# My cats are shocking me! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 13, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cats-are-shocking-me/224206 "2004-01-13T02:02:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cats-are-shocking-me/224206/1 "2004-01-13T02:02:13Z")
… with static electricity, that is. Every time I pet my cats, we give each other these multiple little shocks. One, this weekend, was so loud it sounded like a twig snapping. Didn’t hurt me at all, so it must have just about popped poor Harley’s head off. Ride the lightning, boyo! Maceo, my long hair, is in a permanent state of static-induced disarray. Normally, he’s so fluffy, but now he’s frozen in a flattened, touseled state. The coolest part is when I pet them in the dark, and I can see the sparks jumping off them all over the place. Mundane, lame fun to have with your kitties. Are your kitties staticking all over the place too? I feel bad about shocking them in ways other than by bringing new cats home. How can this be stopped so I can go back to guilt-free petting? I run the humidifier every night to no avail. Poor kitties. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cats-are-shocking-me/224206/2 "2004-01-13T02:07:24Z")
Mine are pretty bad, I can see sparks from Bo when he and I make contact. Sometimes I take a used dryer sheet and run it over their fur, that seems to help. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cats-are-shocking-me/224206/3 "2004-01-13T02:25:10Z")
Jake’s not as bad as Scout - she’s constantly getting shocked when I pet her lately. With Jake, it’s worse if I either have both hands on him when I’m petting him or if I move from petting his back/belly to his ears - then he gets a little shock when I put my hand back down and touch his ears. I don’t know that it hurts mine - neither one has yowled and dashed off, not to be petted again until spring, but from their reactions I can tell they feel it. ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cats-are-shocking-me/224206/4 "2004-01-13T05:04:01Z")
I wonder if a short spray of StaticGuard would harm kitties? That might work. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cats-are-shocking-me/224206/5 "2004-01-13T05:17:08Z")
My cats get that grimacy, flinchy, squinty look whenever I spray Static Guard anywhere remotely near them. I think they’d hate me for as long as they could remember to if I sprayed it on them. Also, it’s Dimethyl Ditallow Ammonium Chloride. I don’t know what the heck that means, but it doesn’t sound like anything I’d want them to inject. I may have to get some dryer sheets and rub them with that. Does that seem safe? ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cats-are-shocking-me/224206/6 "2004-01-13T05:44:15Z")
I found this site while Googling. It says mentions dryer sheets, and also says you can spray static guard on the cat brush, then brush your cats with it. [linky](http://www.animalfare.net/cat-care.html)