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Am I a terrible person for practicing near a kitten?

Auggie

Auggie

Mar 28, 2017
15
11
#1
I couldn't resist the temptation to get a baby kitten and now my first practice since is approaching. She's two months old, and would be upstairs while we practice in the basement.

We're incredibly loud and she's been exposed to me playing bass out of my rig, but not at concert levels. I've got some ear plugs I can give her and I was going to insulate her cat bed a bit, but do you think this will still lead to emotional trauma?

I'm wondering if anyone has similar experience and/or recommendations. Thanks!
 
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#3
Auggie said:
I couldn't resist the temptation to get a baby kitten and now my first practice since is approaching. She's two months old, and would be upstairs while we practice in the basement.

We're incredibly loud and she's been exposed to me playing bass out of my rig, but not at concert levels. I've got some ear plugs I can give her and I was going to insulate her cat bed a bit, but do you think this will still lead to emotional trauma?

I'm wondering if anyone has similar experience and/or recommendations. Thanks!
Click to expand...

you shouldn't put anything in your kitty's ears.

emotional trauma? maybe. are you loud enough to damage her hearing?
 
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#6
I would give the cat a mild sedative before you start to rehearse. Try the following steps:

1) Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby.
Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand.
As cat opens mouth pop pill into mouth.
Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

2) Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa.
Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.

057912
 
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#7
Don't play loud.
I mean why?
Play reasonably & enjoy the music.
Get used to it at every volume.
It exposes timing issues.

From Google: Cats and dogs both are much more sensitive to loud noises than humans. They can have noise induced hearing loss. Young cats are particularly sensitive.

If you are excelling and want the big leagues definitely turn down.
 
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#8
My oldest dog is almost completely deaf. These days, when I practice at home, he takes a nap in front of my amp. I guess what I'm saying is that your cat might some day associate the thump with the human producing it. That said, loud music is probably going to come as quite a shock to your pet, at first. Do you have a stereo? Play some music while hanging out with your new furry friend. My other dog prefers gangsta rap. He was a rescue.

*I would also like to add that my dog went deaf when he was diagnosed with vestibular disease. I have never exposed any pet to loud noises. I would do anything for my dogs. I prefer them over most people. In fact, I prefer most dogs over most people. If I go over to a friend's house, it's usually just to see their pets.
 
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#9
Auggie said:
I couldn't resist the temptation to get a baby kitten and now my first practice since is approaching. She's two months old, and would be upstairs while we practice in the basement.

We're incredibly loud and she's been exposed to me playing bass out of my rig, but not at concert levels. I've got some ear plugs I can give her and I was going to insulate her cat bed a bit, but do you think this will still lead to emotional trauma?

I'm wondering if anyone has similar experience and/or recommendations. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yeah, that'll go over well.
Why not just dump a load of any over the counter sleep aid in her chow!;)

What Gluvhand said... Turn down for a while so she can get used to the music and volume. She's only two months after all.
 
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#11
Yp
ejaggers said:
I would give the cat a mild sedative before you start to rehearse. Try the following steps:

1) Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby.
Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand.
As cat opens mouth pop pill into mouth.
Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

2) Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa.
Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.

057912
Click to expand...
Hahahaha you're funny as hell
 
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#12
ejaggers said:
I would give the cat a mild sedative before you start to rehearse. Try the following steps:

1) Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby.
Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand.
As cat opens mouth pop pill into mouth.
Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

2) Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa.
Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.

057912
Click to expand...
Been there, done that.
 
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#15
I only got my owner when he was already around a year old, but I am confident that I was his first exposure to anything loud-ish. He didn't leave the room when either vulfpeck or clutch were blared loud enough to loosen the screws on the wall outlet and switch covers, he probably would've handled full band practice/jam sessions.
 
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#19
I dont have much experience at playing at high volumes near my cat but I can say my cat always loved my bass. He would come over and sit on top of the amp while I practiced all the time. Till I got worried about cat hair in the electronics and put a bunch of stuff on top to keep him off.

May not be much help to the current situation but this reminded me if that.
 
#20
That's a sh!tty thing to do to a baby animal. You're going to damage it's hearing and scare the crap out of it and probably traumatize it for life. Kittens learn how to behave at a really early age, and what they're exposed to at a young age determines how they are for the rest of their life. If you expose it to stress young you will end up hurting it more than you might think.

No disrespect but either don't have pets if you're gonna be sh!tty to them, or adjust your lifestyle so you don't hurt them deliberately. Credit to you for asking about it first though, plenty of people wouldn't.

I recommend reading up on how to look after kittens, they're super easy pets as long as you get it right at the beginning.
 
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