Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with scratching

Help a newbie DJ!

aceyprime — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:02:41 -0800

I want to start DJing - specifically mixing and mashing songs and learning to scratch. I only want to make mixes for myself but might someday want to play for a house party if my skills improve. I need your input on equipment and how to get started! I love music but have no experience DJing so anything you have to share would be helpful. I spent a bit of time attempting to research it but feel totally overwhelmed by all the options available.

What controller & soundcard (or other equipment) should I consider? I've looked at the Vestax VCI-100, Hercules RMX and M-Audio Xponent so far but have no idea what would be best to get started. I want a controller that will be good for scratching. I'd like to spend less than $700 total.

What should I look at for software? Seems like Traktor and Virtual DJ are popular and support most controllers.

What should I do to learn the basics? Any good DJ forums that are beginner friendly?

HELP! Cat has a serious scratching problem-- he scratches his own FACE until it bleeds.

eric1200 — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:53:29 -0800

Cat has been wearing a cone on and off for about a year while we've taken him to a series of vets and specialists who -- after plenty of wasted time and dollars as most of these people just shrugged and said they couldn't figure it out -- eventually concluded that Cat suffered from allergies, as well as acne on his chin. At last, we have gotten both problems under control. The acne has cleared up, and Cat gets an injection once a week that has miraculously cleared up all the allergy symptoms (itchy rashes, etc). On top of this, our other cat is his brother, and he has never shown a single one of these symptoms, EVER.

However, if we take the cone off, without fail, Cat will scratch himself until he's bleeding again. Last time he got the cone off, he ripped a jagged slash along his throat! And that's since he's been "better."

With the cone, everything has been allowed to heal, and he looks like a million bucks. (When he's not well, even with the cone protecting him, you can see the symptoms all over his face: blackheads, rashes, excessive eye mucus, etc.) He looks happy and healthy now but we're terrified to take off the cone.

Cat cannot like this anymore. We are at our wits end and every vet we see fails to offer any new information at this point. We were even considering having his rear paws declawed so at least he wouldn't be able to damage himself anymore. Other than that, we can't think of a way for him to lead a normal cone-free life.

(Both cats are on flea control, both are strictly indoor cats and have been since birth.)

Can anyone help us? Thank you so much in advance.

scratched macbook cover

muscat — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:58:51 -0800

White macbook question. My macbook's cover has become all scratched up. Is there any way I can polish the plastic or in any way minimize the scratching?

Sweet jesus the pain -- help my dog stop scratching

InnocentBystander — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:56:23 -0800

How do I stop a 2 year old Old English Sheepdog from scratching us all to death? We've had our huuuuuge Old English Sheepdog for about 6 months. She's always done this to some extent or another but lately, it's ridiculous. She doesn't jump on people (unless they're on the couch, but that's cool with us), but she likes to put her paws up and scratch the everloving shit out of my legs, my husband's legs, my housemates' legs. She's otherwise an incredibly awesome dog, and it's clear she's doing this out of affection, not anger. The local training classes all use choke chains, which we are not cool with for various reasons, so those are a no go.

The scratching hurts so much that it's basically impossible not to pay it attention. I'm not a Buddhist monk or something, I can't deal with my legs being bruised all to hell while I stay totally silent.

Turning around and crossing arms was something we tried for a while, but she was PERSISTENT and it was literally a matter of giving in or having black and blue bruises on our entire back calves (yes, she will scratch the back of your legs, too, sometimes getting right into the crook of your knees, which is awesomely painful. We're all at a loss as to what to do, and my legs hate hate hate me. HELP. I do not want to be angry at the dog. I like the dog. I know the dog likes me. But it's very hard to keep being nice to something that hurts you every time it sees you.

Can I stop my kitty from compulsively scratching her face?

weatherworn — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 18:51:00 -0800

Is there anything I can do to keep my kitty from scratching her eyes? She's been in an e-collar for two months post-eye-surgery, and it's time for freedom. But whenever she's out of the collar for more than an hour or two, she scratches her eyes and ends up bleeding. The vet says she's just neurotic and needs to get used to being uncollared, but I'm worried she's going to do some serious damage to herself. My lovely Laila-kitty has been through a lot since we adopted her the first week of August. She's a six-year-old medium-haired tortie, and she'd been at the shelter for a month when the we met her and fell in love. Now she's a single, indoor-only cat. The boyfriend and I work from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., leaving her alone in the apartment.

She had a case of conjunctivitis that the shelter had been treating with some mild eye drops for about a week. We would later find out that feline herpes was the culprit. She was spayed the day before we brought her home midweek; all of the uproar made her herpes flare up something fierce. By her check-up on Saturday, her cornea had ulcerated, and her eye had nearly, well, burst. We rushed her to an emergency ophthalmologist for a conjunctival pedicle graft on her left eye.

