Cats on my Roadster!

[benji4]

I'm currently parking my Roadster in a carport with no door (although I'm thinking about installing one), and recently with the rain we've been having I'm getting a lot of cats coming and sleeping, cleaning themselves, etc. on top of my Roadster! The main thing I'd like to avoid is having them scratch it up, but I guess that is what is going to happen, or is happening. Fortunately I just had a glass-based coating put on the car which I guess would help, but I'm sure it's not as strong as cats' claws.

Does anyone else have this problem, and what is a good way to get rid of them? (get a garage door, chain dogs to roof of the car, etc. would work I guess....)

 

[widodh]

Throw some water at the cat, it will never come back afterwards. Hopefully it will tell his/her friends to stay away, otherwise: Repeat

 

[mpt]

Buy an ICE car, run that instead, it's warmer from all the waste heat so they'll congregate on that instead - sorted.

 

[Dragon]

You should leave the top off, so they don't scratch the top and they can sleep inside.
Seriously, only a garage door will work. Cats are stubborn fellows, they will come again and again.

 

[bonnie]

I inherited two cats when I bought my house that had been living/surviving outside. Of course I felt sorry for them and gave them garage access (pre-Roadster). And now I have to live with that decision. I have an ICE car parked in my garage, alongside my Roadster. Predictably, they prefer the Roadster.

It's a battle I'm not going to win. So I deal. I always put the soft cloth cover on when I get home - no exceptions. This prevents them from using the soft top to sharpen their claws and also the little paw prints they leave as they walk around. If I had to park outside, I'd probably just put something over the soft top to prevent the claw sharpening & wipe off the paw prints as needed. The car is so low to the ground that I don't worry about them scratching it, only chewing up the fabric of the top.

Cats get even - I'd hate to think what they'd do to my car if I threw water on them . I'd likely be doing more than wiping off paw prints.

 

[Doug_G]

Get the Tesla car cover. It has vents so you can safely charge the car, and it will keep the cats off the paint.

 

[dwegmull]

Get the Tesla car cover. It has vents so you can safely charge the car, and it will keep the cats off the paint.

I was not aware that there is an official car cover. Is this new?

 

[TEG]

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[Doug_G]

I was not aware that there is an official car cover. Is this new?

Car Cover Tesla Motors

 

[jaanton]

I kept my old ICE convertable parked outside. (Pontiac Solstice) It's become the cat hammock. (Actually it was the first and cats are creatures of habit.) The Tesla isn't as attractive to them. The ICE is black and warmer than the Roadster. So maybe a prefered structure for the cats...

 

[vfx]

Car Cover Tesla Motors

This is not an outdoor (or carport) cover.

 

[zack]

Install an inexpensive motion-activated light and screw an adapter into one of the sockets so you can plug in a loud blower or fan which is directed at the top of the car.

Cats absolutely hate being blown upon.

 

[benji4]

Install an inexpensive motion-activated light and screw an adapter into one of the sockets so you can plug in a loud blower or fan which is directed at the top of the car.

Cats absolutely hate being blown upon.

That sounds like a very good idea. I have a bright light in the carport that shines right down onto the car, and actually I was going to put a motion sensor on it anyway since I can hardly see when I'm trying to park the car at night unless I get out of the car and turn the light on first. If I can get a blower to motion activate as well it will be perfect. I ordered this from Amazon:

Amazon.com: Bird-X YG Yard Gard Ultrasonic Animal Repeller: Patio, Lawn Garden


Some of the comments about it say it works great, others so-so. Worth a try though I guess. It's amazing how much cat hair gets on my soft top and paw prints all over the hood and read deck. I'm just hoping they don't decide to open their claws while they are enjoying themselves on the car!

Also-- in Japan Tesla does sell a Tesla-approved outdoor car cover that I tried for awhile, but it fits the car very tightly and looked as if the paint on the side edges of the rear fenders and hood were starting to get damage from the car cover! So anyway, no more cover... the indoor cover which Tesla sells is much, much softer and probably would not damage the paint although it too is very tight fitting.

