Cats are peaceful and curious creatures. Suppose you own a cat as a pet and don’t know why your cat likes being around your flat-screen TV. Its curiosity is one of the primary reasons why a cat may be seen pawing at your TV.
You should not be caught pouring water on that beautiful pet of yours as a way of keeping it off your flat-screen TV. It’s an inhumane act. There are better ways of keeping your card off your flat-screen TV.
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Below are useful and practical ways on how to keep cats away from a flat-screen TV. Check them out.
- Make the surface uncomfortable for it. You can wrap aluminum foil loosely on the TV so that when it rattles, the cat would be discouraged from pawing at the TV.
- You can also use a cellphone tape as a way of deterring your cat from jumping on your flat-screen TV. You can just lay small bits of cellophane tape around your TV, so when your cat steps on it, it gets sticky and acts as a warning sign to it.
- Spend quality time with your cat. This is a fantastic and straightforward way of keeping it off your TV. If you’re always communicating with your cat, you and your cat won’t have to spend much time watching the TV.
- Distract your cat with toys. Provide enough toys for your cat to play with. This would be enough distraction for it. You won’t have much time to spend watching the TV.
- Adopt another cat as a pet. The new cat you adopt will be an excellent companion to your cat. They will get to spend more time together away from your TV.
- Fixing a shelf above your TV, too, would help you keep your cat off your TV.
Why is my cat obsessed with the TV?
If you are a cat owner and you have noticed how obsessed your cat is with your TV, you might be wondering why your cat loves to watch TV. If your cat doesn’t sit close to you on the couch while you watch the TV, it’s nothing to be worried about. Not all cats love to watch TV.
Do you want to know why your cat likes to watch TV? Here are some of the reasons.
- To pass time
Most cats don’t watch the TV for any good reason at all. They use it to pass the time because they are relatively peaceful. They use watching TV as a time to wait patiently for their next mealtime.
2. They are curious animals
Cats are naturally curious creatures. So, when it sees a TV for the first time, it reacts with curiosity written all over it. It tries to touch the characters with its paws and checks the back of the TV to see if the characters are there. Once your kitten gets older, it begins to understand how the TV works.
3. Cats don’t see TV as fluid motion but as different frames.
The eyes of humans see motion as slightly fluid, starting with 12-16 fps. The average flat-screen TV rate is 25 frames per second (fps). The cat only sees different frames if the frame rate is less than 40fps. Do you know what that means? They see stable pictures, but they find it difficult to comprehend why they keep changing so fast.
4. Ads for pets
When cats see ads being displayed about cats on TV, they show curiosity, and they want to see how they can touch the cats being shown on TV. When special ads about cats are shown on TV, your cat pet automatically gets interested. It will want to associate with the cat on the TV. And cats have a great sense of smell. They also want to find a way of sniffing what is being shown on TV.
5. Your cat usually reacts to the sounds from your TV. This is another reason your cat is obsessed with your TV.
6. Most cats are natural hunters. You know how eager they are when they see a mouse on TV. They want to pounce on it. That’s also one of the reasons your cat is obsessed with your TV.
What does TV look like to cats?
TV looks different to cats from how human beings see it. To cats, the colors are not very clear, and they look blurry. When your cat looks at the TV, they easily detect motion better than humans. Most cats have a strong sense of perception, and they are usually thrilled by technology.
Can a cat knock over a flat-screen TV?
A cat can knock over a flat-screen TV because it has powerful paws. And if your flat-screen TV is not mounted on the wall, it can easily knock it over.
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How to cat-proof flat-screen TV
There are several ways you can catproof your flat-screen TV.
Some of them are:
- Strap your TV
This is an excellent way of cat-proofing your flat-screen TV. There are many TV straps you can get. You can choose to strap on a TV stand or the wall.
- Get a very long TV stand.
Get a long TV stand, especially if your cat is still small. Make sure it is out of its reach. But as it grows, the length of the TV may no longer be a limitation. When this happens, then the next option would be great.
- Mount your flat-screen TV on the wall.
This is a perfect way of securing your flat-screen TV. You can also mount your soundbar under your mounted TV.
Scat mats are another way you can distract cats from damaging your flat-screen TV. It triggers a light shock into them and prevents them from going close to your TV. If they get used to staying away from the TV, you can then remove the scat mats.
Conclusion
Now that you are aware of how curious your cat can get when your TV is on, you know it is not a bad thing for it to watch the TV with you. Allow your cat to watch the TV with you but make sure everything is done in moderation. If your cat begins to knock off your TV as you watch a program together, look for unique ways of tackling it instead of spraying it with water.
Your cat may be obsessed with your TV, too, because you and your family members are. You could reduce the number of hours you spend watching the TV and see if it will make a difference in your cat’s obsession with TV. Don’t allow your cat to watch the TV unsupervised.
Apply the tips that were given in this article to help cat-proof your TV. You will notice a difference in your cat’s behavior towards your TV.