Two months and several thousand dollars later, she's gotten an all-clear from the vet to be freed from the e-collar. (Actually, due to a chronic ear sensitivity, she *needs* to be freed from the e-collar so the current ear problems can die down.)

However, every time she's been out of the e-collar for more than an hour or two in the last couple months, she's scratched and rubbed her eyelids and mouth to the point of bleeding -- leading to another expensive visit to the emergency vet.

She had a checkup today, and her graft is doing just fine. She treated with Revolution just in case she had fleas (although the vet didn't see any), and her claws were trimmed. The vet suggested that the past two months in the collar had just made her neurotic and that she was going to groom compulsively for a while. However, in the few hours since we brought her home, she's already rubbed and scratched her right (non-surgery) eye raw -- and that's with us watching her almost constantly!

What could be causing her compulsive scratching behavior? What the holy hell can we do to keep our kitty from self-harming? (Declawing is not an option.) I'm scared that she's going to cause herself some serious damage.

Do I need Pearle Vision's special (expensive) cleaning products to keep my lenses from getting scratched?

anjamu — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 21:03:06 -0800

Do I really need to use special cleanser for my new lenses, or is the company that made them just trying to get me to spend more money? This week, I got a new pair of glasses from Pearle Vision. They applied an "anti-reflective coating" to the lenses, which is supposed to reduce the glare from my computer screen and that sort of thing.

When I went to pick up the glasses, the salesperson handed me a stack of these pre-moistened towelettes and told me to wipe the lenses down with them before I used the soft cloth to clean them. She warned that if I cleaned them without using a towelette, I risked scratching the anti-reflective coating.

Conveniently, these little towelettes are sold at Pearle Vision. I think the price is $10 for 21 of them. At the rate at which I smudge my glasses, I probably need at least one a day. I did the math, and that's $180 annually (if I'm really judicious) on special cleaning cloths.

So my question is: does anyone have any experience with this? Will it really scratch up the lenses (or, I guess, the coating)? Or will a soft cloth suffice and they're just trying to get more money out of me?

The only thing I could find via Google was this, wherein one man complains that his wife's lenses were indeed scratched within six months, and they blamed it on her not using their cleaning supplies. (That, and a lot of complaints about their customer service, which makes me feel a little less alone in my bitterness toward them.)

Help me pick a sofa that my cat won't want to destroy

tastybrains — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 11:29:49 -0800

What sort of sofa is my scratch-happy cat least likely to destroy? I have 2 cats - one of which never learned not to claw furniture. She destroyed our sofa (which was covered in a tough chenille type fabric) which we've slipcovered with a cordouroy type fabric and she doesn't seem interested in touching it. Instead she has directed her claws to the canvas-like covers on our Ikea chairs, which she's been shredding for quite some time despite use of Sticky Paws, double-stick tape, Feliway, squirt bottle training, etc.

We've used Softpaws, but after an incident where she got her Softpaw caught in a tight spot and nearly declawed herself, we've let her run around au naturale.

Declawing is not an option, despite the times I've threatened her with chopping her little feets off.

So, basically I'm looking for suggestions with regards to what sort of sofa is she least likely to want to destroy.

Do cats like to claw leather? Am I better off sticking with less expensive furniture that I can replace the slipcovers on (e.g. Ikea's Ektorp line)?

Someday I'd like to have nice things, but I don't see the point in buying a nice sofa if it's just going to become another scratching post.

And yes, we have many real scratching posts and she uses those too. She just likes the Ikea chairs better.

Two turntables and a microphone, but you know... for kids!

DragonBoy — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 12:25:02 -0800

I have a six year-old son who likes to 'air scratch' during songs. When we go to music stores he loves hanging out in the DJ supplies section and checking out the turntables and For Christmas I'd like to find a "kid friendly" musical gift that will allow him the enjoyment of scratching without Dad having to fork out cash for professional gear.

I seem to remember seeing a electronic thing that had a CD sized scratching turntable with 'canned' scratching sounds. I think he'd love something like that but my froogle searches have been fruitless. If you've got a suggestion for a budding DJ's Christmas gift please share.

Cat meets sofa...

twine42 — Sat, 18 Mar 2006 11:49:14 -0800

What will happen when our scratching cat meets our (proposed) new leather sofa? The cat in question takes great delight in sharpening her claws on the corner of our sofa and on the piano stool's fabric top. She occasionally attacks the carpet, but never wood and (apparently) never vinyl.

We're considering changing the fabric sofa for a leather one since the old one is dying of old age, but we're worried about pest's claws. Will she shred it or will she ignore it? The sofa salesman seems to think it's unlikely due to the comparative smoothness of the leather, but he does have an interest in us buying a leather sofa.

