as a cat, a dog, and 23 birds, lol.



What sample library was THAT?


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## airflamesred (May 13, 2017)

Smikes77 said:


> What sample library was THAT?


You Sir, are on fire today!


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## airflamesred (May 13, 2017)

My cat is interested in 3 things only;
Food,
Watching humans look cute on youtube,
and Food.

Seriously though, Over a year old and they are very low maintainance.


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## Smikes77 (May 13, 2017)

airflamesred said:


> You Sir, are on fire today!



I had a drink with lunch.


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## airflamesred (May 13, 2017)

Smikes77 said:


> I had a drink with lunch.


Lydia Lunch?, How is she?


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## erikradbo (May 13, 2017)

Yesterday morning I woke up and realized one of our cats had pushed one of my monitors down on the midi controller. Short fall though, and it's everything is still working well, including the cat. So don't worry.


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## Smikes77 (May 13, 2017)

airflamesred said:


> Lydia Lunch?, How is she?



She's good. But she couldn't stop complaining about her cat.


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## resound (May 13, 2017)

My cat has never messed with any of my gear, but he is constantly jumping on my lap and distracting me while I am trying to work.


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## Norbz (May 13, 2017)

No more leaving cups/glasses/loose objects around your studio. If you have a chordless mouse, say bye to it - and say hi to playing hide and go seek with many belongings. My Bengal was notorious for being a big part of studio sessions, in every 'in the way' possible. Lying across the keyboard/your hands as you try to type, walking across the midi keys and plopping down, pushing stuff over to watch it fall, just standing in front of your monitor, ATTENTION - GIVE IT TO MEEEEE!! lol, worth every moment too. I advise getting it, the odd wire/thing it will break or lose will also make you keep your studio more tidy before/after sessions.


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## airflamesred (May 13, 2017)

Smikes77 said:


> She's good. But she couldn't stop complaining about her cat.


Lives in Barcelona now aparently, Could have made those tentative steps out of retirement on this very thread - what a coincidence.


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## airflamesred (May 13, 2017)

erikradbo said:


> pushed one of my monitors down


What are you feeding it on - greased steroids?


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## Smikes77 (May 13, 2017)

airflamesred said:


> Lives in Barcelona now aparently, Could have made those tentative steps out of retirement on this very thread - what a coincidence.



She's an actual person. I thought you were making her up!


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## airflamesred (May 13, 2017)

Smikes77 said:


> She's an actual person. I thought you were making her up!


google is your friend, my friend.
In fairness I had a vague memory of her - Once again you tee'd me up!


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## thesteelydane (May 13, 2017)

No problem at all. Likes sitting on the monitors though.


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## ctsai89 (May 13, 2017)

thesteelydane said:


> No problem at all. Likes sitting on the monitors though.



that tail is gonna touch the tweeter...... My other monitors didn't produce the highs so accurately because i touched the tweeter a few times.. I don't want the tweeters to be touched even once by anything soft/hard.


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## ctsai89 (May 13, 2017)

So guys, if I wanted to own a cat, should I be getting genelec monitors because it is completely covered?


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## Arbee (May 13, 2017)

ctsai89 said:


> I've always dream about owning a cat... they are just too cute.
> 
> But as you know cats are curious beings and they fly/jump around the house everywhere.
> 
> ...


From experience, a cat will sleep on your keyboard (because it has your smell), in your chair (ditto) and in any open, padded guitar or instrument case (too cosy to ignore). My monitors are fine though, never at risk. Must confess however, cat hair in my studio is an issue so the cat is banned (although of course, being a cat, that only applies while the door is closed )


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## ryans (May 13, 2017)

My cat was very interested in the empty cardboard box my monitors shipped in. Not so interested in the actual monitors...


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## Smikes77 (May 14, 2017)

thesteelydane said:


> No problem at all. Likes sitting on the monitors though.


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## synthpunk (May 14, 2017)

Get a dog


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## Silence-is-Golden (May 14, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> Get a dog


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## SchnookyPants (May 14, 2017)

Cats tend to go after tweeters... but run from woofers. So it's kind of a toss-up.


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## Flaneurette (May 14, 2017)

ctsai89 said:


> I've always dream about owning a cat... they are just too cute.
> 
> But as you know cats are curious beings and they fly/jump around the house everywhere.
> 
> ...



Kevlar cones?

Pets are nice, but I can't keep them. My house is way too neat for that. Have a white interior. White floor, walls, furniture, which in itself is difficult to keep clean. White leather couch and cats are (talking from personal experience) an absolute nightmare.


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## SchnookyPants (May 14, 2017)

First off, you want to get a little kitten, not a grown cat, because when young, they're easily trained to prefer a good set of cans. Problem solved.


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## erikradbo (May 14, 2017)

airflamesred said:


> What are you feeding it on - greased steroids?



It's more about the placement and the instability of the monitors than the strength of the cat.


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## ctsai89 (May 14, 2017)

Silence-is-Golden said:


>



no :( dogs are ugly compared to cats *shots fired*


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## SchnookyPants (May 14, 2017)

ctsai89 said:


> no :( dogs are ugly compared to cats *shots fired*



... across the Bow Wow...


