cat-on-cable-box

No matter how many cat beds I put around the house, the top of the cable box is one of the most coveted napping spots, especially during the colder months. Allegra and Ruby must have worked out a schedule, because they both seem to get equal time on it. All of my cats over the years have always enjoyed napping on the cable box, and these things must be pretty sturdy, because I can  only imagine the amount of cat hair that ends up inside.

Last week, however, the cable box met its maker in the form of a small hairball.

Now mind you, since the girls eat a raw diet, they hardly ever get hairballs – three or four times a year, if that. And when they do happen, they seem to happen in the middle of the night on the bedroom carpet. This one, however, happened in broad daylight. On top of the cable box. I came home from running errands to find the display on the receiver had gone dark. After I unplugged it and plugged it back in, and it still wouldn’t work, I pulled it out, and found the evidence. I’m pretty sure Ruby was the culprit, since she was on the box when I left the house.

I bet the conversation between the girls went something like this:

Allegra: Now look what you did, Ruby!

Ruby: I didn’t do it on purpose! I felt yucky, and next thing I know, it just came up!

Allegra: You could have at least moved to an area where it’s easier for Mom to clean up your mess.

Ruby: Uh oh, Allegra.

Allegra: What?

Ruby: You know those green numbers that are usually on front of the cable box?

Allegra: You mean the time of day?

Ruby: Whatever. But you know what? They’re not there anymore…

Allegra: You broke it, Ruby! Starts singing: you’re in trouble, you’re in trouble…

Ruby: Help me fix it, Allegra!

Allegra: I don’t know how.

Ruby: But you always know everything!

Allegra: We’ll have to wait for Mom to get home.

Ruby: Don’t tell her I did it!

Allegra: She’ll figure it out anyway, but you know she won’t be mad at you.

Ruby: That’s true. Because I’m cute. She says so all the time.

Allegra: sighs.

cat-on-cable-box

Obviously, this was not a big deal. I picked up a new cable box later that day, and the girls are back to enjoying their favorite nap spot. The only “punishment” for Ruby will be that she’ll now have to share my lap with my iPad when I catch up on the shows that I recorded on the ruined DVR – something she’s not crazy about.

 

17 Comments on Allegra, Ruby and the Cable Box

  1. Sleeping on the cable box (which thankfully Cody does NOT do), probably because our large screen TV sits too closely above it….is something my husband would lose his mind over!!! Hence our TV sitting too close to the box lol.
    But….Cody gravitates to my printer instead, which is why it is often found online or jammed!

  2. Not to worry, Ruby — Fey took out two cable boxes that way. Finally, I took the top drawer out of the bureau that the T. V. was on and asked my brother to drill a hole in the back for the cords. So, now the cable box is hairball-safe!

  3. Piper loves the cable box in the winter. I have now use compressed air to blow it out every couple of months. Thankfully no hairballs on it yet (knock on whiskers). Her favorite spot in the summer is sleeping across my neck. She must think I am cold. Why can’t she do this in the winter when I need the warmth?

  4. Haha!!! I can totally relate! Good thing it was an easy replacement. It reminds me of the time we had a security system installed. Katie and Waffles kept setting off the glass break alarm. Pretty sure that was a first for the alarm company. …oh, and I should clarify that no glass was ever broken. ; )

  5. Ditto here, regarding the warmth-generating electronics (the router or the DVD player) next to the tv — or other appliances such as the mini fridge only a couple of feet away, but lower than the entertainment cabinet. Of all the ten current special-needs rescued fosters living here for years, there is only one, my Molly, a huge torti, who tries to lounge there whenever she can. Even when caught & scolded, she still does it at every opportunity. I don’t think any have ever vomited directly into a component, but it probably has accumulated the equivalent of an adult cat worth of fur on the inside of the electronics’ housing. It’s getting to be an expensive proposition, with having to replace at least the wireless router component on average every 18 months. Sigh…

    • I’m actually always surprised that electronics don’t break more often in households with a heavy cat hair load. When I managed an animal hospital, we had to have our computers cleaned out at least every six months. The amount of hair that came out at each cleaning was staggering – and our hospital was very clean!

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