Any opinions?

How do I deal with the guy who wants a kickback?

freq — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 14:15:53 -0800

I have a potential customer that has made it clear that he wants a kickback. How should i deal with this situation? This request didn't come to me directly, but through a sales representative that i am working with on what could potentially be a very big project.

I am not even considering giving this guy a kickback, because I believe it would not only be unethical, but could lead to bigger problems down the road if I establish a long term business relationship with this company.

How would ask-mefi diffuse the situation and still get the business? Right now my plan is to play dumb on the surface when the client drops those "take care of me" hints, with the subtext being that I know what he's asking, and I won't be going there, but is there a better way to handle it?

My cat the love whore

junkbox — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 12:18:04 -0800

My cat uses vertical clawing and pitiful yowling to get attention when we're going to bed or waking up. How to make him stop? He's a 5 year old male kitty, neutered at 6 weeks and adopted by us soon after. Extremely affectionate to the point of being needy and clingy; he follows us around the apartment a lot, and likes proximity to us or to our other cat, an 8 year old female, at all times. Indoor only, his entire life. Has never known abuse, suffering or deprivation, and has maintained a naive, if neurotic, innocence since kittenhood.

We play with him, pet him, pick him up, carry him around, let him sit in our laps or on the desk by the computer at any time. No matter how much attention he gets, its never enough. When we get into bed at night, he paces the hallway and howls, then vertically scratches a doorjamb or chest of drawers. He'll do this if we nap in the afternoon, and sometimes early in the morning as we wake up. It's not normal claw maintenance; it's consistently an attention-getting behavior.

We tried spraying surfaces with bitter apple -- it doesn't bother him. We've tried ignoring him -- he still does it. We try calling out to him, inviting him to sleep on the bed with us -- he still does it. (Though eventually he wanders in and goes to sleep at my feet.) We tried picking him up and locking him in the bathroom for a few hours -- he came out uncowed, with the look that said, "You accidently locked me in the bathroom!" Scratching continued.

And yes, I have tried the spray bottle. He knows what he's doing is wrong. If he sees me approach, he runs. I can't get the spray bottle near him. Once, I chased him down and took him back to the scene of the crime to spray him several times. The scratching stopped for a day or two, while my cat cowered in corners and ran whenever he saw me. I felt like a monster; I don't think he got the message "scratching is bad," just the impression that I'm scary.

I'm tired of being woken up every night just as I get to sleep, and I'm tired of the damage he's doing to doors and furniture. The little plastic claw covers will protect my furniture, but not my sleep. (Thoughts on how easy those are to apply and maintain would be appreciated though.) I'm considering Feliway, to see if it will mellow him out, but haven't seen it recommended for symptoms of Woody Allen-like feline neurosis.

We've been very inconsistent with how we approach this problem, because we're big softies. I don't understand why he does this (he gets plenty of love and attention! he has another cat to play with! he can climb up on the bed when we're sleeping any time he wants!), so I can't figure out how to stop it. Whatever approach I take, I always feel it's the wrong one. Help me, collective cat gurus of Metafilter.

Would therapy help my dog's destructive anxiety when he's left alone?

deliriouscool — Sat, 13 Aug 2005 20:13:10 -0800

We love our dog, but his scratching is destructive - how can we help tame his anxiety at being left alone? Our beagle mix puppy is almost two, so I'm running out of time to blame this on "puppyhood." With people around, he's as generally well-behaved as a two year old dog might be, but if he's left alone in a place unfamiliar to him (i.e. not our house, but say my parents' house or my in-laws'), he will whine - then scratch at the carpet around the door by which we left, and even at the door itself. It doesn't happen every time we leave him, but it happens often enough that neither my husband nor I feels safe saying "sure, we can leave him here while we go out to dinner - it's only for a few hours." The other night at my parents' he was fine; tonight, he caused hundreds of dollars worth of damage, and sadly, it's not the first time.

He's generally a stellar dog, and we feel like we've done a decent job of socializing him and introducing him to strangers so he's not afraid of them - what can we do to help calm his fear of the unfamiliar when he's left by himself (or maybe that's fear of being left by himself among unfamiliar things)? Whatever came first, fear of the unfamiliar or fear of abandonment, this behavior is driving us nuts! And it's getting expensive too...

Experience with alternatives to cat-declawing?

Medieval Maven — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 16:30:43 -0800

CatFilter: In an AskMe thread a while back, I saw the Klaw Kontrol bag described as a good way to control your cat for various necessary procedures. Our usually sweet-tempered girl cat has taken to randomly destroying things while we're not here, and we want to install these things as an alternative to declawing (which we will not do). Anyone have any experience with these, or other "Kitty Stop It" aids?