Cats are Destroying Ductwork in Basement

[tecwriter]

We have several outdoor cats that we allow to seek shelter in our basement. They walk on the ductwork, and have ripped a lot of it down.

I don't want to close off the basement to prevent their entry.

What are my options? Be kind please.

[condenseddave]

Have sheet metal installed insteadof flex or ductboard. No cat I've ever met can wreck tin.

[tecwriter]

Thank you Dave! Is it expensive to install?

[amickracing]

Depends on what you have now. Tin is usually more expesive to install than any kind of flex or duct board. But if the exsisting stuff is out in the open and easy to get to (which it must be since the kitty's can get to it), it shouldn't be terribly hard to replace.

[tecwriter]

Thank you Amickracing. This is such a helpful board.

[oilie hands]

shoot the ---------cats!!!!!!!

[oilie hands]

shoot the damn cats!!!

[oilie hands]

shoot the cats

[framehvac]

shoot the m----- f------ cats!!!!!!!!!!

[framehvac]

[pkd550]

that would be a real joy to work in that basement

[contactor]

shoot criminals .not cats! Since we are the caretakers of animals, we must be their caregivers. Relocating the cats is an option . sheet metal ducts are another one. Its your basement. The decision you make is for the animals and you>

[contactor]

My dog is hounding me!

[41gasman]

Hey you guys! the last time there was a post about cat .We were supost to put them IN the duct work to keep the bird out!Now how AM I suppost to learn from this forum if you keep giving different rules!!! Say that remindes me of being "maryed"....Yes here name was mary.
41GASMAN

[rugratatheart]

Ollie Hands - You're a new Member and not very nice! The original Poster was looking for answers. If you have extra time on your hands and want to be cruel, you might find a Board on AOL that would meet your needs.
As a cat lover, you would not believe the amount of money and things I've done to save a cat. I have the vet bills and scars to prove it. We can all live harmoniously. Now I must go...time to feed the raccoon family standing outside of my door.

[Irascible]

With respect tecwriter, having a clowder of cats under the house is a bad idea. The entirety of your house is, in effect, an oversized chimney. Hot air escapes from the top through more cracks than you'd ever believe are there. That tends to draw air from up from the low spots, including the crawl space. And if they're using it for a bathroom as well then you’ll be breathing that in too. Plus, get a small sewage leak down there that you don't notice right away and the cats you love will be drinking it. It’s not uncommon for basements to have fairly musty air. If yours does, do you want those cats to be breathing that stuff in?

I'm not an indoor air quality nut. With some exceptions of course, I think most HVAC guys that masquerade as so called IAQ experts are in reality well intentioned and severely ill-informed. And duct cleaners? Don’t get me started. But having any animal live under your house is a bad idea for both you and the animal.

You could put in a sheet metal duct system. Or for the same price you could probably afford to seal the crawl space off, install a moisture barrier to keep moisture and whatever the cats deposited down, install a new wire flex duct system and build the cats a plywood mansion. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the cat equivalent of a dog house. But I’m sure they exist.

BTW: Excuse the cognitively deficient ramblings of some of my fellow tradesmen. Too much sun and a lifetime of fumes will do things to you.

[wormy]

I"ve crawled around in plenty of cat litter boxes errr crawlspaces myself. It aint a pretty sight... don't smell good either.

You mentioned this is a basement... and sounds like the ducts are exposed.

You might already have sheetmetal pipes... the pipes are normally wrapped with insulation. The cats might be 'clawing' the duct wrap. If thats the case, the duct wrap needs to be replaced where its been damaged.
Squeeze the pipe and see if there is metal under the insulation. Flex pipe is basicly a long slinky stretched out with plastic wrapped around it (much like a clothes drier vent pipe) then has insulation wrapped around it.
If your pipes are made of flex pipe and has been damaged, the pipe will need to be replaced.
Flex pipe is going to be the 'cheaper' route, however, I prefer real sheetmetal pipes.

ONce the pipes are repaired/replaced...
access to the pipes will have to be cut off for the cats.
The cats will love to sit on top of them to warm their bellies in the winter... and claw the insulation of course.
They may even like chewing on the insulation (dogs have a craving for duct wrap for sure) which is not healthy for them at all. More than likely a ceiling will have to be built for the basement.

The basement really does need to be a 'finished basement'
If it is a 'finished basement' and has a plain concrete floor, then have the concrete coated. (a concrete contractor can give suggestions) Untreated/uncoated concrete acts like a sponge... any urine getting on the concrete gets absorbed into it.

If the basement has concrete walls, then have them treated at least the first few feet. Male cats like to 'spray' things if you know what I mean.
OH the heck with it... go all out and do the whole wall hehe.

Alot of basements are just the size of a large room under the house. The walls don't go all the way up to the floor.
You can crawl on top of the wall and onto the dirt under the house.
If this is how your basement is designed, then you'll need to build walls all the way up to the ceiling I was talking about installing. The cats would much prefer to go to the bathroom in the dirt than in a kitty litter box. And that can cause health problems for you, your family, and your house.

All in all.... think of it as a bare minimum room you would want to live in.

Here's why:
Cat feces sometimes carry the eggs of parasites that can cause toxoplasmosis, a serious disease that can be contracted by humans if inhaled or ingested.

Bacterial infections can also be transmitted to both you and your cat by a litter box that is not kept clean.

The solution to avoiding human and feline illness is simple - Keep your cat's litter box clean.

oops.. closed the web site before I got the url.
but you should get the point.

oh yeah.... you may have noticed I mentioned 'home health'
What I meant by that is, by introducing urine and feces under your home, you give an open invitation to bacteria, molds, mildews, etc... in essence, your house will become 'sick'

Good luck on the duct repairs and basement remodeling.

[oilie hands]

rugratatheart
that's your business if you like or want to spend money on cats, i don't and i won't. I would not put up with any damage to my property from anyone elses cats or dogs..
Deer and my lab, yes maybe! someone elses cat crosses my property, they better do it at night and very quiet.

[MikeJ]

For Ollie with 13 posts:
"What are my options? Be kind please"

Guess you don't read thru all of a persons post before you fly off like that and tell us you don't like cats.

tec writer came here with a simple question and didn't need to get slammed up against the wall like you would do to any cat you caught in your domain.

I'm a former dog lover/owner, who by choice, decided to make cats the family pets. (3). Without a lot of space and no one to do the daily chores of dog care (I won't kennel a dog and small yippy dogs are not my choice), cats were an option. They never go out, have a litter maid and a clay box which is kept clean, and generally stay off places they shouldn't be.

Some one else gave you good advice. Follow it.

Tecwriter: I felt sorry for a stray cat. He was a male feral cat, good markings etc, and I slowly tamed him. Well, it got cold and I let him use the back porch--dumb!
Then I tried to find a home for him...no luck...couldn't be placed thru humane societies or other agencies cause he was wild to anyone else and liablility was an issue. He had had it too nice to leave and I was left with only two options and to let him further use my porch and yard for his litter box and possibly infect my cats....was not one I could use.

Best you build another place for cats if you want to be a cat farmer. Got space to do it? Work with agencies who do spaying of feral cats etc. Good luck.

[lonnirat]

Originally posted by oilie hands
rugratatheart
that's your business if you like or want to spend money on cats, i don't and i won't. I would not put up with any damage to my property from anyone elses cats or dogs..
Deer and my lab, yes maybe! someone elses cat crosses my property, they better do it at night and very quiet.

Maybe you should exercise the same caution as far as properties go.

[Edited by lonnirat on 03-12-2005 at 08:51 AM]