Cat & Waterbed == trouble???
Ken Klavonic
I recently adopted an 8 week old kitten (B/W ASH). I also have (as you might
surmise from the subject line) a king-size waterbed. The bed is one of the
conventional, non-waveless kind.
My problem/question is this -- do cats generally mess with waterbeds any
more/less than they do conventional beds? Right now, he's probably too small
to cause any damage, but as he grows... In general, he seems not to mess with
it (unless I'm in it), but I have this nagging concern that I'm going to come
home from work and find the bed leaking 'cause the cat found an nice, warm
spot to take a nap and managed to claw it open in the process.
As I see it, my options are:
- keep the door to the bedroom closed except when I'm home. This is ok,
but it messes up the ventalation in the house.
- get a regular bed.
- have the cat de-clawed. He's strictly indoors, so this would be an
option when he gets old enough to do that.
- keep a spare waterbed mattress on hand. Yeah, right <g>.
Unless of course, the cat won't mess with it...
Any advice?
TIA
kenkl
Matt White
Do NOT get the cat declawed. Even if you do keep him inside he will be
less happy and what would happen if he got outside? Kiss the cat goodbye.
It needs it's claws more than anything else, especially outdoors. You have
scared me simply by implying that you are even thinking about getting the
poor thing declawed. Keep the claws!!!!!
--
_____________________________________________________________________________
>>>>>Matt White<<<<<matw...@freenet.columbus.oh.us.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"If It happens.. It happens. If It doesn't happen, well.. It doesn't happen."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
d...@binc.net
..
>My problem/question is this -- do cats generally mess with waterbeds any
>more/less than they do conventional beds? Right now, he's probably too small
>to cause any damage, but as he grows... In general, he seems not to mess with
>it (unless I'm in it), but I have this nagging concern that I'm going to come
>home from work and find the bed leaking 'cause the cat found an nice, warm
>spot to take a nap and managed to claw it open in the process.
>Unless of course, the cat won't mess with it...
>
>Any advice?
(waterbed included,) irresistable or not. I've had a number of cats and waterbeds
over the past few (good God, has it been 20 years?) years and have had reactions
ranging from 'who cares?' to 'boy, those air bubbles are fun to play with' all the
way to 'the only way we will get it to stop making that funny gurgling sound is if
we all pitch in and bite it right here'.
This latter comment is actually only a supposition on my part based on the facts:
I was draining the mattress, it was just about empty and there were _lots_ of kitty
fang holes around the fill port.
For the mostpart, I've had no problems as long as no furred house member gets
near the mattress when the bed's not made. I always make sure I have a thick
mattress pad as well.
d...@binc.net Dave Sloan
'94 ZZR1100 '81 XS1100 '76 CB750
Ken Klavonic
>Do NOT get the cat declawed. Even if you do keep him inside he will be
>less happy and what would happen if he got outside? Kiss the cat goodbye.
>It needs it's claws more than anything else, especially outdoors. You have
>scared me simply by implying that you are even thinking about getting the
>poor thing declawed. Keep the claws!!!!!
Well, didn't mean to scare you. I know that it is something of a sensitive
subject. I've heard both sides of the argument, and I'm not totally decided
on which side of the fence I am. But, rather than starting the thread that
will not end, let me just say that I am NOT seriously contemplating it; I
listed it as one of the options in addressing my concerns. Another one that
just occured to me is "get rid of the cat" -- which of course will not happen
either <g>.
Anyway, thanks for your input.
kenkl
Ken Klavonic
>>My problem/question is this -- do cats generally mess with waterbeds any
>>more/less than they do conventional beds? Right now, he's probably too small
>>to cause any damage, but as he grows... In general, he seems not to mess with
>>it (unless I'm in it), but I have this nagging concern that I'm going to come
>>home from work and find the bed leaking 'cause the cat found an nice, warm
>>spot to take a nap and managed to claw it open in the process.
>..
>near the mattress when the bed's not made. I always make sure I have a thick
>mattress pad as well.
This seems to be the general view on the subject. Thank you (and everyone
else who responded) for sharing your experience.
kenkl
Mary48
I'm not an expert but have been told by several people it is not a problem
as I'm thinking of getting a waterbed. It's necessary to keep a blanket
of some kind over the mattress to keep the electric bills down and they
tell me it will prevent any problems...I'll be looking for anyone with
more first hand experience on this also!!!
mary
CHRIS & TRACY MOONEY
1. Make sure kitty is nowhere near the waterbed whenever it isn't covered (with
at least a large blanket if you're washing the sheets).
