Cat Chewing Oxygen Tubing

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Fred Loxton - 05 Mar 2004 04:25 GMT

Hi,
My mother is on oxygen which is supplied from an oxygen concentrator
to the cannular (nasal tube) by a clear plastic tube (like aquarium
tubing).

Her cat loves to chew this tubing resulting in lost oxygen pressure
and several medical crises. The cat has been squirted, yelled at. We
have tried painting the tubing with bitter liquid and other deterents,
to no avail. We have to repair the tube with electrical tape, but we
cannot wrap the whole tube in tape. At night, we suspend the tubing
from hooks out of the the cats reach, but during the day, as my mother
moves around, the cat starts chewing. Its quite a long tube so we
can't alway see when the cat is at it.

Help. My mother loves the cat, but its looking like the cat might have
to go.

How can we stop the cat chewing the tubing?

Thanks

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Sunflower - 05 Mar 2004 04:34 GMT

> Hi,
> My mother is on oxygen which is supplied from an oxygen concentrator
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> Thanks

You could try hot sauce on the tubing, or perhaps casing it in a thicker
plastic tubing. Take a look at the plumbing section of your local hardware
store for irrigation tubing which could be slit to cover the oxygen tubing
and then secured with strips of gaffer tape (tougher than electrical tape)
at intervals along the tubing. Or, you could try aluminum foil. Sheets of
aluminum foil kept mine from jumping on the kitchen counters. In addition to
the water pistol that you've tried, you might also use the coffee can of
pennies as a shaker noise deterrent. Mine really hate the noise.

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Fred Loxton - 05 Mar 2004 13:12 GMT

> > Hi,
> > My mother is on oxygen which is supplied from an oxygen concentrator
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
> the water pistol that you've tried, you might also use the coffee can of
> pennies as a shaker noise deterrent. Mine really hate the noise.

Thanks, but I should have added, the other deterents we tried included
hot sauce, various bitter liquids from the petshop, soap.

We hardly ever catch him chewing the tube. We only know there is a
problem when the oxygen level drop.s

Thanks for your help.

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Sabrina's Mom - 05 Mar 2004 17:08 GMT

>Thanks, but I should have added, the other deterents we tried included
>hot sauce, various bitter liquids from the petshop, soap.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
>Thanks for your help.

try the aluminum foil.

Try a garden hose around the tubing, still provides flexibility, and
if you get the collapsible nylon hoses, they are lighter weight and
flexible.

Buy a cat crate to keep the cat in during the day.

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Victor Martinez - 05 Mar 2004 13:55 GMT

You could spray the tubes with Feliway. It's a synthetic cat pheromone,
should prevent the cat from chewing them.

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Adam Helberg - 06 Mar 2004 06:02 GMT

> Hi,
> My mother is on oxygen which is supplied from an oxygen concentrator
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> Thanks

Dump the mother.

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JoJo - 07 Mar 2004 19:00 GMT

I know you've tried the hot sauce, but give this a try -
coat the tubing with vaseline (petroleum jelly) then cover liberally with
cayenne pepper (flakes or powder), hot chili powder or black pepper. The
vaseline will allow the pepper/powder to stick to the tube. Here's hoping
your cat doesn't have a fondness for hot things.

Hope you find something that works, it would be a shame the cat would have
to go, especially if your mother loves him.

> Hi,
> My mother is on oxygen which is supplied from an oxygen concentrator
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> Thanks

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