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Cat Forum / General Topics / August 2004Clock radio - cat goes berserk
Help. We have a cat that seems to be normal in every way except when the clock radio is turned on. Not the alarm, but talking - like a talk radio station. When the radio is turned on the cat becomes terrified and attacks anything and everyone. Just happened again, wife is bleeding from her hand and my leg is bleeding. The cat literally goes berserk. The cat calms down when the radio is turned off., does not react to other radios, the two TV's, stereo, etc. This has happened three times now. Every time just the one clock radio set it off. Does it think someone strange is in the room? Is it a sound it can hear but we can't? Could it be some sort of mental ilness? We have two other cats that are not bothered by the radio. The cat is normally very calm and loving. Always jumping in our laps, loves to be petted, etc. Can anyone help us with some information about what is going on? Thank you, Kent > Help. > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Kent Just guessing........maybe it is a frequency thing. Shirley >Help. > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > >Kent Sound can break glass. Perhaps there is a frequency in the sound that affects the cat's hearing. MLB >>Help. >> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >Sound can break glass. Perhaps there is a frequency in the sound that >affects the cat's hearing. MLB Remembering: A long time ago, I decided to trade up on my Lowrey organ. After playing the new organ for a while, I realized that every time I had a practice session, I had a headache (no comments, please). I also noticed that when I played the organ, the mail slot in the door vibrated. Enough was enough and I again traded the organ. No more headaches -- no more door vibrations. IMHO donate the rtadio to charity.! MLB >>>Help. >>> [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] >headaches -- no more door vibrations. IMHO donate the rtadio to >charity.! MLB What you are referring to might have been subsonic or ultrasonic, or harmonics. First try another station. Also, try turning the radio portion of the device on manually and see how the cat reacts. While I can't think of any circuitry in the timer (i.e. clock) portion of the device that could cause this, I would like to separate the radio function from the clock function for this test. Another test would be to put the clock/radio in another room and see if that changes the cat's reaction. | >Remembering: A long time ago, I decided to trade up on my Lowrey | >organ. After playing the new organ for a while, I realized that every [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] | Another test would be to put the clock/radio in another room and see | if that changes the cat's reaction. I get wakened by a radio clock every morning. For the cats it's the sign that it's time for action. They usually come into bed to be with me and to make me get up. For them it's a pleasant situation. In your case I'd try out things like change the station or the surface where the radio stands on. Vibrations might bother the cat. Carola >I get wakened by a radio clock every morning. For the cats it's the sign >that it's time for action. They usually come into bed to be with me and to >make me get up. For them it's a pleasant situation. In your case I'd try out >things like change the station or the surface where the radio stands on. >Vibrations might bother the cat. One thing occurred to me while reading this.....has the cat made the connection that once the alarm rings you are going to get up, get dressed and go off to work leaving the cat alone? Maybe the solution is to get a second cat to keep the first one company? > > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > We don't use the alarm or radio to get up since before the the problem started (teachers are home in the summer). We leave the house all the time and I'm sure the cat knows all the signs (getting keys, etc. etc). We are not talking disappointment or acting out like peeing or scratching furniture. This is a cat in pure panic, fighting for what I guess it thinks is its very life. We literally have to clean up our own blood after it "goes off". We have two other cats and it gets along with them both. Thank you for helping us try to solve our mystery. Kent Amy Gray wrote: On Sat, 31 Jul 2004 14:59:41 +0200, "M.C. Mullen" <mcmullen@freesurf.invalid.ch> wrote: I get wakened by a radio clock every morning. For the cats it's the sign that it's time for action. They usually come into bed to be with me and to make me get up. For them it's a pleasant situation. In your case I'd try out things like change the station or the surface where the radio stands on. Vibrations might bother the cat. One thing occurred to me while reading this.....has the cat made the connection that once the alarm rings you are going to get up, get dressed and go off to work leaving the cat alone? Maybe the solution is to get a second cat to keep the first one company? We don't use the alarm or radio to get up since before the the problem started (teachers are home in the summer). We leave the house all the time and I'm sure the cat knows all the signs (getting keys, etc. etc). We are not talking disappointment or acting out like