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My Chessie has been giving me problems regarding the cables on my computers and laptop.

A while back, I redid the cables on the backs of my PC and Macintosh, bundling and coiling them very neatly with plastic cable ties and snipping off the excess part of the cable ties. Before I'd done that, Chessie would go back behind my desks and try to make his way through the mess, getting a little tangled here and there. Now, however, he wants to play with the cables. I haven't seen him bite the cables, but he has wanted to bite the cable ties that I have on the cables. He also now has begun grabbing at and pulling on cables. I've lost track how many times I'll be at my PC, he'll be laying at my feet, and I'll be working away when suddenly my computer mouse is ripped out of my hand as he decides he wants to grab the cable and give it a yank. I'll tell him no and squirt him with the water bottle (when he's not around my UPSs or where water would be bad to spray. He'll often just move to another area behind the desks where I can't reach him. I've also tried putting down strips of clear packing tape (sticky side up), but he knows how to bite the ends and move them out of his way, which is why I've stopped using them elsewhere and am waiting on my scat mat to come in that I've ordered. I also can't close the door to the room while I'm in there since he will claw at the door and carpet outside the door to try to get in, which isn't good since I'm renting my townhouse.

He's also causing me problems with my laptop, which I usually have on my coffee table in my living room with the power cord laying flat on the floor until it reaches the outlet. He loves to attack this cord and the cord for my webcam, which I have on my laptop instead of the PC when I'm home. I've tried cayenne pepper on the cord, and that will work for keeping him from biting it, but I then have to clean off the pepper for when I take my laptop with me to work. And the other day, he actually damaged my laptop, which I may now need to get repaired, if not replaced. I had my webcam set up on the coffee table next to my laptop. I left the room, came back in, and he was playing with the webcam's cable. I told him no, and he went into one of his crazy cat modes and took off running. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that his foot was hooked around the webcam's cable and yanked it off the table. The camera's fine, but the USB port it was plugged into got pulled to the side and now intermittently stops working.

Does anybody have any suggestions I can try? Often he is pretty well behaved, but when he has his attitude or is left alone, he seems to forget what I've tried to teach him.
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Chessie in his favorite spot while I work in the kitchen.

Hi,

Everything you have described is normal behavior for a kitten or young cat. Cables are very tempting and the only way to keep Chessie from playing with them is by keeping them out of site as much as possible or covering them. Chessie does not understand that he has damaged something valuable and he never will. He's just a kitten having what he considers to be a good time and sees the cables as toys only.

It seems that you are intent on teaching Chessie how you want him to behave but everything you have described in your posts is nothing but totally normal behavior. Cats will act like cats no matter what we may want them to do or not do. They are not the most trainable animals and see things far different than we do. They often train us instead.

All you can really do is protect the cables and wires as much as possible and not leave Chessie alone in a room with valuable electronics when you cannot keep an eye on him. Several years ago when I adopted an extremely active male kitten I went to Home Depot and bought enough covers for everything with cables and/or wires. They worked very well and I knew the kitten would be safe.

Regards,
PHKitkat

Well, surprisingly, since posting originally on this, he hasn't messed with any cables. Almost like he's trying to prove me wrong or something.

As far as the USB port on the laptop goes, it was working okay last night, so the problem he created is intermittent right now. I did get the laptop used for free from my last job so if I need to replace the system board for the USB port issue, it's only going to be about $50 to $100, depending on whether I go with a refurbished or new board.

On a side note, the scat mat that I ordered finally came in yesterday. He's not crazy about it at all. I was upstairs, and he went down the stairs to the kitchen (currently using it on my kitchen table). Next thing I knew, I heard him making a bunch of little meows. I went downstairs, and he was hiding behind the TV. I went into the kitchen, and the activation light on the mat was flashing, indicating activity. Afterwards, I saw him looking at the tabletop wanting to get on the table again and then backing away from it.

I also am keeping my webcam's cable coiled up and under a book or something on my coffee table so he's not tempted to play with it. I've noticed that the power cord he only wants to play with when I'm winding it up or when he is wrestling with a toy and rolls over into it. The past couple nights, I've just watched when he's rolling around to keep him away from it.

I also found software called "Paw Sense" to lock my PC and laptop when he gets on the keyboard and to scare him off it by playing a loud sound, which he doesn't care for. He's only activated it once, but it worked.
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Chessie in his favorite spot while I work in the kitchen.