Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hey guys,

This is probably a stupid question, but I badly need to paint certain walls and frames in the living room and bathroom. I've never had to do any painting in the house before with Sofi present. I've always given her to the next door neighbour or a friend for a day.
But sadly the Neighbour is in Seville with her mum for the foreseeable and all our friends are either tied up or have dogs. (None are good for cat company for various reasons right now).

So I come to my question. Is it safe to paint walls and such with a cat milling around? I can seal off the bathroom but the living room is communal and very hard to close off.
I thought about painting from the ceiling to around 6ft, letting it dry and then painting the rest in stages and sealing off the room before work. But I don't want Sof to be stuck in the hall for 8 hours straight in winter.

Any suggestions? (Other than "don't paint" )

I will admit to having painted several rooms in the house without bothering to shut the cat out, the only problem I ever had was the occasional strand of cat fur sticking to the paint, particularly to the gloss. It didn't seem to matter how much I hoovered before hand and cleaned everything up, there would always be a few cat hairs that managed to escape and would land on the wet paint. Modern emulsion doesn't stay tacky too long, gloss however still does (or at least the last lot I had did), but cat fur in the paint work is just one of those extras that marks a crazy cat lady's home.

Generally speaking the upheaval of moving furniture, putting out drip cloths and the smell of the paint has always put them of going in to investigate. If you can make sure they have food, water, somewhere to sleep and a litter tray in a room as far as possible from the one you are decorating I don't think you will have too much of a problem, except they will probably refuse to enter the redecorated room for a month afterwards in protest of the change.

The only problem I ever had was with slow-drying gloss. But as Ruth says modern emulsion drys quite fast and you can get water-based acrylic 'gloss' which also drys quite quickly. The other benefit of modern paints is most have low VOC's (volatile organic compounds) and don't pong as bad. That's good for you and Sofi!

The only thing I would say is DON'T paint radiators with the stuff - whatever the blurb says!

I've always avoided a problem with cats and paint by only doing a bit each day, which makes it less of a chore as well - brushes stay usable if wrapped in foil

painting wooden doors and frames is a problem with cats, though, as of course they tend to rub up against them - and you wouldn't want to be trying to get gloss out of Sofi's fur - these days I use emulsion on woodwork as well as walls except in the bathroom, and find it much easier to get a good finish than with gloss, as I'm a messy pup with paint

I use quick drying satin on the wood work and just keep Bilbo out of the room for a couple of hours up until last week he had a very bushy tail, more like a fox than a cat so if I am painting I have to keep him away as he does like to swish his tail around. Although last time I painted he decided to take up residence on a plastic dust sheet and was not shifting so I just left him there and worked round him. My biggest issue isn't he gets very stressed with change so I do make sure my feliway diffusers are full and usually put an extra one in the room I am decorating for about a week before

Kay wrote:- these days I use emulsion on woodwork as well as walls except in the bathroom, and find it much easier to get a good finish than with gloss, as I'm a messy pup with paint

The new acrylic paints dry almost as fast as emulsion (though they can take a while to harden). They are also more hard-wearing than emulsion. Brushes still wash out in water.

I seem to have more problems with concrete and cats. My greenhouse floor has Purdy's prints right across it and two other patches of concrete/cement have paw prints on them!

I must admit when I saw the topic "painting with cat" I did wonder whether using a roller would be easier!

I've had Rufus since autumn 2015 and in that time I've completely redecorated my bathroom, including tiling, papered one wall in my living room, and then painted the walls, ceilings and woodwork of the hall, stairs, landings and living room and through all this Rufus has taken a mild interest, then found his own place to sleep. I've used water-based satinwood on all the woodwork as it's quick-drying and you can wash out the brushes. Do NOT use any product that claims to do the job in one coat - it just means you have to apply a thicker coat for proper cover and it takes an age to dry. I used it years ago on windowsills. The only one I've not touched since is the one in my son's old bedroom, as it has an imprint of my late lamented Blake's paw which is a nice memento of him. Rufus has a very fluffy tail which he swishes about and sometimes gets a bit of paint in - more often he knocks things off the coffee table with it.
Now Rufus is an exceptionally laid-back cat. If you have any slightly neurotic or highly inquisitive cat/s I'd suggest locking them in a 'safe' room, for their benefit as well as your sanity. I can imagine what would happen if you were handling three metre lengths of damp wallpaper and the cat came in and started rubbing round your ankles.

Generally speaking the upheaval of moving furniture, putting out drip cloths and the smell of the paint has always put them of going in to investigate. If you can make sure they have food, water, somewhere to sleep and a litter tray in a room as far as possible from the one you are decorating I don't think you will have too much of a problem, except they will probably refuse to enter the redecorated room for a month afterwards in protest of the change.

I have the potential of moving the sofa into the hallway. That's where she likes to sleep. Do you think it will help? (we have a very wide hall)
Sofi doesn't really have a bed. she has a few blanket lined boxes but she never really took any interest. Her food and water is in the hall entrance. Her litter box is in the spare bathroom which is also in the hallway.

The only thing I would say is DON'T paint radiators with the stuff - whatever the blurb says!

