The evil hoover!

What is it about vacuum cleaners that so terrifies most kitties?

I just bought a Hoover Wind Tunnel (highly recommend - it really sucks the dirt) Ritzy just thinks it s&^!s!!! Well let's just say that she runs and hides even if I open the door to the room where we keep the offending appliance.

Today, I pulled it out to sweep up after her most recent bout of "olympic kitty litter flinging" and she actually HISSED at it before it was even turned on!! For the next hour I was treated to the kitty "stink eye stare down".

"Mom, is that thing REALLY necessary!!??!!" :mad::confused:

I have other noise making appliances that seem to create no concern. The coffee grinder noise, in fact, seems to attract her - and by contrast when I get the old fashioned straw broom out, she is right there to play with it.

Is it the vibration?

Don't know what is it, maybe the noise? Casper and Kitty don't like hoover either, whenever we take it out, they dissapear.
Lately though, they have become more daring, and they come and see what is that horrible machine making that noise. I'm sure one day, they won't care about the hoover anymore. Won't be too soon though...:eek:

I remember seeing one of those TV funnies home videos where the person was actually SWEEPING the cat and the cat was in heaven....must have been are REALLY docile kitty or a very quiet hoover!

Oh yes, the hoover is the worst monster of them all! Fister has become very brave though - he dosen't escape under the bed until I come very close to him. Personally, I think it's the noise and because it's so huge, but my husband also has this therory: it's the air coming out, which resembles another cat hissing!

Once, I used it for another purpose. We had to put Fister in a transport box - he absolutely hates that and it's almost impossible to get hold of him! - so out came the hoover, aiming for the bed, which resulted in him running to the kitchen, where John was waiting for him with the box - and in he went! :D

Our cats HATE the hoover but love the hair dryer:rolleyes:

Ha!Ha! I just finished vacuuming and it's a great way to clear out a room around here! Even the dog leaves! :D

Yep - turn on th Evacuum and - NO CATS!!!! .

tHEY DISAPPEAR LIKE MAGIC!!!

We always find Ketchum about 6 hours later - under our bed! Oh poor frightened furboy!:o

Lynne.

Bonzo does the run, hide, disappear for "hours" thing when I run the vac.... "Princess" Mocha on the other hand follows me around to "Point Out" what I might have missed!:D :D

Tuxluver........how do you like your Hoover Wind Tunnel? Is that the one with no bags? I am praying our vac. goes out soon, so we can get one! :p

Both my cats are very terrified of the vacuum- speaking of which, it is time to go vacume their room.

I had a black and white kitty, Liza (RB), who did not mind it at all. I would have to pick her up and move her when I got near her with the vac. so I could continue................My other two cats on the other hand, are under the bed and MAD :mad: for at least an hour afterwards. :)

Lizbud,
I HATE my windtunnel. I thought I would love it, but the cat and dog hair has clogged the hose twice, plus with so many animals, I have to hose the filter every time I use it, and I only have 3 rugs in my whole house, no carpet!! I would much prefer to have a bag, I think. Much less trouble.
Just my two cents worth.
Logan

Hmmmm.......something to think about ( the wind-tunnel vac. I mean)
We are discussing getting hardwoods or the nicer Pergo when our carpet is worn.

I love the look of wood floors, and they seem like they are cleaner.
Also Pet hair seems like it would be easier to manage. I use the Swifter mop/broom thing in my kitchen, and it works great on my pet hair 'problem'

It's wierd, Noah could care less about the vacume, but Noel runs and hides under the bed for an hour.

The bunnies HATE it!! Thomas cant seem to get far enough in the corner of the cage, UNDER Faith..he is terrified of it! The vacume is actually how we got them to bond...

Yorkster,

We pulled up most of the carpet in the house on advice of doctor. Well, he actually recomended replacing the carpets and getting rid of the cats. Modified treatment plan is keep cats, yank carpet.

You just can't vacuum carpet well enough. We have had them all. We currently use a Fairfax. It's a canister that uses three filters and a bag. Best "sucker" ever made. The lights dim and the thing makes a noise like a jet. Yes, it makes our cats vanish like teenagers confronted with house work.;)

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. Yes, it makes our cats vanish like teenagers confronted with house work.

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Big Charles, too funny!

Yorkster, Ritz lives in a one-pet-one-cat home and since she never goes outside she doesn't seem to shed as much as others we have had - but she does do her fair share at times.


As such, we may not have the amount of fur. One thing I will say is that while it sucks up a storm, the dust cup does fill quickly (or maybe I should have changed my bags more often) :rolleyes:

It did seem to do a better job filtering the air, but I'm not completely enamored with the task of cleaning out the filter - word to the wise, do it outside!

The first time I used it I was shocked at the dirt that came out of what Ithought was a clean carpet :eek: :eek: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :eek: - enough for a respectable layer of topsoil in a small garden :D

I don't know anything about the Hoover Wind Tunnel, but I'm happy to share my story.

Rudie will freak out the minute I get ours out of the cupboard and I won't see him for the next few hours. After that I'm usually not very wanted around him. I use it every day and sometimes twice as we have wooden floors and Cookie is shedding very badly after we had her neutered.

Eddy doesn't mind it at all. She even sits on it when I leave it in the livingroom and starts to wash herself. Or she won't go out of the way when I need to do the couch.

