My cat climbs my 55" TV

[chloejune]

One or both of my cats, probably the daughter only, likes scaling up the face of the TV in my living room.

I have never seen it, so it happens when nobody is home. But I found out about it by shining a flashlight to the screen in the dark. What I saw were a bunch of paw prints running all the way to the upper ledge of the TV. At first it was only one line of the paws on the right side, but now I'm seeing another line of paw prints on the left running up the upper bezel of the TV. The screen is not scratched (much) but the upper ledge is scratched in 3 places. So in addition to tying down the audio soundbar that is in front of the TV by its base (because I have found it dangling by its audio cable one day), I have placed some duct tape on the top of the soundbar and effectively made it a double-sided tape. This setup doesn't look pretty and is sure to gather dust & pet hair but I am desperate to try something before my new TV is really damaged. I have read that double-sided tape helps deter cats from jumping onto places they shouldn't be.

Any other tips?

I've been a pet owner for the first time in my adult life since June and was there when my cat gave birth to a litter. And now my cat's daughter is my favorite cat in the world, but she pisses me off. When she's not scratching my 55" TV, she's chewing on wires. Thankfully, the only wire she has actually cut through is a headphone jack.

 

[mani]

Double sided tape is a good option.  I know it looks awful, but once the habit is broken it can stay that way and you can remove it.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/get-off-how-to-discourage-your-cat-from-jumping-on-counters

Covering cables is a good idea too.  I find they are not at all inclined to chew on ones that are covered in alfoil.

 

[dejolane]

I have the same problem with Thunder. She like to lay on the top of the TV so she jumps to the TV by scaling the front too. I had a statue of a dog where she used to jump on it and then on my DVD stand to the TV. I  think I have to move it back.

 

[tulosai]

It can be hard to break a cat of a habit when you can't catch them in the act :/

As said above, double sided ape is a good idea.  Some cats also don't like citrus scents so putting  or spraying some in the vicinity (if possible) might be helpful.

Good luck!!

 

[Kat0121]

Wow. your kitty is talented. I have a 55" TV in the living room on a stand. The cats couldn't care less about the TV but Sophie loves to sleep/relax/hide, etc on the stand behind the TV. We call that area her fortress of solitude.

I had the Amazon Fire TV box back there with The surge protector that all the electronics in use are plugged into. Someone (I wonder who... LOL) knocked or kicked them out of her fortress onto the floor. Now there's nothing back there other than some wires.

 

[chloejune]

^ You might as well bring her toys in there too.

I don't hate my kitten for exploring because ultimately that is what is causing her behavior: Curiosity. 

I bet she believes at the top of the TV is another magical playground for her to sleep on. But she doesn't understand there's no real surface up there. She does not understand backlit LED technology!

 

[Kat0121]

 
^ You might as well bring her toys in there too.

I don't hate my kitten for exploring because ultimately that is what is causing her behavior: Curiosity. 

I bet she believes at the top of the TV is another magical playground for her to sleep on. But she doesn't understand there's no real surface up there. She does not understand backlit LED technology!

I bought each cat one of these beds for chistmas. They don't like them. I even sprayed them with catnip spray. nothing. I figured I would put them where they like to relax and maybe that would do the trick so I put Sophie's in the fortress of solitude. She was very annoyed with me. She kept looking at it then looking at me like, "what did you do to my fortress? FIX IT NOW". I took the bed out and she hopped on up.

  Lilith likes to sleep on the cat tree. She was not impressed with her bed, either. Such divas.

 

[maple syrup]

She is obviously a climber, and the only real solution is to probably give her something else to climb.  We have a chair rail that goes around our whole living room & dining room.  Our little guy loves to climb up there and walk the perimeter.  You should put up some climbing shelves so she has a high perch to get to.