 

[vfx]

Cats walking on the car is not too bad it they don;t have grit on their pads but the worst part is the jumping up on and off points of contact. Those are where you find the scratches in your paint.

 

[bonnie]

I inherited two cats when I bought my house that had been living/surviving outside. Of course I felt sorry for them and gave them garage access (pre-Roadster). And now I have to live with that decision. I have an ICE car parked in my garage, alongside my Roadster. Predictably, they prefer the Roadster.

It's a battle I'm not going to win. So I deal. I always put the soft cloth cover on when I get home - no exceptions. This prevents them from using the soft top to sharpen their claws and also the little paw prints they leave as they walk around. If I had to park outside, I'd probably just put something over the soft top to prevent the claw sharpening & wipe off the paw prints as needed. The car is so low to the ground that I don't worry about them scratching it, only chewing up the fabric of the top.

Cats get even - I'd hate to think what they'd do to my car if I threw water on them . I'd likely be doing more than wiping off paw prints.

Update: It turns out that the Tesla car cover is NOT enough to keep cats from sharpening their claws through the cover. Nor does it stop them from landing on the soft top from the garage rafters, causing the formerly convex soft top plastic struts to become concave under their weight. [insert many curse words here] That was the bad news. The good news is that I caught the claw sharpening before any real damage was done & the struts popped back to the original shape. The cats are still alive.

So until the battery-operated mats arrive that give off a static discharge when touched, I put the car cover on the car and then a large empty cardboard box on top. Not a pretty solution, but better than the alternative.

 

[doug]

...then a large empty cardboard box on top. Not a pretty solution, but better than the alternative.

Haha.. I want photos! Do the cats go in the box?

 

[vfx]

Another solution is to give them a better choice. I recommend a heated pad. Amazon.com: heated pet beds for cats

Then if that does not work raise it up to a little higher than the roadster. (many cats like to be elevated to see all around).

 

[bonnie]

Another solution is to give them a better choice. I recommend a heated pad. Amazon.com: heated pet beds for cats

Then if that does not work raise it up to a little higher than the roadster. (many cats like to be elevated to see all around).

They have an elevated, protected spot in the garage with a heated pad. They're fed in that spot, so they clearly know about it. They're just determined to beat me down in regards to the Roadster. You don't understand. Once they understood I cared about the car, it became their mission to be ON it and to jump from the rafters high above and land on the soft top below (padding their landing). I expect to find a dead mouse offering one of these mornings. -sigh-

I'll get a picture tonight of the new high-tech empty cardboard box setup, which seems to work (though they still sleep on the back deck). It's embarrassing to match wits with a couple of cats and lose the first round.

 

[vfx]

They have an elevated, protected spot in the garage with a heated pad. They're fed in that spot, so they clearly know about it. They're just determined to beat me down in regards to the Roadster. You don't understand. Once they understood I cared about the car, it became their mission to be ON it and to jump from the rafters high above and land on the soft top below (padding their landing). I expect to find a dead mouse offering one of these mornings. -sigh-

I'll get a picture tonight of the new high-tech empty cardboard box setup, which seems to work (though they still sleep on the back deck). It's embarrassing to match wits with a couple of cats and lose the first round.

I am speaking from experience (including the cover and then the cardboard box solution). We did the water in a spray bottle which worked in the house but as for the Roadster I think they got bored and moved on on their own.

PS
I also put the cover and boxes on when SCE came over.

 

[benji4]

Cat's really love the soft top don't they. I normally am putting a beach towel on the top of the car which seems to protect it, and when I forget the soft top is always covered with cat hair. Although there are paw prints all over the car, it doesn't seem like they open their claws even when jumping up on the car as I can't detect any scratches. Why don't they open their claws, does anyone know? They simply love the Roadster in any case though, and now every time I approach the car two or three cats run away from underneath or behind the car!