Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I think I’m gonna take the double-sided tape a step further, and try Velcro tape on the short ends of each register. If we were planning to stay here, I’d do something a bit more permanent. But since we’re selling, I figure the registers shouldn’t be too hard to pull out for the new owners.
We had a GSD who developed an obsession with pulling up the floor vents. We eventually concluded that she was trying to turn on the A/C. After all, if she dug at it long enough, it almost always came on. And on the rare occasions she got it all the way out, she would look very confused if it didn’t start to blow.
Try leaving a plastic or rubber snake inside there.
They’re inside the perimeter! They’re in the vents! They’re coming out of the walls! They’re coming out of the goddamned walls, we’re fucked!!
I was today years old when I learned that the floor vents for my heat/ac are called registers. Didn’t realize that vent was an insufficiently clear term.
The constant and painful look of utter bewilderment on the faces of those with whom you used the term ‘vent’ didn’t clue you in??
Registers make me think of pipe organs, and computer processors.
If you want to be pedantic (who am I kidding, of course you do!), a vent is a generic term for any grille, register, diffuser, or pipe/duct. Grilles are perforated covers with regular openings, but no other controls or directionality. They’re mostly air returns or exhaust intakes. Registers are grilles with a damper to control airflow, and maybe direction to some extent. Those are typically your air supplies blowing in roughly one direction. Diffusers are grilles or registers designed to disperse air evenly in most or all directions. Those are generally seen in the drop ceilings of commercial buildings, offices, etc., though there are some older style baseboard supply registers used in homes that throw air out in a roughly 180º arc that could be considered diffusers too.
Have you applied any of the cat deterrent sprays available to the registers?
Today is when I discovered that floor vents were even a thing.
My grandmother’s house had floor vents. When i shopped for a house, “no floor vents” was on my list. Stuff falls into them, and they are drafty. She didn’t have pets, so i didn’t realize “bad interactions with pets” was another potential pitfall. But they are pretty common in older homes with forced air heat.
We had the same problem with our cat pulling up the registers. We replaced them with cast-iron registers, which are too heavy for him to move. I found some cost-effective ones at Home Depot.
Yes, something bad-smelling (to cats) or bad-tasting was my idea also.
Or you could freak out Otto by placing sensors in the vents triggered by motion and causing a central receiver to emit loud barking sounds.
You’re joking, right?
Well, in my experience, orange cats share one brain cell.
They’re awfully cute and sweet, though.
Yeah, that is sooo darn cute.
Update: Velcro tape seems to have done the trick.