CPAP problems of the four paw kind

[AggieMike88]

I have OSA. And with the aid of a CPAP machine, I'm getting good rest and have become very addicted to sleeping comfortably through the night and not snoring loud enough to be measured by the Richter scale.

Over the past few weeks, there have been a few nights where I've awoken after a real bad apnea attack and sucking in air mightily, realizing there is no positive air pressure in the tube. I finally found out why...

My cat, Mischief, has decided that she wants to camp out on top of my machine and has somehow figured out which button is the power button. I'll wake up to find her sitting there, and I swear she knows she's doing this on purpose.

Usually, she will be somewhere else on the bed... but maybe she's figuring out how to wake me up thinking I'll put some food down or something...

TL;DR I enjoy a good nights sleep, until the cat decides otherwise and switches off the blower.

 

[bflynn]

That would be funny if it wasn't serious...

Are there ways to get a stiffer tube or put some kind of cage around the tube so it can't be flattened?

Maybe get a dog?

 

[AggieMike88]

That would be funny if it wasn't serious...

Are there ways to get a stiffer tube or put some kind of cage around the tube so it can't be flattened?

Maybe get a dog?

It isn't the tube she interferes with... it's the on/off button.

Fortunately it isn't a common occurrence. Just often enough to be noticed and a funny story to share.

 

[aanderson81]

Bitter apple on the button may keep the cat away?

 

[AggieMike88]

Have some of the bitter apple for the doge. Didn't think about using it for the cat.

Maybe some catnip in my hair so she'll return to this former resting site.

 

[denverpilot]

I have OSA. And with the aid of a CPAP machine, I'm getting good rest and have become very addicted to sleeping comfortably through the night and not snoring loud enough to be measured by the Richter scale.

Over the past few weeks, there have been a few nights where I've awoken after a real bad apnea attack and sucking in air mightily, realizing there is no positive air pressure in the tube. I finally found out why...

My cat, Mischief, has decided that she wants to camp out on top of my machine and has somehow figured out which button is the power button. I'll wake up to find her sitting there, and I swear she knows she's doing this on purpose.

Usually, she will be somewhere else on the bed... but maybe she's figuring out how to wake me up thinking I'll put some food down or something...

TL;DR I enjoy a good nights sleep, until the cat decides otherwise and switches off the blower.

Cattle prod should take care of it... any feed store...

 

[Clark1961]

Your cat is trying to kill you and you think it is a funny story? Hmmmm.

Do not underestimate cat...

 

[Everskyward]

I thought this was going to be about someone's pet having sleep apnea and having to wear a CPAP machine.

 

[Dennis McKim]

I had similar problems with my CPAP machine, until I started keeping it in the drawer of a nightstand (actually an extension of the headboard unit). During the day, machine, tubing, and mask are "put away" in the drawer. At night, the tubing and mask are out, but the machine itself stays in the drawer, with the drawer open only 2". Safe from all paws. We now have no feline roommates, but I still keep the machine there for the sake of neatness.

 

[Matthew]

My cat would become intimate with the wall.

Maybe your cat hates you?

 

[murphey]

I had similar problems with my CPAP machine, until I started keeping it in the drawer of a nightstand (actually an extension of the headboard unit). During the day, machine, tubing, and mask are "put away" in the drawer. At night, the tubing and mask are out, but the machine itself stays in the drawer, with the drawer open only 2". Safe from all paws. We now have no feline roommates, but I still keep the machine there for the sake of neatness.

A Western Slope member of Colorado POA. Welcome!

 

[Henning]

A Hotwire fence box can fix that.

 

[Brad Z]

My cat, Mischief, has decided that she wants to camp out on top of my machine and has somehow figured out which button is the power button. I'll wake up to find her sitting there, and I swear she knows she's doing this on purpose.

Is that really your cat's name? Talk about nominative determinism. By the way, your cat is trying to kill you.