peeing or scratching furniture. This is a cat in pure panic, fighting for what I guess it thinks is its very life. We literally have to clean up our own blood after it "goes off". We have two other cats and it gets along with them both. Given a cats super-sensitive hearing, I would have to agree with the frequency/noise thing. The only other thing I can think of is that your cat associates the radio with something bad that happened to it recently and sees the radio as being the cause. -Silver "I love cats because I enjoy my home; & little by little, they become its visible soul." - Jean Cocteau 1889-1963. > > [quoted text clipped - 54 lines] > > The clock part of the radio is always on and does not bother the cat. We have manually turned on the radio and that is what sets the cat off. Experimenting is not an option. The fury of a panicked, fighting, clawing, biting cat is not something you deliberately want to face. My wife, who has been attacked three times (it took us that long to figure out the problem), fears to even be in the same room as the cat. The radio does not bother our other two cats so it is a problem unique to this cat. Could the cat have a physical problem with its hearing? An ear infection or something? We have had the radio for a long time and this has never happened before. As I write this, I just realized we had just changed the electrical outlet where the radio is plugged in the first time the cat "went off". We were also painting the room that same day (paint fumes was our first theory). The cats were also "playing" with a curly tailed lizard that unfortunately for it had somehow gotten in the house. Someone had told us they can be poisonous (that was our second theory). This is all so strange. We will be taking the cat to the vet but will the vet even believe our story? With out the radio, the cat is as sweet as a cat can be. Thank you all for your input. It is very much appreciated. Kent >The clock part of the radio is always on and does not bother the cat. We >have manually turned on the radio and that is what sets the cat off. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] >the vet even believe our story? With out the radio, the cat is as sweet >as a cat can be. Thank you all for your input. It is very much appreciated. I would get rid of the radio. You can get replacement clock radios for less than $20.00 Think of it as an investment in your cat. >Help. > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >and loving. Always jumping in our laps, loves to be petted, etc. Can >anyone help us with some information about what is going on? Could it be what is on the radio? Sean Hannity? Rush Limbaugh? Bill O'Rielly? > > [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > I thought about that. It's a Christian radio station. Like, could the cat be possessed (just kidding)? Kent >> >> [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] >I thought about that. It's a Christian radio station. Like, could the >cat be possessed (just kidding)? Maybe the station has loud "chants" that are frightening the cat? Maybe the station plays bells or some other noise that frightens the cat? Have you tried putting soft music on the radio? Maybe the station has some "loud" announcers that are heavy on the reverb? Maybe that announcer reminds the cat of something in it's past? >>Help. >> [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > Could it be what is on the radio? Sean Hannity? Rush Limbaugh? > Bill O'Rielly? Maybe it was the recent coverage of the democratic convention. Maybe thats where my kitten leanred how to whine? LOL Kay Try that radio in another room to see whether it's radio specific - or another radio in the bedroom to see whether it's bedroom specific. > Help. > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Kent >Try that radio in another room to see whether it's radio specific - or >another radio in the bedroom to see whether it's bedroom specific. [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > There are two radios and a TV in the room. No response to the other radio or the TV. But the cat goes berserk with 100% reliability when the one clock radio is turned on. This is all very resent because we have been using the radio for years. Just seldom need an alarm in the summer. It's like turning a switch on the cat when turning on the radio. Frequency theory sounds like the best theory so far. It's something we can't really experiment with though because anyone in the room (even the other cats) gets the full fury of claws and teeth everytime the radio is turned on. It's like the cat suddenly looses its mind. Thank you all for responding. Very worried the cat may have some serious problem. Kent >There are two radios and a TV in the room. No response to the other >radio or the TV. But the cat goes berserk with 100% reliability when the [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >turned on. It's like the cat suddenly looses its mind. Thank you all for >responding. Very worried the cat may have some serious problem. That would tell me the one radio has a "high frequency" tone that that the other ratio and the TV don't have. Maybe you need to replace/elminate that radio? I doubt that the cat's gone mad. It sounds like maybe a board component in your radio is emitting an ultra-sonic whistle. Cat hearing like