Cats love computers. But this is an unrequited love. It’s distressing to have a cat walking across our keyboard, rearranging the wires, or playing hockey with our flash drive.

Why are cats so fascinated? There’s the practical side: computers move and make noises and hold the promise of enjoyable interaction. There’s the abstract side: we find computers fascinating, and cats want to join us in this pleasurable activity.

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It is both difficult and unlikely that we can convince our cats to leave our computers alone. We should strive to use a combination of boundary containment and preventative measures to keep us, the computer, and the cats interacting with a minimum of friction.

Remove temptation. A tangle of wires are more tempting, and more likely to cause damage when played with. A flash drive put away in a drawer or backpack will stay out of the cat’s eager paws. (The flashing light on these drives tells us when data is being transferred. It tells cats that if they play with them long enough, they might figure out how to make the light flash, too.)

Establish boundaries. A box next to the computer will contain the cat and keep their tail off our mousepad. Pad the bottom, add some toys to show it’s theirs, and make an excited fuss over showing it to them. Once settled in their box, all they need is some periodic petting or voice acknowledgment to make them happy campers.

Screens are not for touching. If we laugh when they chase the screen pointer, we’ve taught them to play with whatever is on the screen. Reinforce this rule by not touching the screen ourselves. If they like to chase the mouse cord, get them a toy with a tail. Or get ourselves a cordless mouse.

Is this a neglect signal? If they continue to bother us at the computer, move away for a while. If they follow us, they want us, not the computer. So take a little break for some playing and cuddling. This will wear out the cat, and we can go back to the computer without interruptions.

Remember, when a cat complains of neglect, they are always right.

Get technical help. Get a power strip, like this Socket Sense Surge Strip, which has the switch on the side, not the top. This will keep the cat from stepping on our power switch. There are keyboard lockout programs (Mac or PC*) which let us press a quick key combination to keep the cat from adding editorial suggestions while we have stepped away.

Get the cat their own. No, we don’t need to invest in a laptop for the cat. But if we have a tireless Alpha who just won’t be deterred, consider a “busy box” that will act as a computer substitute. It can be as simple as a box of special toys that are just for the computer room, or a bunch of recycled switches and broken mice that can occupy the cat safely.

Cats and computers can coexist. We simply have to realize that they are playing with the computer; because we do.

* I tried to find freeware solutions for the two main computer systems. Be sure this is the right version for your computer, and use the term “keyboard lock” to find others.

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