Cat vs. Toilet Paper, Need Suggestions!
So, I have just about the best cat ever, except for one thing—her vicious hatred of toilet paper. TP obviously strikes rage into her heart. It’s more than an occasional attack, it’s just about every day. I figure that somewhere in the past, a roll of TP must have mauled one of her family members and it’s a vendetta I’m helpless to stop.
The last place I lived, we had no TP holder, so we’d find the roll on the floor with claw marks, usually salvageable. In my new place, the holder was broken and there was no place to keep the roll in guests’ sight, yet out of the cat’s reach, and the cat was having a field day. One fell in the toilet, I threw it away, then she knocked the next one into the garbage can on top of the soaked roll, so it too was ruined. I went and bought a TP holder. Sadly, I fooled myself into thinking this was the end of the feud.
I even tried some Flutherites’ suggestion of putting the roll under instead of my preferred over, but the cat has somehow figured out how to pull all of the TP off the roll anyway.
We are broke college students and can’t afford to go through 2–3 rolls of TP every day. I’m wondering if anyone has a brilliant suggestion as to how to have the TP on the roll, yet keep it from all unraveling on the floor when the cat decides to have a grudge match.
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54 Answers
Uh… shut the bathroom door?
I have to keep mine in the cabinet and just warn guests of its location.
@syz I did live in one apartment where the TP holder was in fact on the inside of the cabinet door. That always struck me as weird, but now I wonder if this was the reason…
Put black pepper in the first few sheets
One of the cats’ litterboxes is in that bathroom.. I’d love to close the door, but that isn’t possible. :(
It’s a cat. You lose. Ipso Catso.
Just use a long rubber band and wrap it around the ends of the holder. A few weeks of that and most cats should lose interest and move on to play with other things that they shouldn’t.
@AlenaD… Is the cat’s litterbox glued to the floor or something? I’m confused.
I was thinking of maybe keeping a roll of tape in there and taping the loose end to the TP roll. I was also wondering about how to utilize a rubber band, thanks teh_kvlt_liberal.
@MrItty – No, but there are limited places in the house to place a stinky litterbox.
Alternatively, you can flatten out the TP like so
This will make the TP harder to spin
And also you will save paper
@AlenaD yes, but… you said one of the litterboxes is there. So where’s the other one? Why can’t they be put in the same place?
@MrItty – There are two cats, my roommate’s and mine. I have, unfortunately, a litter box for mine in my room. My roommate’s cat “pees and poops more than any cat” (quoth his owner), so I really wouldn’t like to have a 2 cat litterbox in my room, especially since one of the cats uses it a lot and makes it stinky. It’s bad enough as it is. :)
so…. your roommate has a rather nasty cat, and puts its litterbox a common area of your apartment, where it is then enabled to cause further annoyances with the TP. You, who have a better hygenic cat, make the sacrifice of putting the litterbox in your room.
Does that seem right to you?
I’m guessing now, but i think some Flutherites over here disagree with you over something you wrote.
It’s not yours, but ours who is just about the best cat ever.
As for your problem: depending on how long your cat is, you could try to hang the holder, let’s say, 4 feet from the floor.
@MrItty – You just like to argue over everything.
@rebbel – Obviously, I’m biased.. kind of figured that’d be a given. :) What I mean, though, wasn’t literal.. it’s just that she’s very sweet, always uses her box, covers everything, etc. Aside from the TP thing, she’d be perfect.
@AlenaD Who’s arguing? I’m trying to be helpful! I’m trying to get a complete view of your situation, to offer the best advice I can.
Sheesh. Nevermind then. Sorry I bothered.
waht about a TP holder that has those flaps that make it easier to tear the strip off, like in hotels?
The cat enjoys playing with the toilet paper and it is habitual, so there are three options:
1. Prevent the cat from getting to the roll (mentioned above)
2. Make the roll hard to play with (also mentioned above)
3. Break the habit.
To break the habit you have to get the cat to associate something bad with playing with the roll. One suggestion: take an empty water bottle and put about a dozen pebbles in it. Put on the cap. Put (balance) the bottle on top of the roll. When the cat move the roll, the bottle falls on the floor and noise scares cat.
If you don’t like the water bottle idea, find something else that will make an unpleasant, sudden noise when the cat fiddles with the roll.
Presumably the bathroom has towel bars? If for some reason it’s too small for any of those my suggestion won’t help.
I always rest mine on top of the towel bar. It’s too high for the cat to reach and usually within easy reach for a human sitting on the pot it really all depends upon how your particular bathroom is constructed and arranged but I’ve lived in numerous different places and this usually worked.
The other thing you could try is putting it on top of the tank covered with an upside down empty coffee can. You know the old ” out of sight out of mind ” theory right?