2. Make sure you have a vinyl repair kit handy. Usually all the cat will cause
will be very small hole. If you wake up and find a wet spot in the sheets, it's
probably a hole caused by the cat (unless your kids slept with you the night
before, but I digress...). All it takes to repair is a drop large enough to
cover the hole left on for at least four-five hours. You're not going to come
home and find your bed under water in other words. And before you ask, yes, this
does come from experience (3 holes repaired so far, not all at once).
3. Don't declaw.
4. Don't get rid of the cat.
5. Set your alarm clock at least fifteen minutes back during the cold months. It
is much more difficult getting out of a nice warm waterbed then.
Enjoy !!!
--
Christopher & Tracy Mooney *** ***
* ** * "Therefore shall a man leave
* Tiger * his father and his mother,
\\_____* + *_____|\ and shall cleave unto his
// * Bear * |/ wife, and they shall become
* * one."
st...@jetson.uh.edu * * Genesis 2:24
**
--
Debbie Schwartz
>Hi all --
> - keep the door to the bedroom closed except when I'm home. This is ok,
>but it messes up the ventalation in the house.
> - get a regular bed.
> - have the cat de-clawed. He's strictly indoors, so this would be an
>option when he gets old enough to do that.
> - keep a spare waterbed mattress on hand. Yeah, right <g>.
I have a regular bed, but have lots of friends with cats and
waterbeds. As long as you keep a good cover on it, I don't
think you'll have any problems (none of them have).
--
Debbie Schwartz d...@halcyon.com (Seattle, WA)
"The waltz is a dance of quite too loose a character, and unmarried
ladies should refrain from it..very young married ladies may be
allowed to waltz if it is very seldom..." 1833
Ginger L Sackett
>on which side of the fence I am. But, rather than starting the thread that
>will not end, let me just say that I am NOT seriously contemplating it; I
>listed it as one of the options in addressing my concerns. Another one that
>just occured to me is "get rid of the cat" -- which of course will not happen
>either <g>.
>
Well, odds are good that at some point the cat WILL get a claw in the
waterbed. It doesn't happen very often, but my friends who have 2 cats
and a waterbed do occasionally have to get out the ol' patch kit. One
thing that helps alot is to have a thick comforter on top of the bed.
Then the claw get into the batting but not down to the mattress. My
former roommate used this method with my cats, and as far as I know they
never poked a hole in her bed. Hope this helps!
Ginger & her monitors
Sunny, Galaxy, Tribble and Pixel
--
*****************************************************************
Ginger Sackett | Opinions are my own --
email:sack...@gold.tc.umn.edu | except for subliminal changes
| by my cats
Gig 'em Aggies |
*****************************************************************
Margaret Wilson
>
>I have a regular bed, but have lots of friends with cats and
>waterbeds. As long as you keep a good cover on it, I don't
>think you'll have any problems (none of them have).
I agree. I have a waterbed and have never had a problem with
cat claws snagging the mattress. I do use a fitted mattress pad,
a top and bottom sheet, and I have a down comforter which goes
on top. Still, even when Sadie crawls around between the sheets,
I've never had a problem.
/m
-----
Margaret Wilson, Systems Analyst mewi...@msu.edu
Michigan State University Computer Lab -- Network Services
Room 305 Computer Center, East Lansing, MI 48824-1042
rno...@198.3.149.251
>
>I recently adopted an 8 week old kitten (B/W ASH). I also have (as you might
>surmise from the subject line) a king-size waterbed. The bed is one of the
>conventional, non-waveless kind.
>
>more/less than they do conventional beds? Right now, he's probably too small
>to cause any damage, but as he grows... In general, he seems not to mess with
>it (unless I'm in it), but I have this nagging concern that I'm going to come
>home from work and find the bed leaking 'cause the cat found an nice, warm
>spot to take a nap and managed to claw it open in the process.
>
> - keep the door to the bedroom closed except when I'm home. This is ok,
>but it messes up the ventalation in the house.
> - get a regular bed.
> - have the cat de-clawed. He's strictly indoors, so this would be an
>option when he gets old enough to do that.
