My wife loves doing jigsaws. My cats love ripping partially-completed jigsaws apart. There is nowhere in my house which offers a large enough area to accommodate an incomplete jigsaw and to which I can easily deny the cats access.
My Cat-Proof Jigsaw would have pieces whose edges are coated with a glue-like polymer which only becomes sticky when illuminated with an ultra-violet light. The stickiness decays over a 24-hour period unless re-illuminated. Thus, after a hard day's 'sawing, the application of the UV lamp ensures that pieces once joined, no cat can rent asunder. When the jigsaw is finished and its time to disassemble it and put it away, it is left without UV for a day and can be easily packed away.-- dobtabulous, Nov 06 2003 jigsaw PUZZLE roll-up mat http://www.save2muc...Roll_Up_Large_48x36 [po, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004] Cat Repellent http://www.wdrake.c...um=10784&sc=un1129aWorks on dogs and birds, too, should you want to leave that jigsaw in the garden. [DrCurry, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004] Good point [o]. I guess the confusion could lead to an amusing interpretation of "My wife loves doing jigsaws". I'll leave the idea unedited though because I hate it when you read an annotation and it doesn't make sense anymore because the author has responded to it by correcting the idea's text. It makes me feel left out.-- dobtabulous, Nov 06 2003 Cats are said to abhor orange and lemon peel. So grate some peel, mix it with water and spray it onto your jigsaw set. ((Or you can probably buy commercial cat repulsant.)-- DrCurry, Nov 06 2003 you can buy sheets that roll up and keep your jigsaw together until you unroll it again. kitty would not be able to get at it in there. +1 for kitty.-- po, Nov 06 2003 Thanks [DrCurry]. I'll be straight down to the shops for a can of that replusant <g>. Unfortunately I'm not too fond of the smell of orange and lemon peel either - especially after its been there a few weeks.-- dobtabulous, Nov 06 2003 Thanks [po]. I've seen these advertised but I've always been dubious about the results - has anyone tried one? Do the pieces really stay together? If so then that's my wife's christmas present sorted - now what am I going to do with that tub of polymer and UV lamp?-- dobtabulous, Nov 06 2003 I agree with [Mr Burns]. I don't think cats should have access to a jigsaw, or any other power tool for that matter, at least until they have proven they can handle basic small hand tools. I mean, how would you feel if you came home to find your little tabby had taken a router to the dining room table? I know I'd be a little miffed. What's that? Jigsaw PUZZLE! Sorry I misunderstood...-- Canuck, Nov 07 2003 In my experience the harder something is to 'kill' the more entertained kitty gets attempting repeatedly to pull it apart. However, how about a jigsaw for kitty and owner to share...The box would contain a pre-constructed jigsaw bearing such feline-appealing elements as mice, deceased members of the canine persuasion or balls of multi-coloured wool. This would then provide ample entertainment and bonding time for both owner and pet as they seek to send the jigsaw into utter oblivion. Championships could even be held with medals being awarded for speed, damage and numbers of jigsaws destroyed.-- Mistress Bling, Nov 07 2003 Good point [mistress bling]. I especially enjoyed the way you refused to split your infinitive with the adverb "repeatedly". I suspect that the human partner would not get much of a look-in playing with the 'shared' jigsaw PUZZLE. Perhaps the human could compete against the pet, one attempting assembly while the other attempts the reverse?-- dobtabulous, Nov 07 2003 To throw an element of randomness into this, teams of cat-owners and cat-haters could be thrown into the mix. The owners assembling with the cats whilst the cat-haters, each provided with a Rottweiler, could increase the bloodlust appeal for international audiences as jigsaw pieces and cat fur flew.-- Mistress Bling, Nov 07 2003 Nuffin escapes my claws haha-- The Kat, Nov 07 2003 Will you be on my team, then [The Kat]?-- Mistress Bling, Nov 07 2003 Do the puzzles on the computer. I love my Brainsbreaker. I can use it to make puzzles out of pictures I find on the web.
Of course, this changes the problem to: how do you keep the cats from walking on the keyboard when you're doing a jigsaw puzzle?-- Zora, Jan 22 2004 Buy a couple sheets of bubble wrap and lay them over the puzzle at night. Every cat I've known hates the stuff. I've heard the same about tinfoil, but Milady figured out how to lift that up with her nose and bat it aside.-- Tabbyclaw, Jun 02 2004 Most animals don't like ammonia,as well. Of course, after the mild "Drenching" it woudl be advisable to wear an "Air Pak" or scuba diving mask. Sincerely blueswag_99-- blueswag, Jul 05 2004 random, halfbakery