I thought this was going to be about someone's pet having sleep apnea and having to wear a CPAP machine.

Same here.

 

[bflynn]

I still say a dog won't do that.

 

[ja_user]

Bitter apple on the button may keep the cat away?

Or a punch to the throat..

Seriously though, i would just put something over it like a box or basket or something.

 

[Dennis McKim]

A Western Slope member of Colorado POA. Welcome!

Thanks very much and, no, you can't have any more of our water.

 

[Jay Honeck]

If your cat was the size of a Mastiff, would you trust it not to eat you at night?

I didn't think so.

Cats are evil.

 

[poadeleted20]

I thought this was going to be about someone's pet having sleep apnea and having to wear a CPAP machine.

I don't know -- you should hear our Labrador snore. Never though of having him evaluated for OSA.

 

[poadeleted20]

If your cat was the size of a Mastiff, would you trust it not to eat you at night?

I think the issue with a Mastiff would be the dog curling up on top of you and causing death by compressive asphyxiation.

 

[Shawn]

 

[murphey]

Thanks very much and, no, you can't have any more of our water.

But it goes so well with a good bourbon!

 

[jesse]

I don't know -- you should hear our Labrador snore. Never though of having him evaluated for OSA.

My Lab is the same way...and he's not over weight.

 

[poadeleted20]

My Lab is the same way...and he's not over weight.

Beauregard ain't skinny, but you can still feel ribs and he doesn't have a significant gut. Our old Black Lab 10-15 years ago used to snore loudly, too -- maybe it's a breed characteristic?

 

[DFH65]

The other night I kept hearing a noise and thought it was water in my CPAP hose which I thought was odd since I haven't had that issue since I moved to the heated hose. Sat up shook out the hose nothing. Laid back down and it started again. Decided to hold my breath for a bit and still heard it. It was the dog snoring.

The next morning my son says I could hear you snoring last night I said I don't snore with the machine on. She was really sawing wood.

 

[poadeleted20]

The other night I kept hearing a noise and thought it was water in my CPAP hose which I thought was odd since I haven't had that issue since I moved to the heated hose. Sat up shook out the hose nothing. Laid back down and it started again. Decided to hold my breath for a bit and still heard it. It was the dog snoring.

The next morning my son says I could hear you snoring last night I said I don't snore with the machine on. She was really sawing wood.

Labrador?

Note: All but one of our 11 dogs over the last nearly 40 years have been Labs, Australian Shepherd/Border Collie, or a mix of those breeds, and only the pure-bred Labs have snored.

 

[DFH65]

Labrador?

Note: All but one of our 11 dogs over the last nearly 40 years have been Labs, Australian Shepherd/Border Collie, or a mix of those breeds, and only the pure-bred Labs have snored.

Pound dog pit and presumably some lab mix by the looks of her.

We had a beagle that snored a lot.

 

[Alexb2000]

Our two labs snore also. It doesn't bother me, but when my wife does I can't sleep. Who knows why.

 

[BigBadLou]

That's why I am a dog person. Dogs give love, not demand it with sharp claws. I have a dog. (afterall, I am a man)

Wife has a cat. Some time ago, I gave her a funny calendar with an important message:

Wife did not get the message. We still have a cat. Cat keeps trying to kill her. Wife doesn't mind.

 

[Jeff Oslick]

Show your cat your will. Note that said cat is not listed in the will. Note that killing you will only deprive it of food and a thermally regulated object it can lean against.

Yes, the cat is trying to kill you. They are not stupid.

 

[Matthew]

Cats are predators and like to play with their prey before they kill it.

Your cat is playing with you.

 

[DJTorrente]

I thought this was going to be about someone's pet having sleep apnea and having to wear a CPAP machine.

From the author of xkcd.com:

The following is the first sentence from a journal article on starling metabolism:

We trained two starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) to fly in a wind tunnel whilst wearing respirometry masks.​

I really think the paper should have stopped there; no matter what their results were, they can't possibly improve on the achievement they opened with.

