How to Keep Your Cat Away from the Aquarium

Even though the majority of cats absolutely despise water, they still enjoy watching your fish swim in their own confined home – not to mention aquariums with flashy LED lights will keep your cat entertained for days to come! As funny as it may be to watch your cat’s fascination with your fish, there are still a few big negatives.

For example, many cats and aquarium owners know that their furry friend will scratch at the glass until they are shooed away. Not only is this not aesthetically pleasing, but it creates a big risk for the aquarium itself, the glass might become damaged or break! Generally, the cat could do a lot of things that may damage the aquarium. It could jump onto it or even knock it over by accident.

But how can you prevent this? Is there a way to keep your cat’s curiosity in check and protect your fish? Try one of the following methods and see for yourself!

Image source: Kristof Borkowski on Flickr

Cover the Aquarium

Most people prefer to put the aquarium in a room where they spend most of their time. If you’re in the room, there’s a good chance that your cat will be on their best behavior and not get near the tank. But what should you do if you’re not at home, asleep, or doing something in another room?

Put some towels on it! Putting a lightweight blanket or towel over the tank is one of the easiest ways to “hide” the fish from your kitty. Your cat is mostly going to be curious and around the aquarium because of the movement of the fish or the bright and colorful LED lights. So, what better way to ruin your cat’s fun and ensure the safety of the aquarium other than blocking the sight of it!

Image source: lens-flare.de on Flickr

Lock the Door

You don’t actually have to lock the door, but close it at least. Just like covering the tank, this method is great if you’re not at home or sleeping, it ensures that the cat isn’t in the room where the aquarium is and prevents them from getting into trouble.

Remove any “Launch Pads”

Your cat may or may not be able to get on the same surface as the aquarium with just a single jump. They will probably jump on some pieces of furniture or anything close by and then jump towards the aquarium. So how do we prevent this from happening? It is simple! Just make sure to move the aquarium far away enough so that the cat can’t jump over to it. If there are some desks or drawers near, just place objects like books or decorations on it, then they won’t even be able to attempt the first jump.

Place a Hood on the Aquarium

The most common aquariums most people have usually don’t have any hood or top on it. Although not having one is a lot easier for you, since you don’t have to remove it every time you feed your fish, you sometimes have to make small sacrifices for the safety of the fish.

Having a hood ensures not only the safety of the fish, but of your cat as well. The fish will not be picked up by your cat once access is blocked, and if you have a really big aquarium, your cat won’t fall into it. And here are some more benefits of having a hood:

You can buy hood with LED lights.
They can be aesthetically pleasing.
Hoods can prevent water evaporation by keeping a constant temperature.

Discipline

This step might be the most helpful one if you have kittens, but if you have a full-grown cat, it might be harder to implement. Kittens are easy to train and you probably have already trained them at least a little bit. Perhaps you taught them not to steal your food or not to scratch furniture, and that helped, didn’t it?

But if you have a full-grown cat you might not be able to do it, so simply keep a water gun or spray bottle nearby, and every time your cat gets too close, squirt her with some water. This will help your cat learn their lesson and even prevent themselves from not getting hurt.

About the Author:

I’m Toby Sanders with more than 15 years of experience in aquarium sector, i’m totally passionate about creating Aquarist Guide blogspot. I enjoy sharing all of my knowledge to help you guys effectively build your own tank. I believe that when you find the easiest way to raise your lovely fish successfully throughout my blog, you will definitely fall in love with fish keeping more than a popular hobby.