My wife and I are about to adopt two kittens who are a bonded brother/sister pair. I haven’t had a kitten in ages and my hi-fi rig back then was a minimalist rig at best so there was minimal damage she (the kitten) could do. Do y’all esteemed forum members have any advice on “kitten proofing” the now evolved system? I’ve got concerns about cable “snakes” and general shenanigans. Here’s a pic of the future hi-fi “feline terrorists” as my son calls them.
I have bunnies who live like cats in my home. They love to chew. And they love to chew cables the most. So I have cages around all my gear. If they can’t get to it, they can’t chew it. But one time I had a $3000 cable that I thought was safely inside the cage. But her little paw was able to reach it and she tugged it to where she could chew it. It was three conductors braided. She chewed completely through all three. When its replacement arrived I bought a 2 inch PVC pipe to run it through.
I have had many cats and they seem uninterested in cables. But they love to sit on warm gear. Tube amps must have tube cages and perhaps spikes. Turntables need covers, weighted if possible. If you have speaker grills, God help you.
Thanks for the tips!
Years ago when I owned a pair of Vandersteen speakers, AKA scratching posts in my cats eyes, I had heavy vinyl slip covers made for them. They worked quite well at protecting my speakers from the mischievous cat.
I think there is no greater scratching post than Magnepan speakers, 20.7s being the most attractive to cats due to the height.
For sure. Even I want to scratch my claws on them 
People ask me if I have cats.
“I used to.”
go thriftstore purchase old whool shirt and buy 4x4 with with a plate
duck tape it to the 4x4 and teach them to use it!
or nicer version, use a old fish rope, that is glue from bottom to top to the 4x4.
the first 3 month, the more you play and handle them, the more they will sit on your lap for cuddling!
regards
4 years ago, new dog had 9 puppies Christmas time and we my new cat 4 babies!
first dog chew my cable, the stop when chewing an electric cable
and kitten attack one of my leather couch, but they never touch the ugly one that i don’t like, even the dog never climb on it for sleeping!
but the pole with old whool, work great for kitten!
Thanks for the tip. We’ve got lots of scratching posts and cat trees around the house now waiting for the kittens to arrive. We’re hoping these along with some behavior re-direction will keep the kittens from scratching furniture and the playing with the hi-fi “snake” cables, speakers, etc.
For 45 years year, my dirty dogs sleep on my furniture, cats scratched everything. I just replace stuff when it looked moldy, thank goodness for consignment stores. I would even buy consigned Gryphon to replace. lol
Use can also discourage cats from your hi fi gear by spraying the area with citrus scented cat repellent.
The other obvious way to protect your hi fi system from curious cats is to have a dedicated listening room so you can close the door when not in use.
That’s the only bulletproof way.
I allow my cat in my dedicated listening room when I’m there and she really doesn’t mess with anything. It’s entertaining how she negotiates the speaker cables that are on risers by not even touching them as she effortlessly glides over them.
I would not however trust her in the room if I wasn’t present.
Thanks for all the great advice!
I’ve had cats my whole life and not a single one has ever been interested in cables or speaker grills. The couch and rugs and banisters and bedroom doors, well let just say the various cats have had various interests. One way to discourage scratching is to put tin foil over whatever they maybe interested in. It’s worked in the past, but our current monster, I mean sweetie, does not seem bothered with the foil. We also keep a spray bottle near by to help redirect.
good luck, kittens are a lot of fun!
I agree with the speaker grills comment 100%. I had a pair of Acoustat electrostatic speakers which were very tall and had “socks” covering the entire panel. Those got replaced at least once, but were such a magnet for the cat to literally climb as high as possible. Watch for that aspect of gear especially.
off subject, Anecdote, My fist cat, her name Channel, she use to sleep on her back, 3 feet in front and between the two speaker. She stay there until I finished listening music!
It seems, she enjoy music a lot!
farewell!
The basic assumption is the cuties won’t be declawed?
Correct. Not declawing. Trimming yes, declawing no.
Do not even think about it.
It is the literal equivalent of cutting off the last joint of your fingers and toes.
Illegal in six states and in many cities
and here, they don’t do long with all coyote!
real life, Will Coyote get the cat! it is not a cartoon life!
Off subject: in Road Runner, they were no Uber. Will could afford all the gear in the world to catch Road Runner, but could not have food delivered food, because they were no Door dash or Uber driver delivery! poor coyote!