How To Keep Kittens From Chewing On Electrical Wires When It's Impossible To Keep The Wires Out Of Reach(Are there...

There are two products designed for just this purpose: Chewsafe™ Cord Protectors and Crittercord™. Both have a three-pronged protection approach: citrus scent, bitter taste, and the heavy gauge tubing itself.

The tubing is pre-slit to make installation easy. It is also clear, so it is virtually invisible and will blend in with your decor. (Although the cords themselves aren't invisible, so I'm not sure why this is a selling point.) The citrus scent and bitter taste is infused directly into the product, so it doesn't wear off.

I was unaware of these products and went looking for something at my local hardware store. Corrugated tubing, mostly used to organize and streamline an area with a lot of cord traffic, such as computer and stereo areas, has worked for me.

It lacks the built-in citrus scent and bitter taste, but has the pre-cut slit. I buy the ¾ and one-inch gauges; the width alone is enough to deter my cats from going after it. (This may not work for dogs with larger jaws.) Alas, it is not clear, but comes in black, beige, and white for the decor-conscious.

If you look for the corrugated tubing at your local hardware store, be aware that it is also known under a number of different aliases:

• wire conduit
• loom (including convoluted and split)
• ribbed tubing
• flex tubing