My mom had a cat who liked being hoovered when it wasn't on full power.

I agree on the Swifter. I use it too every now and then, just that the dog recently started biting it, so I'm back to the vac.

Bo's previous owner used to clean their rooms with a handheld vacuum when she was a kitten, so she is very used to the vacuum cleaner. She sleeps through the vacuuming process.
Speaking of vacuum cleaners, I own a Rainbow and it's the absolute best vacuum I've ever had (I owned Hoovers and an Electrolux prior to the Rainbow). It's expensive as all get out, but it uses water instead of a bag and talk about clean!! Pet hair, rug fibers, drywall dust, litter box filler, paper, you name it, the Rainbow sucks it up. It is recommended for use in homes where people suffer from allergies, and it's attachments make it useful for cleaning everything in the house. I use it to dust and vacuum furniture, freshen cushions, even clean up liquid messes on occasion. The only place in the house that it can't get to is the stairwell because it's cord isn't long enough. For that I use a handheld Royal. The water is much more efficient at filtering dust and dirt from the air, and it doesn't clog up like a bag or canister. All I do is flush the dirty water down the toilet and fill 'er up with clean water when I go from room to room.

:D :D Charles - isn't that the truth, teenages and housework - Oh I remember when:D:D . Three of my 4 cats are terrified of the vacuum. And its funny my domesticated feral kitty (Panda) is the one that isn't at all afraid. She just sits on the bed or where ever and watches me vacuum. But when the doorbell rings, ZAP she's gone!!!!!:D

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Originally posted by purrley
But when the doorbell rings, ZAP she's gone!!!!!:D

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LOL, can't sometimes understand the logic of a cat...
Hoover vs. doorbell... and doorbell comes out the worse one, wow!!! :eek:

Did I say 'sometimes'? Make that never.... ;) :D

It is the noise that scares them away. I use an old Hoover upright, which is plenty noisy. They all flee at the sound of any vacuum cleaner, running outside to get away from all the noise. I also have an old tank-type that I repaired and got for nothing, and they are not as afraid of it as the other one, because it doesn't make much noise. In fact, all of my furkids are "wired for 220 volts" this morning, that is, tearing up the house running and climbing on things because it is cold and cloudy with rain outside. And the house needs to be vacuumed today, anyway. ( I might just do that ).:p


..........wayne

Yum Yum and Dutchess are the same way. They both run and hide in the bedroom because it doesn't have carpet. They are also terrified of the blow dryer and the old fashion push broom with rollers on it. :)

http://pepeirce.tripod.com/thekittycorner

All vaccums that we have owned have been considered 'devil incarnates' by our cats. *laughs*

They dissapear the moment we pull it out of the closet. Sometimes it's left out in the hall after use (lazy people who don't want to put it away :p ) and then we'll find cats actually curled up next to it. But the moment we put our hand on the handle..... POOF!..... no more kitty. :D

They have been known to hiss at it too.

Depending on my dog, Kia's, mood.... she'll either attack it or hide in her crate. :rolleyes:

Stump and Emmett both despise the vacuum cleaner and immediately bolt whenever it makes an appearance. They are tolerant of the coffee grinder, food processor, hair dryer, garbage disposal, and even the blender. (Maybe because most of these are food-related!:D ) However, I just got a paper shredder and the first time I used it, Emmett took off running.

There is only one thing more terrifying than the vacuum cleaner, and that is the evil trash bag. Whenever I walk by them, taking the trash out, they'll run for their lives. The Girls are also afraid of the doorbell. Phoenix on the other Hand is ready to greet everyone that comes to the door.

When the kittens were very young, I used to herd them into another room before I vacuumed. It amazed me to learn how much time I could save just turning the blasted thing on and letting the cats remove themselves from the room.

Although I have noticed when vacuuming now, that Livvy slinks back and forth across the far end of the room from "Mr. Vroom-vroom" and myself. I think her curiosity all but overcomes her fear. Maybe she'll actually stay in the room with MVV and myself someday soon. Or not ;) !

Trixie and Jazz certainly make themselves scarce when I get out the Rainbow cleaner, but Bo actually comes running because he knows he's going to get "Rainbowed." I use a soft brush attachment and lower the suction power on him - otherwise, his floppy, baggy "udder" on his belly will get sucked up and stuck.:eek: Bo purrs and rolls around with his belly in the air during the entire procedure! He loves it!

Harley, LOL!:D :D I can just imagine his "udder" getting sucked in!! What kind of cat is your Bo? (Siamese, etc.)
BTW, how do you like your Rainbow?

Bo's Mom, my Bo is a big orange and white domestic short hair with a non-stop motor and a loving, playful personality. He's also got a lot of extra skin (he'd be a Sharpei if he was a dog) but it just HANGS on his back belly area. Since I grew up on a dairy farm, I tend to think in cow terms, hence, the "udder." I just love to grab Bo's udder and flip it back and forth!

I also love my Rainbow. It's actually my third since my house has been broken into twice so I've had two Rainbows stolen. Yes, they're quite expensive but I use mine to wash the kitchen linoleum, wash the carpets, clean the car interior, blow leaves off the driveway and, most importantly, vacuum Bo! It's more than a vacuum cleaner - it's a total cleaning system!

LOL LOL LOL Harley!!!! :D :D :D

Lynne