Hi all,
I have been thinking for a while to get one or two kittens/cats. My biggest concern is that the kittens/cats may ruin the locos and cars on my layout as they are so curious… What is your experience? Do you have kittens/cats? How would you prevent them from touching your cars on your layout? I am seirously considering to have two kittens but I am worried about my trains…
Jerry
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
The only animal that’s allowed near my model railway stuff is me!!!
Cheers, the Bear.[:)]
PS, I hope this thread doesn’t go pear shaped!!!
Ok… I heard you…Thanks, Bear!!
Nothin wrong with cats but I have never had a dog jump on the layout or the Grand Piano. Our dogs report to the trainroom door at the first whistle and to the big screen TV when the Hockey Night in Canada music starts.[(-D]
Actually the problem is pet hair getting into wheel bearings, gear boxes and electric motors and literally gumming up the works. Animals (and humans) constantly shed hair, so that hair is easily blown by air currents onto your layout. Do NOT let pets into the train room. Keep the door shut except when entering and leaving and shoo the beastie out if they get in while you are doing so. If you need the door open, install a gate.
pet gates for doorways - Bing images
Check out “SMT Mainline” on Youtube and see how many times he has to clean hair from the works of the dead locos he fixes.
Whatever you do don’t let them get your log-on credentials for the MR site!
Wilson_blog by Edmund, on Flickr
Dogs have owners — cats have staff!
Good Luck, Ed
Our cat lived out in the courtyard for 18 years, she is now ‘old’ and has come to live in Br. Louie’s room. Her jumping days are over, but we still love her.
Train room is on the third floor of the library building, and she has never even been in that building. However LIONS are Welcome in the train room. That is why it is called “The Route of the Broadway LION”
My wife and I have had cats all of our adult lives. We keep them indoors. They are excellent companions. Sure, their personalities are different than that of dogs, but they are not what Wayne purports them to be.
Back to the OP’s question. Adult cats are much less inclined to jump up onto layouts, but kittens are capable of all kinds of circus acts. I would keep kittens out of the layout room.
Rich
[Edited by admin to remove quote of deleted post.]
Wayne,
I’m happy to say that your experience with cats was NOT my experience growing up. We always had 4-6 indoor/outdoor cats at a given time and they were - more often than not - loving and affectionate - even when food was not present. They all have their own personalities and some are more friendly, playful, and curious than others.
Jerry,
I would encourage you to get the kittens/cats but keep them out of the layout room, if at all possible. No reason to test the waters when it comes to your locomotives and rolling stock. Pet hair is another good point already mentioned.
Tom
[Edited by admin to remove quote of deleted post.]
We had kittens/cats all our married life until recently. Only one was interested in getting into the train room. Then he would watch intently. The odd time the paw would stretch out and derail a train.
Getting him out the train room was impossible; until he wanted to come out. Most days I would leave him until he decided he had had enough. He never damaged anything in the train room throughout his 18 years of life.
David
We have always had a cat or two, they have NEVER had access to the train room.
It is not even a question…
Sheldon
We had a cat. I had a girder bridge made from a 2 x 10 over the duck under about 60" above the floor. After we went to bed one night I hear this strange repetitive sound from the basement. When I got down there the (expletives deleted) cat is on the bridge swatting hoppers into the chasm and enjoying the resultswhen they hit the floor. Worst part is when I went to get him he knocked about 8 more in one fell swoop when he tried to get away. My wife still thinks it was hilarious
In my experience, once the cat sees the trains run, they become fair game. So, either don’t operate the railroad when the cat is in the room, or declare (negotiate [:P]?) the train room as off limits.
Jim
My beloved little Cheddar Cheese (a bright orange American shorthair) isn’t food motivated in the slightest. He’s affectionate and walks needless miles every day following me around. He has overcome his fear of power tools so that he can watch me work on things. He’ll steal screws from you too. He purrs his loudest rolling around in saw dust. My wife accuses him of loving me too much.
Her cat, Pepper, loves her more than I’ve ever seen any animal love a person. If we get loud, for any reason, he thinks I’m angry at her. He’ll jump up and run at me, making an aggressive meow, arched back, and hissing while she’s yelling at him to stop. Never seen that before.
Yes, State Game and Fish have suggestions for you if you meet a (mountain) LION in the wild. Their besrt suggestion is “Don’t act like food”
The only cats now in the train room —
IMG_5651 by David Harrison, on Flickr
IMG_5649 by David Harrison, on Flickr
David
I like cats and you would think being married to a Vet we would have a few, however, over the years we both developed allergies to them and rabbits. So it is no cats and only wild rabbits which there are plenty of outside.
Just last week I installed a 6" high clear Lexan guard around one side of my layout, about 25 feet. My cat got onto the yard there and knocked a few cars to the floor. Thankfully nothing that couldn’t be repaired. I’ve had layouts and cats dating back to the mid 90s and this guy is the first to ever jump up on a layout. All the other 3 were girls, maybe like human girls, female cats are not interested in model railroads?
We have two cats, Snowflake, about 2 1/2, and Whiskey, 10 months. My layout is in disarray, but parts of it are still at least accessible. Snowflake, a female Siamese, isn’t the least bit interested. Whiskey, a male orange Tabby, will play with everything, and I sometimes find uprooted pieces of fence and trees scattered around the house.
In my younger years, our cats were never interested in the layout.
Cats are a good reason, however, to keep your under-table wiring neat and protected.
The cats we had growing up didn’t seem to care about the train layout and knew better not to walk on it. Some people will intentionally set their pets on the layout because it’s funny for a quick video but this will only confuse them, making them think its OK.