No worries about that one! We don't have any radiators

Thankyou everyone for your replies! I'm going to have a DIY skype chat with my dad tomorrow on what needs doing the most.

Judy Barnett wrote:I must admit when I saw the topic "painting with cat" I did wonder whether using a roller would be easier!

I might have known you'd say that!!!

Catslave - Been there, done that, still have the mental scars!! Try using a plumb-bob with a playfull cat in the room.

When we paint we usually just shut the door and open the windows, so the cat doesn’t get in the room until it’s dry or nearly dry. But most paints dry very quickly now. Occasionally the cat does get in, and has caught a bit of fur on the paint but usually no probs. With the older cats we’ve had, we’ve just left them really and they’ve usually slept out the way.

Depending on the paint you use, you might need to be concerned about the fumes. We used a scrubbable water-based paint and the fumes were so bad that both OH and the decorator got nauseous.

Marla wrote:Depending on the paint you use, you might need to be concerned about the fumes. We used a scrubbable water-based paint and the fumes were so bad that both OH and the decorator got nauseous.

That's why you need to check what the tin says about VOC's. That should give you a hint.

The paint we used was described as "low VOC content" but the fumes were awful.

Oooh, that's odd.

Started painting the top mouldings. I agree the smell is awful but not as bad as wall paint. Sodi was my ladder companion. She sat on the bottom step and meowed when a spot of paint hit the floor. We had quite the little commentary going.

"You're ruining the floor"
"I know"
"You should've put paper down"
"I know"
"I would've liked the paper"
"I know that's why I didn't put it down."
"You wouldn't have messed up the floor though."
"I can clean it later."
"You say that now."
"Don't lick the floor."
"I'm not going to."
"You looked like you were going to."
"I was just looking."
"Don't make me put you in the hall!"
"I'm your ladder warmer!"

Round two
"You're gonna get paint in my fur"
"So don't sit there"
"I like sitting here."
"Well then you're gonna get paint in your fur."
"Who would notice? I'm white anyway."
"Racist"
"Cat lover"
"Sleepy ****"
"DIYer."
"... cat."
"Oooh. Haven't heard that one before."

(PS my BF was watching me paint (and watching out for the cat) and supplied Sofi's commentary on her behalf. She did not get paint on her in the end.

(PPS I have wood floors so easy to clean.)

We get similar conversations in our house, in fact I had one with Bob this evening.

I want to go out
The vet says you can't go out
But I WANT to go out
You'll get your bandage wet
No I won't
You can't go out!
Meow
No
Meeooow!
No
MEEEOOOWWW!
Stop shouting!

Well you get the idea

Mrs Kane & Bobby's Girl I don't understand how people can live on their own. Catversations keep us sane I too have had similar catversations with all my fur babes. "The whole world's insane except thee & me & im a little concerned about thee." A dear old friend often used to say that & he too was a cat fan homing strays. Vivian

My neighbour overheard me singing in the garden last week. She peered over the fence to see me holding Georgie. Your singing to your cat? She enquired. (Hey there Georgie girl actually). Yes, I said, but only the traditional stuff. She opened her mouth to say something else but changed her mind and made an excuse to go back into the house. Funny, I thought everyone sang to their cat

Judy Barnett wrote: Funny, I thought everyone sang to their cat

I don't. With my voice, they'd leave home...

You don't have to ask if I sing to my cats. All together now 'I want to be .. Bobby's girl'.

Unfortunately with my inability to carry a tune, even in a bucket, my singing has been banned by the Geneva Convention under 'cruel and unusual punishments'. I may be one of the few people who, when at school and the class had to sing in a performance of something, got told to mime.

So, no, I don't sing to my cats either.

Ruth B wrote: I may be one of the few people who, when at school and the class had to sing in a performance of something, got told to mime.

I was never involved in any sort of singing performance. But when my class had the one obligatory music lesson per week, the teacher just told me to keep quiet as I spoiled the overall sound. (But sometimes instead of singing we played recorder... I could do that...)

Funny, I thought everyone sang to their cat

Not everyone sings to their cat? How do they know when to meow?! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKxFvt7lhEI

I'm trying to get used to Sofi being picked up for long periods of time right now so I put her in my arms and sing to her.
EG.
"Sofiiii, we're going to the bathrooooom."
*meow*
"Sofi look how cute you are!"
"Sofiii we're going to the hallwaaaaay."
*meow*
"Look now, you've come this far!"
"Sofiii we're going to your food bowl."
*meow*
"Woooould you like some noms?"
Sofi: *Meow*
"Okay, you get some nooooooommmms!"
*purrr*

My life has become weird. However, Sofi has gone from being a cat that scratches non-stop when picked up to a cat that will allow herself to be picked up for a max of 7 minutes without fuss in almost 2 years. I'd say that's progress. (I know it's weird that I timed it. It just became a habit from holding her while chatting to the neighbour and letting her get fusses.)

Well done, that's good news. When Bob is talking to me it's more like 'meeowowowww'.

The cat in the video is either saying 'will you shut that row up', or 'I didn't tell you to stop!'