Wood stoves and cats....

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ducky

Member
Nov 4, 2010
85
Buffalo, NY
I have recently acquired a 6mo old kitten.. She is very curious and brave... She has no problem walking up to my boxter mastiff mix 140lb dog and sniffing... Lol


Tonight I caught smittens 3x trying/attempting to get on top of the stove.

So I put on my carhart, grabbed the fur ball and introduced her to real heat.

Let's just say the purring stopped and the claws came out and crying started.

Mind you, she never touched the stove.

Yet afterwards she looked at the stove with "I gotta see what's up there" look.

She jumps up there, it's game over for the cat, I'll probably have to shoot her. :(

Thought?
 
Thought it was going to be another BK thread..lol.
 
There have been a few reports of cats that just have to try landing on a hot stove over the years. That idea always ends about as quickly as it started. It may take bandaging some feet it the cat is not too swift, but we haven't heard of any cat losses yet.
 
We have an electric stove top (hate it but no gas here) and we've had cats over the years jump on the counter and step on it when its hot, they learn quick and none of them have seemed to have any visible damage.
 
Pick her/him up again and bring her close to the top of the stove when it is pumping out heat. The cat should lose interest in the top of the stove quickly and will associate that area with it being uncomfortable. Should stop him/her from wanting to get onto the top of the stove.

Cats aren't dumb when it comes to self-preservation.

We rescued a barn cat that was on our property when we got the house. The cat chit on the bed comforter once, and only once. I grabbed her and shoved her in the litter box and kept her there for several minutes refusing to let go until she just went with it and accepted it. For the next two days, every time I would enter that bedroom she would run and jump into the litter box.

That cat never missed the litter box ever again.
 
They will only make that mistake once if it will even ever make that mistake. We have 2 cats both from kittens and they knew better than to mess with a hot stove. Even if they do it it they will just be very sore for a few days. Nothing to go shooting them over. Maybe a trip to the vet.
 
one of my cats jumped upon my Harman P61 right after the install. I had a previous pellet stove that did not get hot on top of the stove. the Harman P series is kind of like a cross between traditional stoves and pellet stoves. they radiate heat from the tops and sides. anyways that car stayed up there for about 3 seconds. that was on a mild day when the stove was running at less then 50% of full heating power. that cat has never attemped to go un top of the stove ever again. they learn fast in that regard
 
The cat will learn . . . and learn quickly. One quick leap and the kitten will soon learn to not make the jump . . . although all of my cats (all six of them) have never even attempted to leap on to the stove.

One thing that might help is to put something like a bowl or steamer on top to make the surface less appealing if it is "cluttered" and not much of a landing zone.
 
"“A cat who sits on a hot stove will never sit on a hot stove again. But he won't sit on a cold stove, either.” - Mark Twain

Our old Tom and our new lil girl never get closer than sleeping distance from the stove.
 
I had one of my cats jump onto the top of my Woodstock Classic soapstone stove and he was back off it faster than a speeding bullet! The two cats we have now both jockey for position whenever I get the stove cranked up.

IMG_0204.JPG
 
  • Like
Reactions: DevilsBrew
Old thread, but I had to bump it because this just happened.

I was moving the stove top thermometer and out of the corner of my eye, spring cat lands on a 450 degree stove top. I couldn't believe my eyes. I think the cat kind of froze for a second and was in shock and I immediately grabbed it and threw it on the floor and then he started howling.

I do not think the wife will be to happy to hear the news in the morning. Hopefully the dumb thing doesn't do it again.

FYI, after finding it hiding for five minutes, I forced his feet into the bath tub full of freezing well water. Hopefully that is good enough first aid.

Never in my life would I dream of a cat doing such a thing, though he learned his lesson when he went to sniff one of the stoves and burned his nose when he was a kitten.
 
He won't be doing that again.

Check its pads and see how they look. If you suspect there is any damage to the pads; open wounds, burns or bleeding, then change out the litter box with shredded newspaper to prevent litter from getting into the wounds causing it to get infected. See how the cat looks in the morning. Might need a vet visit to put it on some meds.

The pads should heal quickly. My cat's nails grew into her pads at one point and the Vet had to cut the nails out. She bled all over the place. The wounds closed up within a few hours.
 
Last edited:
We have two, both sisters, 5 months old (born in our woodpile of all places!), and they have never given the stove much of a thought, one tried to sniff it once- never touched it though. They do love laying in front of it, but I doubt they are normal cats anyway- they were abandoned at about two weeks old, we bottle fed them and their two brothers, and they are very well behaved most of the time, they both come when called (just like our dogs!), and will eat ANYTHING (within reason of course) We had only planned on keeping one, but they are too cute to separate. They both get along perfectly with our two dogs (Lab/Husky mix and Chihuahua). They aren't allowed on tables or counters, so maybe they see the stove as a table?
 
it will only happen once hopefully. if they looked sore or blistered in the morn see your vet for some pain meds and maybe some burn cream. hopefully no real serious burns occurred
 
I think the future the water kettle will always stay on the stove. Think it will be less tempting for either cat to jump on it.

Thanks for the advice. I checked him this morning and there wasn't any evidence of blisters or open wounds. He was walking a bit sore, but had jumped up on a few end tables, so I am guessing he will make it.

There was a little bit of singed hair on his paws and a tiny bit of white on a couple of his pads.

At least the black mouse catcher knows better to stay away from the stove.

Might give that shredded newspaper a try. Thanks for the tips!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.