[faile]

my poor kitty is sooo staticy! i feel so bad for the poor guy, our apartment is so dry and he's so fuzzy, all i hear when he runs around on the bed or couch is constant static shock. i gave him a terrible shock the other day when i tried to kiss his nose. we have our humidifier going all night, but it's still terribly dry in here. my boyfriend suggested rubbing one of those static cling dryer sheets on him, but i shudder at the thought of kitty licking all those chemicals off his fur.

does anyone have any ideas of how to de-static my kitty?

 

[RayOfAsh]

Arnt the humidifiers the things that make the room dry? Umm.. hmm.. my cats sometimes get staticy to.. try to get better grounding on things. Or just stick a wire to him and unto a grounded metal area (not socket). It might shock him but it will certainly get out the static :lol: .

 

[faile]

ha ha.
humidifiers put moisture into the air, de-humidifiers take moisture out of the air and make it dry.

 

[catnip]

I definiately would NOT rub him down with a dryer sheet, I've heard they can be very irritating to cats, I know they bother mine, and even bother me if I get that stuff in my eyes. I think the static is just something ya have to put up with. I used to use satin type sheets and I could make my cats shoot sparks in the winter. no more of that, 100% cotton from now on. 8)

 

[faile]

oh, my poor little kitty!

but i'm laughing at the image of sparking kitties!

 

[Ioana]

The best thing that comes to my mind is to rub something oily (that is not dangerous , of course) through his fur.
I think I remember from an old thread how a girl was talking about rubbing a bit of cooking oil. It must be double-checked however. I know Cujo must be pretty uncomfortable with this whole situation .

 

[catnip]

I was just thinking along the same lines ioana! My last 4 cats have all been longhaired, and I noticed I big difference in the oily/dryness of their skin/hair. The oily ones having little or no problem in the winter w/ static. Maybe try a bath :shock: with a moisturizing shampoo or something may help a little also? Just a thought...

 

[mismodliz]

another way to help the dry air...

while you are home and can supervise, boil pots of water on the stove.
we just didn't have extra cash for a good humidifier early this winter, but the boiling water really helps!

p.s. when i was in college, we used to put a pan of water on the radiator to help out!

 

[faile]

ooh, good ideas everyone. thank you!

 

[Annissa]

My grandma used to put pots of water on our wood-burning stove. She'd add potpourri to make it smell nice.

 

[Jeanie]

That's an easy way to make the house seem warmer in this cold weather--and raise the humidity! Make soup while you're at it.

 

[kittygirl04]

I shock my kitties all of the time! I feel so bad! They look at me like I shot them or something. :shock:

 

[Richo]

I have had the same problem, happens every winter. You can just hear the crackling when I run my hand over his back. Even the brush does it too. I wonder what Static Guard would do. I have a humidifier built into my furnace duct but even turned to its highest setting, it doesn't seem to help. Poor kitty.

 

[Richo]

Also, it is your cat that's full of static or is it the carpet? My cat only has this problem when he is on the floor. If he is on my lap everything is fine. I've seen a product that you can spray on the carpet to remove static electricity.

 

[Jeanie]

I think you are building up static electricity as you walk across the carpet. When I had a blanket that was part polyester and I pet my cat on my bed, I actually saw little sparks! I had forgotten all about that! I didn't feel any shock and the cat came back for more, so I don't think he did either.

 

[faile]

my apartment is all hardwood floors. the only carpet is the bath mat. :mrgreen:

 

[Jeanie]

I got really curious, so I looked it up on google.com. This is one part. There is much more, including how to prevent or control it. (humidity is one way)
Quote:
Cause of static electricity
Static electricity is usually caused when certain materials are rubbed against each other, like wool on plastic or the soles of your shoes on the carpet. The process causes electrons to be pulled from the surface of one material and relocated on the the surface of the other material.

Rubbing a balloon on a wool sweater
creates charges on the surfaces

The material that loses electrons ends up with an excess of positive (+) charges. The material that gains electrons ends up an excess of negative (-) charges on its surface.

http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/static.htm

 

[Jeanie]

I read on a bit. This was a surprise!
Quote:

Ben Franklin proved that lightning was static electricity by flying a kite in a storm and detecting static electricity by seeing the hairs on the kite string stand on end and creating a spark with a metal key. This dangerous experiment showed that static electricity was being formed in the clouds by the rain.

 

[Lilly]

Jerry has a tendency to get staticy to, its funny because the others dont really. I have no idea why that might be, other than Jerry usually is asleep in my bed all day (all the time) and he is rubbing agianst blankets and stuff. Also the bedrooms are the only rooms that have carpeting.

 

[Bean]

In high school I believe (during lab experiements) we had to touch something metal to de-electrify ourselves? Maybe do this before touching the cat...