Tips To Stop Your Cat From Scratching Your Speakers

I have a cat named Robben (after the famous Dutch soccer player Arjen Robben). He was plucked from the streets after he came right up to my dog and he’s been part of the family ever since. He is technically a “feral” cat despite his playful and loving nature.

When you bring new speakers into your house, you are making a lot of people happy. First and foremost, you are happy because all of your research has brought you to this point of audio nirvana. Your friends and family, while skeptical at first, will also reap the benefits. Lastly, if you have a cat, they are going to be stoked as well. After all, you just bought them a pair of giant scratching posts.

While he is insanely cute and wouldn’t hurt a fly (minus birds, mice, chipmunks, snakes and the other various critters he enjoys hunting), he likes to scratch things. My couch and my speakers, specifically.

Now, you’re on your own with your couch (Google has endless results for this problem), I am here to provide you with some first-hand tips on how to deal with your cat scratching your speakers.

Of course, it must be noted that this is not an official guide. Klipsch does not hold any responsibility for your cat and your cat-proofing methods ruining your speakers.

Add More Scratching Posts

The easiest way to stop your cat from scratching you speakers is to simply give them more appetizing things to scratch or other toys to play with. Place them along the path of where your cat most frequently scampers around.  If you believe you have enough scratching posts, try rearranging them. Do not discard old scratching posts immediately. Place them next to the new scratching posts, so the cat can slowly adjust to the new one.

Take the Grilles Off Your Speakers

I am obviously extremely biased, but I’d say it’s a shame to cover up the copper cones (or the glorious woofers from our non-Reference series speakers). Freeing your speakers from their grilles may indeed remove your feline friend’s temptation of a tall, scratchable surface. Of course, we also must note that your child, niece, partner, etc may decide that the woofers look quite pokable, damaging your speaker(s) worse than a few scratches on the grilles.

In my own situation, Robben decided that the naked speaker was just as tempting, sinking his claws into the woofer itself. My high-pitched (and decidedly not masculine) scream scared him off temporarily.

Startle or Spray Your Cat

I’m not advocating that you take out deep-rooted anger on your cat companion or anything stupid like that. That being said, when your cat starts scratching, let out a yelp or scold them quickly and your cat will scurry away, hopefully never returning to scratch your speakers again.

Better yet, you could fill up a water bottle and give your kitty a quick spray when they commit the crime. It won’t take much, so don’t fill up a Supersoaker.

Spray Your Speakers with an Anti-Scratching Spray

There are tons of anti-scratching sprays that you can find in the aisles of your local pet store. I have only tried out Nature’s Miracle Scratching Deterrent Spray and its effectiveness is hit or miss.

Please be careful when using the spray, some speakers have very sensitive surfaces that should not be sprayed with any sort of liquid. I only spray the grille covers of my Heresy III speakers. Most of the time it seems to work; however, I did witness one such occasion where Robben went right to work on them mere minutes after I had applied the spray.

Add Scratch Covers to Your Speaker

This is the most extreme technique and also the most complicated. Call me lazy, but I cannot attest to whether it’ll be successful or not. Essentially, you need to turn your speakers into modified scratching posts. Put the fabric over the top of the speakers and your feline will have a go on the covers instead of your favorite speakers. Do not attach the fabric cover to the speaker themselves since you would be damaging your speaker that way and making the whole process pointless anyway.

Put Something On Top of the Speakers

My cat (and presumably yours too if you are still reading) loves to get up to high places including the top of my Reference Premiere RP-260F floorstanding speakers. While it’s adorable and all, his little claws dig into the speaker as he tries to secure a grip.

Now, if the previously listed fixes don’t deter your cat from your speakers altogether, there is a simple fix that will work most the time. Put something on top of your speaker. In lieu of a tasteful plant or meaningful decorative object, I’ve actually placed a pair of Reference Premiere RP-140SA elevation speakers, cat-proofing the top of my speakers AND gifting myself Dolby Atmos technology. Double win.

Kitten Mittens

You’ll be smitten.

Stop Worrying About It

Seriously. Almost all of us tend to fret over the appearances of our speakers to an insane degree, but it really is so much better at the end of the day to just going nuts over every little nick and scratch. Call them marks of character. After all, no one will really notice besides you and the speakers will sound exactly as awesome as they did before your kitten decided to test out their claws.

Do you have any other tips on how to deal with your cat (or other pet) scratching your speakers? Post in the comments!