that of humans, is also highly variable - with some able to detect far higher frequencies than others. Seems like your kitty has highly-tuned ears. You could get the radio's sonic output tested - it's highly likely to be emitting a high frequency at considerable amplitude. Give him a break and sell the radio. Scumball wrote: Try that radio in another room to see whether it's radio specific - or another radio in the bedroom to see whether it's bedroom specific. "Kent" <kent4034@aol.com> wrote in message news:4109BA2E.5070302@aol.com... Help. We have a cat that seems to be normal in every way except when the clock radio is turned on. Not the alarm, but talking - like a talk radio station. When the radio is turned on the cat becomes terrified and attacks anything and everyone. Just happened again, wife is bleeding from her hand and my leg is bleeding. The cat literally goes berserk. The cat calms down when the radio is turned off., does not react to other radios, the two TV's, stereo, etc. This has happened three times now. Every time just the one clock radio set it off. Does it think someone strange is in the room? Is it a sound it can hear but we can't? Could it be some sort of mental ilness? We have two other cats that are not bothered by the radio. The cat is normally very calm and loving. Always jumping in our laps, loves to be petted, etc. Can anyone help us with some information about what is going on? Thank you, Kent There are two radios and a TV in the room. No response to the other radio or the TV. But the cat goes berserk with 100% reliability when the one clock radio is turned on. This is all very resent because we have been using the radio for years. Just seldom need an alarm in the summer. It's like turning a switch on the cat when turning on the radio. Frequency theory sounds like the best theory so far. It's something we can't really experiment with though because anyone in the room (even the other cats) gets the full fury of claws and teeth everytime the radio is turned on. It's like the cat suddenly looses its mind. Thank you all for responding. Very worried the cat may have some serious problem. Kent > I doubt that the cat's gone mad. > It sounds like maybe a board component in your radio is emitting an [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > be emitting a high frequency at considerable amplitude. > Give him a break and sell the radio. Thank you Von. I think you are right. Why do you think the cat attacks instead of just running away? As I think back, just as a point of interest, a few times in the past when I was balancing my checkbook I would have the automated voice reading off check numbers and balances over my telephones speaker phone and would get the complete opposite response from the cat. The cat could not get close enough to the phone, rubbing her body on the phone, purring, etc. I could not keep her away from the phone. I have not done this in a while (you just can't write with a cat all over you) but I always thought it was the sound of the voice she liked. Like it may have reminded her of someone. Could it be sound from a different wave spectrum is pleasing to the cat and sound from the opposite spectrum terrifies the cat? Its all very interesting and scarry (if its your cat) at the same time. Kent <an interesting story> If it's not just the genre the cat objects to (which feelings I can sympathize with), then something's producing the cat equivalent of a "scare cycle" or "fingernails on a blackboard"; could be: - faulty transformer/poorly implemented wiring on at least that phase in the house. - clock-radio circuitry and/or speaker. The latter is easily solved by tossing the old radio and getting a new one; the former, if not remedied could shorten the life of equipment/appliances and may even indicate a potential fire-hazard. pat My guess would be a combination of the intelligent replies already offered. 1- Observe the cat in a room containing it, and the radio. 2- Do the same in your room with another (perhaps natural noise source) You will quickly work out what's going on with logic. > Help. > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Kent One of our cats has a similarly bad response to the laser printer! She would attack and sizzle at it whenever it was activated. One minute she would be sitting on the computer table on top of the towel watching the computer screen or lying on the table and dozing; then the instant she hears the printer warming up she assaults it and only calms down when it stops. I try to avoid printing stuff when she is around our 'office' but if I have stuff to print I take her into the kitchen for a distracting tidbit. She gets really irate about it but oddly enough ignores the colour inkjet when it does it's printing. Have never understood why she does this. She used to beat up the vacuum cleaner but tends to climb up to 'higher ground' when we use it to watch it moving back and forth. I figure giving her a treat whenever we use these things may help make a friendly association in her mind. Iain >We have a cat that seems to be normal in every way except when the clock >radio is turned on. Not the alarm, but talking - like a talk radio >station. When the radio is turned on the cat becomes terrified and >attacks anything and everyone. |
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