Teaching kittens not to chew cables?

[pmv]

I have two four-month-old kittens, a male and female, who are living in one room and now starting to explore more of the house, and one thing I've noticed about them is that they love to chew things. I actually have to inspect their toys to see if they've damaged any from over-chewing; they straight-up chewed one stuffed "mouse" made of felt-like material to the point the stuffing came out all over the floor and half the tail was missing, and they previously had several pieces of cat furniture which held those cloth-covered balls suspended by an elastic string - until they chewed all the way through the strings.

I'd love to teach the cats that they don't want to bite cables or cords, since obviously those can be harmful or even deadly. While I'm using flexible PVC conduit to protect power cords where I can, there will always be some cables (like keyboard, mouse, etc. cabling) that can't be secured for their entire length.

I've seen advice on using things like dish soap to make cables taste terrible. One idea I had based on that was to deliberately leave around some "bait" cables that aren't powered - I definitely have a collection of old electronics and cables I don't need anymore - after applying soap. Does this method work? I am worried they might just learn the lesson "things that smell like citrus dish soap aren't good to chew", rather than "cables aren't good to chew".

As sort of a bonus question, what kinds of toys have you given to kittens that were good to chew? It's easy to find chew toys for dogs, but I haven't seen much marketed towards kittens (who may now have started teething, although the chewing behavior has existed for as long as I've had them).

 

[LTS3]

There are dental chew toys for cats. Petstages makes a few different ones:

Petstages Dog Toys & Cat Toys

Shop Petstages dog toys, cat toys, chew toys, scratching posts, and more!

petstages.outwardhound.com

Petstages Dog Toys & Cat Toys

Shop Petstages dog toys, cat toys, chew toys, scratching posts, and more!

petstages.outwardhound.com

Catnip Plaque Away Pretzel

Catnip Plaque Away Pretzel by Petstages® clean teeth and massage gums to improve your cat’s dental health! Durable netting won’t unravel no matter how hard your kitty chews. Catnip entices their sense of smell while fibrous catnip stalks satisfy the urge to crunch and chew. Knotted streamers...

petstages.outwardhound.com

Kitty Kong is a rubbery chew toy: Kitty KONG | KONG Company A small dog Kong toy might also work.

Teething kittens will chew on everything. You just need to have patience to teach them good manners and redirect their chewing to more suitable things. Make sure to play with your kittens often. Bored kittens often seek out things to do.

How To Set Healthy Boundaries For Your Cat [A Complete Guide] - TheCatSite

Discover effective strategies to establish healthy boundaries for your cat. From creating safe spaces to managing behavior, learn how to set boundaries for your cat and foster a harmonious living environment.

thecatsite.com

 

[danteshuman]

Dishsoap can make your kitties sick. I would suggest cord protectors or those clear tubes you buy, that you stick the cord in.

Are your kittens teething? If so a silvervine stick or those small dog rawhide chew sticks might be best. The minions lived the silvervine sticks and jumbo straws, when they were teething (just replace the straw when it starts to look chewed up.)