 

[denverpilot]

Haven't heard. Did the cattle prod work?

 

[Everskyward]

From the author of xkcd.com:

We trained two starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) to fly in a wind tunnel whilst wearing respirometry masks.

That is cool... I guess. Definitely an achievement!

 

[3393RP]

I don't know -- you should hear our Labrador snore. Never though of having him evaluated for OSA.

Our cat Cheesy snores almost as loud as a human. Yes, he's fat.

Mike, I had to laugh at your predicament...but as a cat owner (we have three) of course I think it's oh-so-cute cat behavior.

One of the other cats has learned how to stand on the dryer on/off pushbutton and shut it off, but at least he isn't doing it to my CPAP machine.

We have lever handles on our doors. Our newest cat (we've had her five months) learned pretty quickly how to open them. The bad thing is that it takes her several tries, and when the door is being banged on at three in the morning it's not so cute.

 

[Jeff Oslick]

We have lever handles on our doors. Our newest cat (we've had her five months) learned pretty quickly how to open them. The bad thing is that it takes her several tries, and when the door is being banged on at three in the morning it's not so cute.

My sister had a cat that could lean down from a dresser next to a door and open a standard round door handle to get out of the room.

Mine figured out how to move the weight on top of the fish tank cover, open the lid, remove (and, apparently, eat) one of the tropical swordtails, close the cover and replace the weight. At least that is what I think must have happened, because there was fish missing one day, and there was zero evidence left behind for an alternative explanation.

I would not keep a loaded weapon in a house with a cat.

 

[murphey]

Murphey doesn't snore, but he farts in his sleep. I'm sorry, according to the vet, he has severe flatulence.

 

[3393RP]

Mine figured out how to move the weight on top of the fish tank cover, open the lid, remove (and, apparently, eat) one of the tropical swordtails, close the cover and replace the weight. At least that is what I think must have happened, because there was fish missing one day, and there was zero evidence left behind for an alternative explanation.

We have a garter snake in a 20 gallon terrarium. It had a window screen top in a plastic frame, and our cat named BOC (Bad Orange Cat) tore through it and was in the process of grabbing the snake when I caught him.

I bought a metal mesh steel framed top and used sticky back velcro strips to mount it. It solved that problem but BOC is always looking for something else to tear up or break. He continually lives up to his name.

 

[Henning]

Our cat Cheesy snores almost as loud as a human. Yes, he's fat.

Mike, I had to laugh at your predicament...but as a cat owner (we have three) of course I think it's oh-so-cute cat behavior.

One of the other cats has learned how to stand on the dryer on/off pushbutton and shut it off, but at least he isn't doing it to my CPAP machine.

We have lever handles on our doors. Our newest cat (we've had her five months) learned pretty quickly how to open them. The bad thing is that it takes her several tries, and when the door is being banged on at three in the morning it's not so cute.

Tie a dangling braid of yarn on the handle so the cat can work it more effectively, and it won't wake you up.

 

[Henning]

We have a garter snake in a 20 gallon terrarium. It had a window screen top in a plastic frame, and our cat named BOC (Bad Orange Cat) tore through it and was in the process of grabbing the snake when I caught him.

I bought a metal mesh steel framed top and used sticky back velcro strips to mount it. It solved that problem but BOC is always looking for something else to tear up or break. He continually lives up to his name.

We had a 12' Reticulated Python in a 4' cube terrarium with a wood cover and a large bird cage on top of it. He would always push his way out and climb in my heated water bed. One night I brought a gal home and Eddie was already in bed. 10 minutes later the scream was deafening.

Eddie was totally mellow though, we would let little kids play with him. Keep them fed and they are great pets.

 

[Jeff Oslick]

our cat named BOC (Bad Orange Cat)

Maybe something about the orange ones. Mine was orange too... Tigger, but his full name was Tigger Get Down.