Cat loves my mask... while I'm wearing it!

[larkspurdragon]

I have a very curious cat who is super interested in my cpap and everything that goes with it. He loves anything plastic. I ended up making a hose cover out of fabric and that's stopped him from messing with the hose, and I can hide everything during the day, but recently I've been walking up in the middle of the night to find him licking my mask. I don't want him to chew on it. Apart from wearing a pillowcase on my head while I sleep, is there anything I can do to stop this behavior? Have any of you had issues with this?

Edit: before you suggest keeping him out of the bedroom, that's not feasible. I essentially live in a studio and the only place I could put him at night is the bathroom, which is unfair.

[Dog Slobber]

Spray or rub a deterrent on the outside of the mask.

Use caution no to get any around the cushions where there is contact with your skin.

After a while, he'll learn your mask tastes nasty and and you may not have to reapply.

A popular deterrent is Bitter Apple Spray.

[Julie]

They don't like citrus smells.

[D.H.]

This seems to come up a lot. It seems it's more frequently cats than dogs.

There should be something to put on the hose, mask, or machine that cats and dogs find unpleasant, is not harmful to them, and does not harm the equipment. I'm never sure that anything that anybody recommends meets all three of those requirements.

[larkspurdragon]

I just replaced my hose and mask, so I could put the deterrent on my old one and sleep with that for a few nights to see what happens.

[chunkyfrog]

Another thought:
Your cat may be lacking something in his diet that attracts him to plastic.
See his vet.
Alternatively, cats use the natural deodorant in their saliva to neutralize funky odors.
We had a kitten that wanted to lick my husband's armpit.
Use a baby wipe on the mask--the cat may think his job is already done.

[bombayone]

Think about putting the cat up for adoption.

[chunkyfrog]

Think about putting the cat up for adoption.

Cat hater!
We will have none of this here, please.

[bombayone]

Not a cat hater. I like cats. This particular cat is just in the wrong environment.

[chunkyfrog]

Not a cat hater. I like cats. This particular cat is just in the wrong environment.

Removing him from a loving home would be cruel.
My guess, you like cats like ALF did--for lunch.

[Becca8104]

you may try kenneling the cat in the bedroom, but cats may not tolerate that like a dog would. I have to admit, while I don't hate cats, I have never owned one, so I am not sure how well that would work, especially if your cat is full grown & used to having free rein. The cat may go berserk & yowl all night. I guess your best bet is to try all the deterrents first. I don't agree that you need to get rid of the cat. Pets are a part of the family & they are emotionally attached to their humans just like their human owners are attached to them. It would be cruel to get rid of it just because it likes to chew plastic CPAP parts. Cats like to chew on leather as well (that's another cat story). A cat will be a cat. Maybe you can just give your old CPAP equipment to your cat for a chew toy & maybe it will be content with that & leave your new stuff alone.

[Pugsy]

you may try kenneling the cat in the bedroom, but cats may not tolerate that like a dog would.

OMG you have no idea the racket a cat can make in a kennel. Wouldn't have to worry about the cpap equipment because there would simply be no chance of sleep for anyone.
I have one cat that screams like a mountain lion when she is unhappy (which unfortunately is fairly often as she is a grumpy old bitch).

If it were me I would try the bitters thing but I wouldn't be holding my breath on that one working so great. I tried it on power cords and I think my power cord chewer just loved it. Never even slowed her down. So now all my power cords are encased in sort of hard plastic which she doesn't like the feel of. Fortunately she has never paid one bit of attention to any of my cpap stuff.

If no luck with the bitters then I would cover everything I could cover with something to protect the silicone....short hose with a short hose cozy and the nasal pillow I would cover with a padacheek barrel cozy.
https://www.padacheek.com/barrel-cozies-1
A secondary plus for the barrel cozy is it's super comfy up against the skin....the material that Karen at padacheek uses feels like silk against the skin.

[jsmit86]

I have a cat that not only would come by and lick the mask, but he was biting or clawing my hoses.
I purchased a hose cover, but he still was ruining my hoses.

I wrapped the hose in foil under the hose cover, and he still got into it!

I have been treating some toenail fungus with Vicks Vapo Rub, and noticed that he got a whiff of that, and headed away. Hmm... I thought of rubbing the hose cover with that, but that would be too messy. I did a bit of searching, and found Watkins Menthol Camphor Relief Mist! It spells a lot like Vicks!
So.. I bought some, and sprayed the hose cover with it. I then let that cat get a whiff! As expected, he was avoiding it.
That was several weeks ago, and he hasn't messed with the hose. I suppose you could put a small amount on the mask. That may do the trick.

https://www.amazon.com/J-R-Watkins-Ment ... 571&sr=8-3

[larkspurdragon]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! I noticed he doesn't like the smell of my deodorant so maybe I'll try a little of that.

[loggerhead12]

Cats are pack animals. Cesar Millan's dog advice applies to cats too, mostly. Someone has to be the alpha in the pack. If it's not you, then it's the cat. A bop on the nose establishes the pecking order.

Once we established the proper ownership of the hose and mask my two Maine Coons (all forty lbs of them) don't mess with the CPAP stuff. They sleep on the bed around me, like a good pack should.