Hi-tech problems solved in the low-tech way

In the early morning darkness, I’m awakened by voices. They’re coming from the first floor of my town house, they’re loud, and they definitely don’t belong to anyone in my mini-zoo.

As I move slowly down the stairs, though, I’m immediately relieved. The voices are speaking in English, and they’re talking about toothpaste, a language and a topic not associated with burglars.

Yes, the TV is on, but how?

The criminal is right next to the screen, carefully rubbing herself against it. My white cat Mekhala hasn’t really tried to turn on the TV. She’s just been marking her territory, rubbing the screen with the scent glands on the side of her face to tell all the other cats that she owns the TV.

The TV, however, has an LCD monitor with “touch buttons” located just where a cat can easily brush against them. Mekhala has accidentally turned on the TV - and also turned up the volume.

Friends ask me why I haven’t bought a touch-screen laptop or other hi-tech equipment. They, obviously, don’t keep pets, or they don’t let their animals near their equipment.

To some extent, you can trust to your pet’s common sense. It took my big cat Pan-Pan a few seconds to understand that you can’t really sit on top of the monitor of an open lap-top.

On the other hand, when guests drop by and we sit next to the lap top, my poodle pup Wan-Wan loves to chew the wires hanging down. In this way, she immediately receives all the attention she desires.

In Wan’s case, I make sure that all wires are coiled up and kept on the table away from an excited dog.

Friends recommend taping crumpled aluminium foil to surfaces to keep a pet away. You could use double-sided tape too, except that tape does collect dirt, dust and lots of hairs.

Another friend has taped small stone pyramids to her work table, stove and any other place she wants to keep free of cats. The somewhat sharp pinnacles discourage curious animals, the stones are attractive, and if you believe some people, the pyramids are enhancing her life.

The problem with the TV gets worse the next day, when Mekhala discovers the joys of playing with the remote. She’s teaching me, isn’t she, to hide whatever I can far from the paws of a playful cat.