I will be getting my car back from the paint shop soon and I have a small problem. I have adopted a shop cat or he has adopted me, I am not sure which way it happened. Whenever I am outside he is with me. He sleeps in my shop and I do not want to kick him out so I need to buy a cover to protect my car from his explorations. Since he is an outside cat I will not have him declawed. Some will say the cat has to go but I have no other option to house him as our dog will not tolerate another animal, especially a cat, in his house. So, with all that being said can anyone recommend a good cover? I would very much like to stay under $300.00 and the more "under" that the better.
I recently bought two covers. One for the roadster and one for my OT Mustang. Craiglist and Facebook Marketplace. I paid $50 for one and $30 for the other. Both multi-layered outdoor covers. People buy quality covers for their cars then sell or wreck said cars. They're left with a car cover and no car to cover so they dump them for pennies on the dollar! Most covers are barely used. Measure your cars length, width and height. Peruse CL and FM to see what's out there. The ad usually states what car the cover is for. Look up that car on wikipedia and it'll list the dimensions. Just find one that's fairly close to your cars dimensions. It may be a little wide or long but it doesn't have to fit like a condom, just as long as it covers the car and doesn't break the bank!
I agree with blankets on the hood trunk and roof .kitty wont piss on his bedding. thicker the better. thanks for giving him a shot.
I think I saved some money by buying a ready-made cover for a popular new car rather than one made for a hot rod. My neighbor's Mitsubishi Juke had the same profile as my sedan and the upgraded cover has been good for a few years at, as I remember, under $100.
Depending on your paint quality and how anal you are. I stepped up to one with flannel against the finish and a cotton duck on the outside. Like a jeans material. It’s great. If your cats a jumper it’s good, if it’s a claw climber not so much but a hell of a lot better than a cheepy. I keep HF pads on top.... guys are right cats don’t shit/youran8 where they sleep...
Thrift store blankets will be cheaper than HF. Give the cat warm place to sleep, like a blanket in a box at least table height off the ground and it will be happy, but will still walk across your car eventually.
Hey fyrggtri what a great thing your doing and guy you are. It has been my experience that cats are pretty much disliked by the male human being. A cat adopting you says volumes to me about you. Being an animal lover I appreciate your kindness.
California Car Cover has form fitting covers in all different materials. I use the storm weave style because it is thicker so that when we are at a hotel I don't have to worry about the door bangers as much. calcarcover.com
I have a cat story. I shared shop space with another guy who adopted a feral cat that was hanging around. All fine and good except it led to another and another and pretty soon there were 21 feral cats coming to the shop to get fed. Getting inside and staying inside overnight. That led to cat shit everywhere. Pissing on the corners of rollaways and drawers of tool boxes and benches marking territory. Cat piss is caustic by the way and I have the rusted tool boxes to prove it. They clawed up the car cover I had on my 47. The spare bucket seats I had up on a rack became their home. They ripped them up. Don't get me wrong as I love animals and they seem to love me, but never again! Not for all the tea in china. They made it a mess inside that shop. Got so bad I hated to go there to work on my coupe.
I had a band mate whose cat pissed all over my Marshall 412 cab, and I couldn't agree more. Cab had a stain and rusted metal in the corner all its days. I'm a dog guy now..... I had moving blankets on my car but be aware you'll want something breathable depending on the storage place. I took mine off because air couldn't flow through the car well and it was starting to get this white stuff on the black rubber around the windshield, etc.
Thanks for all the replies and tips. I have a coupon from HF for 40x72 moving blankets at $3.99 so I will pick up 4, which is the limit, when I go to town Thursday.
I have made Hotrod a bed in his travel pen that he stays in. I have already had to take him to the vet for a smashed foot. But, he has recovered fully. I got him his shots and flea meds while I was there. Might get him the scratching post for Christmas.
The car I am referring to is my OT 67 GTO convertible. I found out that Hagerty Insurance covers stupidity. I needed to get my miter saw out of the tool room and just knew I could get it between the GTO and my 50 Pontiac project car. Guess which one I scratched?! And, it was a week before our annual car show. So, I ran the car over to the paint shop and asked them if they could touch up the 2" scratch. They said they couldn't just touch it up. They would have to color blend the driver's side rear of the car and clear coat the back half because there was no hard line to cut the paint and clear off at. I was given an estimate of $1,507.50 to do the job. I called Hagerty and they said to send them a picture of the damage and the estimate. I e-mailed them the stuff and the next day they cut me a check for the full amount.
This you shouldn't put anything over the paint for at least 30 days. Sent from my SM-G950W using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Get the blankets. Put them on the trunk lid, roof, and hood. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT RODENTS! If it is like my two they will not survive once they get inside. Brothers and they love to catch furry little play toys. The only problem is they do not live very long once the boys start playing with them.
I’m in the same camp as you but I actually went looking for my cat (and I was def not a cat person, I’m even allergic) but I didn’t want any rodents and I’m not into checking traps everyday (waste of what little time I have) so I now have a property manager. A couple of things; get the cat fixed - first step. This will stop a lot of the marking (pissing). Next provide them high, safe areas to hang out in and a scratching post. Tractor supply sells cat trees. They work. Get a litter box or two. Most cats will use them instinctively. Mine never uses her causes she’s outside so much. I’ve changed it a twice maybe all year. Lastly I used the thick blankets cause my fresh paint was over a year old and then I sprinkled some pepper on all of my car covers. Most don’t like that in their paws that they lick off. A simple card board box w an old blanket AWAY from the car is a bed. Any box will keep them occupied really but I moved mine away from the cars and upstairs in my shop at night. Some patience is required and learning since I knew zero about cats (and have only had dogs). She is worth her weight in gold imo and is a true killer including a ferret just last week. Regards Randy Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Hey, UR; Good advice. