My cat turned my CPAP off

Robear · Post by **Robear** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 1:42 pm

To my surprise, my CPAP was turned off when I woke up during the night last night to go to the bathroom. SleepyHead confirms that it was off for almost 1h 30m. All I can think is that my cat must have turned it off as she was climbing up on my bed. I have a box that I use for a cover to prevent her from turning it on during the day. I guess I'll need to start using it at night too. It doesn't block air intake.

I've had "low numbers" for about a year & a half, since adjusting to variable pressure (advice from this forum) and my sleep has been much more restful. Last night, however, my Obstructive Apneas were 24. My average so far this year is 5.1 & it's uncommon to be in double digits. Central Apneas = 7 and Hypopneas = 3 last night. My sleep last night seemed pretty normal, both before & after the stoppage.

At first, I assumed that the CPAP being off had made it harder for me to breathe & was therefore interpreted as obstructive. Then it dawned on dummy me that CPAP wasn't monitoring anything while it was off. Could the off period have affected my breathing for the remainder of the night? Or is it just coincidental?

klm49 · Post by **klm49** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 2:13 pm

Robear wrote: ↑
Thu Apr 05, 2018 1:42 pm
All I can think is that my cat must have turned it off as she was climbing up on my bed. I have a box that I use for a cover to prevent her from turning it on during the day. I guess I'll need to start using it at night too.

I had to cover mine too, my cat figured out that if he turned it off I would get up.....

jnk... · Post by **jnk...** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 2:16 pm

Sometimes cats get their instructions from the aliens.

Wulfman... · Post by **Wulfman...** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 3:29 pm

Robear wrote: ↑
Thu Apr 05, 2018 1:42 pm
To my surprise, my CPAP was turned off when I woke up during the night last night to go to the bathroom. SleepyHead confirms that it was off for almost 1h 30m. All I can think is that my cat must have turned it off as she was climbing up on my bed. I have a box that I use for a cover to prevent her from turning it on during the day. I guess I'll need to start using it at night too. It doesn't block air intake.

I've had "low numbers" for about a year & a half, since adjusting to variable pressure (advice from this forum) and my sleep has been much more restful. Last night, however, my Obstructive Apneas were 24. My average so far this year is 5.1 & it's uncommon to be in double digits. Central Apneas = 7 and Hypopneas = 3 last night. My sleep last night seemed pretty normal, both before & after the stoppage.

At first, I assumed that the CPAP being off had made it harder for me to breathe & was therefore interpreted as obstructive. Then it dawned on dummy me that CPAP wasn't monitoring anything while it was off. Could the off period have affected my breathing for the remainder of the night? Or is it just coincidental?

Do you have "Auto On" turned on?
Seems strange to me that the machine didn't auto-start from your breathing into your mask.
Check your machine settings and see.

Den

.

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 3:40 pm

Probably just a coincidence with the numbers but do like Wulfman suggested....make sure that Auto On...is turned ON and if it happens again where the kitty turns the machine off or even if you have a power outage in the middle of the night then the machine will come back on again once it senses your breathing and it doesn't take but 3 or 4 breaths for it to sense you are attached as long as the mask is still in place.

Do you know how to get to the clinical setup menu area where the Auto On menu choice is available?
If not you can find the instructions here. Just look up your particular model machine and if it is the Respironics in your profile...easy to go turn it on.
https://www.apneaboard.com/adjust-cpap- ... tup-manual

If it's a different brand the auto on function might be called something else.

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 4:07 pm

+1000, Pugsy!
Auto on has more than once turned my machine back on after a short power outage.

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 5:23 pm

Won't for me because I have the good O2 mixer in my circuit, if the XPAP turns off the O2 is vented into my room instead of back into My XPAP to start a fire. The auto start breath is vented into the bedroom too. Jim

palerider · Post by **palerider** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 7:42 pm

Robear wrote: ↑
Thu Apr 05, 2018 1:42 pm
All I can think is that my cat must have turned it off as she was climbing up on my bed.

You realize, your cat is trying to kill you, so it can eat you....

That's why it turned off your cpap.

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 8:09 pm

Cats wouldn't do that if we would let them buy guns. Jim

palerider · Post by **palerider** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 8:33 pm

Robear · Post by **Robear** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 8:45 pm

Wulfman... wrote: ↑
Thu Apr 05, 2018 3:29 pm
Do you have "Auto On" turned on?
Seems strange to me that the machine didn't auto-start from your breathing into your mask.
Check your machine settings and see.
Den

I've never used "Auto On". I saw that feature months ago when I was poking around trying to learn how things worked. At the time a power outage didn't occur to me & I couldn't think of a useful purpose, so I left it "off". I'll certainly turn it on, beginning tonight. Thanks for the suggestion!!

Cpapian · Post by **Cpapian** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:16 pm

Before I had xPAP, my cat did CPR on me each morning ..... to ensure I woke up to feed them.

Wulfman... · Post by **Wulfman...** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:20 pm

Robear wrote: ↑
Thu Apr 05, 2018 8:45 pm

Wulfman... wrote: ↑
Thu Apr 05, 2018 3:29 pm
Do you have "Auto On" turned on?
Seems strange to me that the machine didn't auto-start from your breathing into your mask.
Check your machine settings and see.
Den
I've never used "Auto On". I saw that feature months ago when I was poking around trying to learn how things worked. At the time a power outage didn't occur to me & I couldn't think of a useful purpose, so I left it "off". I'll certainly turn it on, beginning tonight. Thanks for the suggestion!!

You betcha!
If you live in an area where the power can be a little flaky, I'd also recommend getting a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). They can be found relatively inexpensively at Walmart (or other places). I've used UPS backups for my computers for decades, but some years back, they were getting a bit old to count on and I started replacing them and adding some for my XPAP use, even though our area has pretty stable power, there have been a couple of times when it has gone out.
Two of the ones I own that I use for my XPAPs are:

APC Model "BACK-UPS-650M1" (relatively smaller for travel purposes)

CyberPower SE425G (a little cheaper if cost is a factor)

Den

.

Slartybartfast · Post by **Slartybartfast** » Thu Apr 05, 2018 10:11 pm

SewTired · Post by **SewTired** » Fri Apr 06, 2018 4:23 pm

If it helps any, I had the same problem with the S9. Couldn't figure out my Sleepyhead chart for the life of me and then realized that the cat was stepping on the button, shutting it off and then Auto-Start would start it back up after a few breaths.

Yep, you need a cover or a side table that has 2 levels. I eventually bought a Airsense for backup and sold the S9 to a non-cat owner. Still, it was funny.

My cat turned my CPAP off

My cat turned my CPAP off

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