@PerryDolia – Also excellent suggestion. I just squished the roll, so I’ll see if that works. I have a feeling it may not (she is very persistent), in which case I will try the noisemaker. Thanks!
@Buttonstc – I wish there were, it’s a fairly minimalist room, just a ring for the hand towel. I may end up having to install a small shelf if none of this stuff works. The coffee can idea is really good, too!
I’d use TP. the cat’s fur will get too much stuck in it, and the cat might reach up and scratch a delicate area.
and to whoever said “black pepper on the first few sheets – well, that’d be a fun surprise at 7am
The first thing that came to mind was putting the roll of TP in a Rubbermaid container so she can’t get to it.
I shouldn’t say this, but my cat hasn’t yet found the TP. I will probably go home from work today to find it wrapped around the entire apartment…
I have a name!!!! You die now!!
Since you mentioned being poor college students I remembered something else. Cats hate the feel of tin foil on their sensitive paw pads.
Tin foil is cheap so you could wrap the tp roll in it and keep re using the same piece of tin foil till it falls apart.
This is probably more effort than I personally would willing to exert. But if neither of the other two things I mentioned prove workable you could give it a shot.
Tinfoil bunched up also makes a handy filler for blank spaces on bookshelves. A little odd looking maybe but at least it will prevent kitty knockin over your books trying to make a cozy nook for herself to watch the world go by.
It’s all about outsmarting the little critters.
:)
You gots to make the cat STOP by making loud noises and stuff, moving the TP will not stop the problem . If the cat has been doing this for a long time chances are it will be harder / longer to get it to stop , stop being so soft on the damn cat and punish it for being bad . Time out on the naughty step doesn’t work , make the TP as scary for a cat as possible loud noises or as someone mentioned tinfoil
The cat ain’t bad, the cat is playful.
I have had a fair few cats , if this was my cat it would have been punished and made stop right from the start . To me its a bad cat a cat that wont stop doing wrong/bad things , a cat that causes a nuisance by causing a scene .
Would you really want to mess with this? I fear for my ankles.
@AlenaD yeah, it would definitely get stuck in fur like that.
Cute cat.
Cute cat , my arms got ripped to shit cause of one cat i had . My skin healed ok it formed scars but the cat didnt do it again .
that does it!
KARATE CHOP!!! (Karate chops epony’s head off)
@sandystrachan that’s korean bbq. come on, mate. i’ve been to scotland, what do you think the chunks are in your favorite curry takeaway?
@teh_kvlt_liberal uh, are you high?
Just keep the toilet paper in a cabinet, that’s really your only option. You can only train a cat to do what it already wants to do…
@eponymoushipster I thought it was illegal family members who had died or dead scurries ( sea gulls )
@sandystrachan depends. are you glasgow or edinburgh? if youre near Perth, it’s carpark attendants.
@eponymoushipster Thankfully i am nowhere near any of those , i am pretty close to the place they SHAG SHEEP :L
@eponymoushipster Aberdeen , well i am Aberdeenshire :) I think they shag sheep everywhere in the planet tho , something to do with the moist hot….. oh and plenty of wool to hang onto .—I have never taken a sheep that way , the only way i have taken sheep or lamb is after its been cooked and sliced .
I’d unhook one of the springs on a Victor mousetrap, set it, and place it on top of the roll.
With one spring unhooked the trap will not do damage to the cat but will snap and make noise. A couple of snaps and the cat will be avoid the roll like water.
Even if you forget and put your hand on it at 6 am you won’t be hurt. It might even help you pee.
Make sure to unhook one side if you don’t want to hurt Mr Whiskers.
We have six cats. We keep the TP in the downstairs bathroom in a wire shelf that is hung on the back of the door. We keep the TP in the big upstairs bathroom in a plastic container designed actually to hold rolls of wrapping paper and that has a flip-up lid that is easy to open but requires the use of at least one thumb. We keep the TP in the “cat bathroom” (the one where the litter boxes are) in a drawer next to the toilet.
It works for us.
Two suggestions. Use a toilet paper guard like the ones parents use for children who act like your cat. :) Or, buy a tissue box cover and put the roll underneath. You can pick up one of those covers at a yard sale or Goodwill for practically nothing.
Toilet paper guard—nice!
So, the squishing of the roll to make it less apt to spin has helped already. At some point yesterday evening (I always have no idea when she’s doing this), she attacked the TP and was unable to destroy it as usual. She managed to get a small strip to come undone, but the damage was about 98% less than if the roll hadn’t been squished.
Thank you!! :)
If there is a bath tub in there, keep it at half-volume for a day. If you notice the cat doing said act, toss it in the tub. Repeat if necessary.
On second thought, you might want to consult your roommate first.
Also, be consistent. Don’t do it if it hasn’t happened recently, and don’t let up, haha.
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