> - keep a spare waterbed mattress on hand. Yeah, right <g>.
>
>Unless of course, the cat won't mess with it...
>
>
>TIA
>kenkl
>
Kenkl,
Well, we've had a cat for 2 1/2 years and have had a waterbed the whole time.
Our cat is not declawed and we have as yet had no punctures in the bed at all.
We simply do our best to keep the comforter over the bed at all times. We also
have a rather thick matress pad which probably helps.
Rick
cyberwench
functional claws. even tho they both hung out on the bed all the time
(warmest spot in the house), we never had any problems with leaks or
anything. I wouldn't worry about it. congrats on the kitten. :)
--
============================================================
manda bowman ma...@netcom.com
anthropology bowm...@ucs.orst.edu
oregon state university home page coming soon
=============================================================
mad...@freenet.vcu.edu
I've had a waterbed for several years and at one time had 5
cats - only 2 now :(. I've never had the slightest problem
with any of them clawing the mattress, etc.
You need a mattress pad on it to make it comfortable for
sleeping too - so as a few people have said, it's added
protection. And I hardly ever make my bed.... :)
Marjorie
>
>mary
Debra Merchant
I have had a king-sized waterbed for about six months now, and have two
1-1/2 year old, very active, inquisitive, non-declawed males. When we
first got the bed, they thought it was great to jump on the bed and chase
the waves (it's semi-waveless). We also keep a thick matress pad and the
comforter on the bed. We had one minor claw-hole, which we patched with
no problem. It was also due to our negligence of not covering the
waterbed entirely that morning.
When I was considering a waterbed, I polled this group, too. The
overwhelming majority of responses were that they did not have any
problems. A small portion had a small problem like I did. I don't
remember anyone saying they had major problems, so I'd say go for it!
Good Luck!
Debra
Lisa Atwood (Pear Peel)
> I've had a waterbed for several years and at one time had 5
> cats - only 2 now :(. I've never had the slightest problem
> with any of them clawing the mattress, etc.
Me too! I've had a waterbed going on 10 years now and have never had a
problem with clawing...the only holes in my mattress came from me leaving
sharp objects where they got trapped *under the mattress*. Drakkar
*adores* the waterbed, since it's always warm...and he likes to chase the
waves...he's weird. :-) (I could do post upon post about his weird
habits, which have gotten stranger since he got fixed. Isn't neutering
supposed to *calm* the cat down?? :-))
> You need a mattress pad on it to make it comfortable for
> sleeping too - so as a few people have said, it's added
> protection. And I hardly ever make my bed.... :)
I *never* make my bed if I can help it. :-)
--Lisa, mom to Drakkar Noir--the kitty with the weird habits [maybe it's
traumatic stress disorder, since I got him from the pound when he was
just 4 weeks old, the shelter said he was 12 (it was an owner
surrendered) but the vet said it was way younger. My poor guy only
weighed eleven ounces.]--it's gotta be all that love that makes him weird.
> > Marjorie
>
>
> >
> >mary
>
>
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JSaari7367
old or so, I started waking up in a wet bed. At first I thought I was
having night sweats again (nightmares of my cancer days), and then I
discovered little puncture holes in the bed caused by my Abys when they
played. I didn't think they had been unduly hard on the bed, they just
like playing wherever I was at or wherever my smell was. I replaced the
mattress with an extra thick water mattress, put a good pad covering on it
and try to watch the cats a little more when they're playing. Haven't had
a lick of trouble since. Go ahead and go for it with the cats on the bed,
just be a little more watchful. Besides, almost all cats love to snuggle
with their people in bed, and it's the best way to wake up that I've ever
found.
Janice (Aby's forever) Saari
Susan Mudgett aka little gator
Ken Klavonic (ke...@cybernetics.net) wrote:
: Hi all --
: I recently adopted an 8 week old kitten (B/W ASH). I also have (as you might
: surmise from the subject line) a king-size waterbed. The bed is one of the
: conventional, non-waveless kind.
*snip*
: As I see it, my options are:
: - keep the door to the bedroom closed except when I'm home. This is ok,
: but it messes up the ventalation in the house.
: - get a regular bed.
: - have the cat de-clawed. He's strictly indoors, so this would be an
: option when he gets old enough to do that.
: - keep a spare waterbed mattress on hand. Yeah, right <g>.
