There are days when I question myself as to why I have cats in the house. Today was definitely one such time. I had my 1/35th scale Elco PT boat out on the table. I had touched up the paint on something and decided to compare it with the Italian MAS boat I'm working on. Before I knew what was happening, my precocious young cat, Gizmo, decided the port side .50 cal MG mount looked interesting and possibly good to eat. He proceeded to break both barrels off, and then swallow one. The idea of lingering around the litter box and awaiting the eventual reappearance of the missing part briefly crossed my (deranged) mind. Regaining my sanity, I remembered that I actually had a spare gun somewhere about. Having located it after a surprisingly short and fruitful search, I painted the barrel, removed it from the spare gun, and reattached it, and the surviving barrel, to the guns. When I built the PT, I didn't glue the mount and was able to remove it from the boat, this greatly facilitated the ease of the repair. The damage is fixed and hardly noticeable. The PT is safely docked away, far, far away, from the attention of misguided and possibly predatory felines. They say a cat has nine lives, today mine came close to having only eight. Al

There seem to be many tales, (tails?), of feline friends sabotaging builds on model forums Al. How about a new thread: "Do cats hate models?".
Julian

Since cats are THE superior being ... their actions are not to be questioned - just ask any cat ...

Got a cat myself, it has newer broken, eaten of killed anything made of styrene, but it is guilty of disturbing many a building session.

Cheers/Jan

Cats are guilty of an over abundance of curiosity, and a very short attention span. They don't believe in detours either. A straight line is always the best course, no matter what, or who is in the way. Why waste time going around something when you can just go over it, or through it. In a way, I envy my cats, everything to them is new and interesting, and a source of fun. Maybe I need to take a lesson from them. However, I don't think I will be attempting to jump from the floor to the chair, to the kitchen counter, to the top of the china cabinet, any time soon! Al

Actually it's more along the lines of "Cats like birds, too--just for different reasons."



--Karl

I've got a big dog. NOw with models every once in a while a curious sniff. The other day though I pulled out one of my electric train locos to exercise it on some of that bachmann ez track. The dog went nuts barking and leaping about the trying to bite it. I almost laughed so hard to let him get it until i remembered said loco was goig for $125 on ebay

As to cats, well if i move in with my girlfriend I will have 2 to contend with.

Did he crap bullets?

Like Jan, my cats have never damaged a model, or messed up the work bench.
If fact one is sitting on my modelling desk now, while I'm using the computer.

Hello Dave, So far the only danger resulting from his use of the litter box is a rather noxious and lingering aroma. Maybe it's 'cause I work at the kitchen table, that my cat thinks anything on it must be edible and thus fair game. Al

Back in November I got a kitten that had been hanging around a friends house. The darn thing was constantly on my work desk knocking off road wheels,turrets paint bottles EVERYTHING!! I had not come up with a name for him yet so after about a week of looking for tank parts and such I came up with a name, panzerabwehrkanone , though I just call him PAK for short. Now that he is a little older he leaves the models alone but still gets up and lays in the middle of everything while I'm trying to build.

When i build, the cat sometimes jumps up in my lap. He stays unless i bring out some of the more smelly stuff - like glue. then he leaves ..... must be smarter than me or some sort of animal 6.th. sense ..

I have made him a box with some old pillows under the table, it apparently satisfies his needs for socializing

You have to train them to be... respectful:



This particular cat, Lua (Moon) is AWOL, but the remaining cat at home, a 15 year old male, James, is more interested in sleeping and eating (cat food).

Cheers
Rui

Hello Rui, It is obvious to me, that cat must be a 'mouser' and just not all that interested in 'seafood'. Al

I am myself an AFV modeller more, but I must say my feline friend has more wit than some human ones. The were no cases she broke somthing - just a curious and very careful sniff.
And when you hear from your human friend saying in enthusiastic voice "What a cool tank", you can do nothing, but just clench your teeth, make a small pathetic smile and wait for unavoidable parting with an aerial, track or MG

i just recieved my lose cannon californian when my cat knocked it to the floor fortunatly the only damage was a very samll chip on the lower bow

They say Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity when watching an apple fall. I think it far more likely it occurred while watching a cat, they "discover" gravity every five minutes. Everything looks better to a cat when it is on the floor! Especially if it is important, fragile, or will create a spectacular mess. Al

Cats and dios don't mix. Al, remember the winter Russian dio and Bries cat zoomer when I lived in New Windsor. Not only did he knock it off the desk one night, he chewed up the (trees) roots, he single handidly dimembered all the Russian troopers to parts and did one hell of a job on the t34 which would have done a German proud. Needless to say, cats are forbidden in my house, upon entry they use up nine lives and are guided under arrest to the door. .

remember: dogs have masters, cats have servants!

I sometimes think cats are responsible for all those UFO reports. They are really an intelligent Alien species bent on world domination. Instead of Death Rays, and Tripod War Machines, they are insinuating themselves into enslaving mankind through 'cuteness' and 'affection'. Haven't you ever looked at a cat and wondered what was really going on behind those cold, calculating eyes? Don't "Watch the skies", keep an eye on that darn cat! Al