We love pets at Ring and we’re especially fond of our feline family members, who always manage find a way to entertain us, even if sometime their antics can be a little...destructive. If you’re a devoted cat parent, you’ll know that no matter how cute they are, they have the potential to turn things upside down at the flick of a paw.
With International Cat Day just around the corner, we have teamed up with Cat Behaviourist, Lucy Hoile to look at how to make life with a cat run more smoothly. We’ve also commissioned research into some of the more costly aspects of cat ownership, and as a result, we’ve also got an offer for Ring customers to help them claw back some funds after their own cat-astrophy.
Counting the cost of chaotic cats
According to our research, cat owners may spend up to £50 when repairing or replacing the household items their cat has damaged. The top possessions cats were reported to have damaged or destroyed were carpets (56%), sofas (43%) and table legs (21%). Meanwhile, the top preventive measures owners have taken to kitty-proof their homes include purchasing scratch posts (58%) anti-scratch guards (24%) and cable protectors (22%).
Hints and tips from Lucy Hoile
To help home owners with particularly destructive felines, cat behaviourist Lucy Hoile has shared their top tips on how to calm your cat and safe proof your home from its curious and catastrophic habits:
Provide a fun and stimulating environment: Cats get bored easily and with pent up energy, destructive behaviour is never far behind. Regular play sessions will help channel their energy. Try providing food in a puzzle feeder rather than a bowl to help keep them occupied, as well as tunnels, cat towers and toys they can play with on their own.
Provide high places you want your cat to use: Cats are territorial, and they like to perch up high. This can cause them to scale your bookshelves and mantlepieces - knocking things off as they go. Instead of trying to keep them off, give them their own cat-friendly spaces to climb, such as empty shelves, tall cat trees, and on top of furniture such as wardrobes and dressers.
Avoid telling them off: It’s hard not to get cross if they are destroying your furniture but telling them off won’t help and can sometimes train them to do it more if they crave attention. Cats can also feel anxious if destructive behaviour is punished, causing stress-related behaviours such as aggression or house soiling. Briefly distract them if you see it happening, and make sure you are giving them lots of attention at other times.
Make their home a stress-free zone: When cats get scared, they can panic and try to quickly escape, often damaging anything in their path. Remove anything that might startle your cat and try to keep other cats away from your home. Cats that loiter outside your property can cause long term stress, leading to urine marking, aggression and even more furniture scratching.
Provide the right scratch post: Cats need to scratch to maintain their claws so it’s not something we can train out of them. If your cat is scratching your furniture or carpets, temporarily cover the area with a blanket or throw. Offer a flat cardboard scratcher for cats that like to use carpet, or a tall and sturdy tower for cats that prefer the sofa.
More than just home security
As many pet owners will testify, Ring Video Doorbells and Security Cameras are ideal for checking what your cat, dog or even parakeet is up to.
Dave Ward, Managing Director EU & International at Ring said: “Our devices help keep you close to what’s important, and often that means capturing unexpected moments of our beloved pets. Being able to preserve these moments not only provides entertainment but also offers a unique glimpse into the everyday life of our pets - even when they are getting up to no good!”
Ring's new Pan-Tilt Indoor Camera also provides customers with 360° horizontal pan and 169° vertical tilt coverage, ideal for pet owners who want to check on their furry friend when away from home. With a Ring Protect plan, all events are recorded and customers can download, save and rewatch footage up to 180 days later.
A claw back offer from Ring
In celebration of International Cat Day on 8th August, we are offering hapless cat owners the chance to have their broken or damaged item replaced. So, if your Ring device has captured a clip of your cat damaging or breaking a household item, then send it in to us. The clips that we think show the wildest behaviour will receive a replacement item from Ring, worth up to £1,000.
Cat owners have from Monday 5th August until Monday 19th August 23:59 BST to send in their Ring camera footage of their cat causing havoc in or around their home to cheekycats@ring.com.*
For further information, see the Ts&Cs below.
T&Cs
- The Promoter is Hope&Glory PR Limited on behalf of Ring, UK Ltd. Hope&Glory PR is a limited company with an address at 71 Collier Street, London, England, N1 9BE
- The competition is open to residents of the United Kingdom including Northern Ireland aged 18 years or older and excludes employees of Ring or Hope&Glory PR and their close relatives and anyone otherwise connected with either organisation.
- To enter for a chance to win a replacement household or personal item, worth up to a maximum value of £1,000, that your cat has destroyed, broken, damaged or spoiled, you must submit your Ring camera footage to Ring at cheekycats@ring.com.
- In order to be considered for this offer, submissions must have the following:
- Video footage submitted can only be from a Ring device and no other home security camera.
- The item the cat has destroyed, broken, damaged or spoiled cannot exceed the value of £1,000.
- Entries will be reviewed by Hope&Glory PR and Ring and it is up to their discretion to pick successful applicants. Only applicants that follow submission criteria will be considered.
- The entrant must submit their video no later than 23:59 on 19/08/2024.
- Entries are restricted to one per person. No entries from agents, third parties or organised groups will be accepted. No bulk entries.
- A representative from Hope&Glory PR will contact the successful applicants via email to confirm whether they have won no later than two weeks after the submissions close. The successful applicants will have 24 hours to respond to the initial email, after which time the opportunity to receive a replacement item will be forfeited, and a back-up applicant will be chosen and notified by email from a representative at Hope&Glory. All the above will be handled by Hope&Glory with oversight from Ring.
- A representative from Hope&Glory PR will contact the successful applicants via email to retrieve personal information to use for media materials. This includes applicants’ name, age, occupation, location and a testimonial about the video they submitted in. Their Ring camera footage submitted will also be used in media materials.
- Once the replacement item has been decided on, Hope&Glory will arrange delivery of the item to the successful entrants’ addresses. The recipients will be informed of the delivery date once the item has been ordered.
- The Promoter is not responsible or liable for:
- Any entries that are lost or delayed due to faulty or failed electronic data transmissions.
- Communications line failure, regardless of cause, with regard to any equipment, systems, networks, lines satellites, servers, computers or providers utilised in any aspect of this promotion causing delays or disruption.
- The replacement items will be purchased for the customer by the Hope & Glory PR team, and no cash or other alternatives will be offered.
- The Promoter reserves the right to cancel or amend the prize and these terms and conditions without notice in the event of a catastrophe, war, civil or military disturbance, act of God or any actual or anticipated breach of any applicable law or regulation or any other event outside of the Promoter’s control. Any changes to the offer will be published by the Promoter.
- The Promoter’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the consultation service including the determination of the eligibility of entries is final and binding.
- By submitting an entry, each entrant is indicating their agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.
- Any personal data relating to entrants will be used solely for the purposes of this offer from the Promoter and/or by any agent appointed to it to assist with running the consultation on behalf of the Promoter and will not be disclosed to a third party for any other purpose. Entrants’ personal data will be handled in accordance with The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
- Any personal data you provide to us when you enter this promotion will be processed by H&G, as the Data Controller, in accordance with our Privacy Policy
- By submitting their Ring footage for a chance at receiving a replacement item, an entrant is indicating their agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.
- The offer is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with Facebook, Instagram, or any other social network.
- The Promoter reserves the right to vary the Terms and Conditions or cancel the offer at any stage in the event of circumstances arising beyond its reasonable control.
- The offer and these terms and conditions will be governed by English law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.