I've had a waterbed for about 10 years, and all that time I've had 4
to 5 undeclawed, indoor only cats. I've had two pinhole leaks: one we
found when we set the bed up(it had apparently happened while it was in
storage at the store), and the other I did myself by being careless
with pins and needles while sewing(the exact details are too
embarrassing to admit.)
This should be all you need to do:
Most important(we were told this is a good idea for all beds,
especially waterbeds, even if you don't have cats) get a mattress pad
and use it. Never leave the mattress nekkid-if you are washing the
sheets or something like that throw a blanket over it. Even an unmade
bed should then have a mattress pad and sheet protecting it most of
the time.
Have a patch kit and know where it is. The one that comes with the
bad is likely to be old and dry-buy a new one just in case. Even
without a cat around, leaks can happen.
Personally I'm against declawing for any reason, but I'm sure you've
heard the arguments both for and against. The point I'd like to make
is that it probably won't be necessary anyway, so give the kitty a
chance to prove himself first. You can always declaw him any time you
decide to, but you can't undeclaw him if you change your mind.
Some of my cats hate the waterbed and saty off it(poor things). Others
love to lounge on it, and Leela would sleep under the covers with
me. None of them ever seemed to consider it a thing to claw.
I have two large dogs too, who often have untrimmed nails. I'm a
sloppy sleeper, and while the theory is that they should stay on the
blankets and off the bare sheets, it doesnt always happen that way. No
punctures from that either.
Joe Kubasha
never had a problem with him ruining it. The only problem we have
is that he starts jumping on it about 3:30 am. When I leave for
work around 7:30, he's laying on it usually sound asleep.
Joe
--********************************************************
* *
* Joe Kubasha *
* *
* kub...@whqvax.picker.com *
* *
**********************************************************
jeff porteous
On 13 May 1995, Susan Mudgett aka little gator wrote:
>
> Ken Klavonic (ke...@cybernetics.net) wrote:
> : Hi all --
>
> : I recently adopted an 8 week old kitten (B/W ASH). I also have (as you might
> : surmise from the subject line) a king-size waterbed. The bed is one of the
> : conventional, non-waveless kind.
> *snip*
> : As I see it, my options are:
> : - keep the door to the bedroom closed except when I'm home. This is ok,
> : but it messes up the ventalation in the house.
> : - get a regular bed.
> : - have the cat de-clawed. He's strictly indoors, so this would be an
> : option when he gets old enough to do that.
> : - keep a spare waterbed mattress on hand. Yeah, right <g>.
I had a water bed for 5 - years and my kitty loved it. Nice and warm and
she loved to sleep under the covers also. During this time I played many
rounds of rope(her favorite game). This game required a rope and a cat
with claws flailling. I played this game mostly on top of covers but
decided to see just how tough the mattress was and played it sans
covers. Not once during any of these rounds did her very long and sharp
claws go through the mattress, not even close!
You have nothing to fear and please don't declaw the little guy.
If your still worried just throw another heavy blanket on top and make
sure the sheets are always well tucked in so that he can't squirm under them.
Jeff
C:WINSOCKKA9QSPOOLMAIL
on it and play on it as well (including one kitten). The kitten used to
go under the duvet and play with my feet, but the bed never suffered.
Don't worry about the bed, they are pretty strong and your cat is very
unlikely to rip the mattress. PLEASE don't consider declawing - it is a
cruel mutilation.
We eventually stopped the cats coming in the bedroom
but that was because of all the hairs on the bed and the fact that
there wasn't enough room for two people and five cats on a five foot
bed!!
Sandy
--
================================================================================
/ \ / \
O O
() Life is not a rehearsal
\ /
\__/ sa...@rescue.demon.co.uk
================================================================================
Danni
>You have nothing to fear and please don't declaw the little guy.
>
>If your still worried just throw another heavy blanket on top and make
>sure the sheets are always well tucked in so that he can't squirm under them.
>
>Jeff
>
I agree with Jeff -- I share my waterbed with two large dogs and
4 cats (none of which are declawed, all of whom get their nails
trimmed about every two weeks) and I've never sprung a leak, no
matter how hard they (okay -- we) all play. However, I try to
discourage serious "pounce" games like "feet under blanket",
just in case.
Pax & Blessings --
Danni
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Downey, California
da...@mvs.medctr.ucla.edu
http://www.kaiwan.com/~kurdt