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## Tatu (May 19, 2017)

I live in constant fear after receiving couple of these furry beauties to stay with me for a month:
""


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## macmac (May 19, 2017)

We've had a couple cats (not at the same time though). Cats do like to jump up on the desk and walk across it when you are there, that's for sure. Both of ours did (until they get older where they don't jump anymore). Neither one ever went near the monitors that were on risers. Mostly liked to lay down on the MIDI keyboard which didn't thrill me, but you love them anyway. They do like to be where you are.

We always provided a scratch pad (one of those cardboard perforated things that lay on the floor) so they always used that to sharpen their claws. Never once did either of them ever scratch or damage furniture, never even attempted to do so.

Cats are really great, they give a lot of love and do such cute things, they really seem to understand. Ours always answers us when we talk. Definitely one will add to your household. In the past have had dogs (which are great too) but after "switching" to cats, don't know if we'd go back. Cats are just so much less maintenance, and cleaner too. Also they don't do things out of spite, and you can leave them overnight if you have to go away, and you never have to litter train them (their mother does that).


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## James Marshall (May 19, 2017)

macmac said:


> Also they don't do things out of spite



You clearly haven't met mine. She's the boss of the house, not me... I wouldn't change her for the world though and oh my goodness she is hilarious. The whole cats being funny on the internet thing, it's completely true. 

One word: *diva*!


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## macmac (May 19, 2017)

Also, if you get a cat that is about a year or two old, from a shelter, they won't have the rambunctiousness of a kitten, if that is a concern. To add to what another person said, their interest lies in the little things they can play with, like a pen that they can swat off the desk.


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## SchnookyPants (May 19, 2017)

Tatu said:


> I live in constant fear after receiving couple of these furry beauties to stay with me for a month:
> ""




Tatu - Be very, very careful. He/She looks just about ready to _*SPRING*_ into action...


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## Tatu (May 19, 2017)

SchnookyPants said:


> Tatu - Be very, very careful. He/She looks just about ready to _*SPRING*_ into action...


She surely does and it's like this all the time!


She's actually as curious as cats- and only cats - can be and found her way to the highest point in my apartment (kitchen shelves) within minutes after arriving. No visual evidence of them showing any interest to my monitor stands (yet). They do like to lay down on my keyboard or midi kb when I'm at my DAW. 

I love cats.


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## chillbot (May 19, 2017)

I lost a kitten once.

We have four cats now but they're all in the house. I had a cat that absolutely loved the studio but she passed away a couple years ago, I miss her. No problems with the monitors, the big issue was walking across the mixers and pressing all sorts of buttons. I guess most people don't use mixers anymore so you're probably safe. One pass across the digital mixers could cost me an hour trying to figure out what she had done.

Anyway the kitten... brought the new kitten out to the studio just for fun, started working. All of a sudden, no kitten. My wife and I freaked out, we searched the studio for two solid hours. We looked everywhere outside, even though I couldn't see any possible way the kitten could have gotten out. We shined flashlights inside the couch and inside filing cabinets and racks, total mystery. Finally found him inside the subwoofer... had crawled through that little hole what, 2 inches wide? Curled up in a warm spot, vibrations and all. Maybe the bass frequencies lulled it to sleep.

Posted in the hopes of helping the next person who loses a studio kitten.


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## synthpunk (May 19, 2017)

Now that's one urban feline !

We keep one cat around because she is a very good Mouser and stays out of the eas in het own little world. We are in an older building in ever since we've had her we've had no signs of mice.

Dogs are better of companions in my opinion and better than people in some occasions.  this cat grew up with dogs so it thinks it's more of a dog than a cat LOL



chillbot said:


> I lost a kitten once.
> 
> We have four cats now but they're all in the house. I had a cat that absolutely loved the studio but she passed away a couple years ago, I miss her. No problems with the monitors, the big issue was walking across the mixers and pressing all sorts of buttons. I guess most people don't use mixers anymore so you're probably safe. One pass across the digital mixers could cost me an hour trying to figure out what she had done.
> 
> ...


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## Tatu (May 20, 2017)

And then there's this:


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## SchnookyPants (May 20, 2017)

'loves his mousie.


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## holywilly (May 20, 2017)

Or you can train your cat to be your assistant.


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## Tatu (May 21, 2017)

holywilly said:


> Or you can train your cat to be your assistant


No, you are the assistant now.


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## Tatu (May 21, 2017)

Or you can just hit record and let them do the work for you


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (May 24, 2017)

Hi everyone !

I have two cats and two dogs, and I don't think cats and audio gear are a good match  Learned it the hard way !

Cats just LOVE to climb on things. Last year, one missed his jump to the top of one of my speakers, got his claws out and damaged the rubber ring on a tweeter.

I absolutely love my buddies, but I leave the door closed now...


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## Tatu (May 24, 2017)

My BX8's are on rather weak stands and I've been a bit worried... but my cats are very carefull about their footing, so a bit weaving stand seem to warn them off.. I don't know what kind of a climbing fest they're having when I'm not around though..


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (May 24, 2017)

Slightly off-topic, but I have to say on the other hand, cats make excellent iPad stands.


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## timtom (May 25, 2017)

So far so good...only mixing can be a bit challenging


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## resound (May 25, 2017)

It really depends on the cat and its personality. My cat loves to jump on my lap while I am working but he has no interest in climbing on my monitors or my computer desk. He would rather sit on the couch where it is comfortable


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