Cat proof Car Cover
 

Hello,
This is my first posting because I am a new owner of a 2005 Sunlight Silver 6 speed GT. I bought my 8 off the lot in Burlington, NC because it came with the appearance upgrade, 6 disc player, and a spoiler. I have to wait until next week to pick it up because I had them add fender strakes, the rotary accent, the chrome exhaust finisher, and the spare tire. For those of you thinking of getting an 8, now is a great time to get a 2005. You can't beat the prices.
Unfortunately, my first question is an extremely weak one. I will probably get ragged on by my friends if they see this and maybe even made fun of a little here, but it is for the good of my 8; so let the insults fly, as long as you follow up with good advice....I am shopping around for a car cover and I am wondering if anyone has a good suggestion. I park my car in the garage, but we have a former stray cat that sleeps in there at night that we have adopted and is bound to crawl on top of my 8. I need a car cover to keep not only her dirty paws off the paint, but I am worried about her claws as well. Most car covers that are sold are very thin. Are there any thick car covers that could not be penetrated by claws? I thought about using a standard thin car cover and then putting packing quilts on top of that. What do you think? Is there anyone else out there that has had to deal with the same problem, or am I the only male that likes cats and owns an 8.

Thanks for the help.

packing quilts don't sound like a bad idea. I myself would not let a cat roam in the same room my 8 is in, but thats only me. by the way welcome to the club. :)

Juikster,

I agree, but there are too many things roaming around that can eat the cat at night and she needs a warm place to sleep too.

Have you ever seen the rotary center wheel caps on an 8? The pics on the Mazda website don't look like they should be 40 bucks each. If they screw on, they look easy to steal.

Thanks.

Juikster
 

thanks for welcoming me to the club

The quilts sound like a good idea. I think that any cover is actually going to attract the cat and of course once they're up there they are going to dig their claws in.

More important than covering the car is always making sure that you know where the cat is before you start the engine or pull out of the garage. Cats are known to crawl into engine compartments especially when it's cold.

I have a cat car enthusiast and she regularly sleeps on top of my car. I simply put a small pad on top of the car for her comfort. She really gets off on rolling around up there and seems to truly admires the 8 at least as much as I do. :D I'm sure they'd likely appreciate a car cover too....I mean why not?

When I work on the car she comes and visits wherever I am, under the hood, in the trunk, inside the car, where ever.

I think people think cats would scratch their car... they don't, cats are way smart and realize that using there pads gives them much more grip than claws (duh!) and in two years I have not a single scratch or mark other than dusty cat-paw prints on my windshield.

That level of appreciation of the car sure beats my wife's......:rolleyes: who only wants to drive her luxo-boat.

I tend to agree with Spin9K in that the cat's claws will probably NEVER touch your car. I personally think that a thin cover would work fine, but if you're paranoid then go with the quilts. Course hopefully the cat won't dig it's claws into your quilts and tear them to shreds wherever it decides to sleep (we all know how they like to "test" soft things before they lay down). I love cats, but they also love cars. I'll never forget hosing my cat down after it jumped on my newly washed (and still wet) car. ha ha

Declaw the cat.... :rolleyes:

My neighbor's cat has left more than one claw "mark" on my WB RX8 that I have to leave outside . I agree with Razpewton...declaw the sucker!!

lol

Thanks for the declawing advice:)

I'm with the declawers...

I just bought my 2005 RX-8 a couple of days ago...(Red, Spoiler, 6-CD Changer). I have outside cats as well as raccoons in my neighborhood that can't resist climbing on everything. I am so concerned about their possibly damaging my new beautiful car that I am temporarily keeping it in a friend's garage. I am going to have my carport enclosed within the next few weeks. Keeping that car protected is a top priority!

Kill the cat. Just remember not to scare a cat when its on top of your car.

Put that cat inside your 8!! Hehehe jk.

Your cat will probably scratch the car cover and quilt just like Whitey said. That's what happened to me. The second I put my car cover on and left my 8, my cats were all over it, the curious creatures they are. Suffice to say, I bought another car cover, used both of them and after a couple of nights, my cats got bored of it.

No cat in it's right mind would scratch a car, with that in thought... if your cat tries to scratch your 8 then I'd keep his talons clipped and dull.

Now if you put all kinds of padding on the car to make it comfortable, then you are training him to go to the car to sleep, claw, and whatever else cats do like chase mice up into the engine bay and that is a completely different issue.

I vote to do nothing until you see evidence, then start slapping the $#!% out of the cat if you catch him doing something wrong.

I don't have a problem with my cat clawing my 8. The problem I have is after washing it, if I don't dry it off ASAP, my cat (Nike) will hop up on my car with his muddy feet and drink the water off of the hood. That is usually after approaching it from the backside, which means there are paw prints from the ass end, over the top and down to the hood. Which means I have to start all over. Chased him one time with the water hose and he hasn't been up there since.

I currently have 5 cats. They jump with their claws retracted. No chance of scratching. When they want to scratch for claw maintenance, they like something rough. I keep a scratching post covered with rope in the garage. They prefer that to anything else around.

Don't ever declaw a cat. It is amputation. It's like humans and fingernails. If you pull out the nail, it will grow back. You'd have to amputate at the first knuckle for it not to grow anymore.

No.
 

can we declaw you first just to see if you like it?

Awesome thread Resurrection!

I agree with you.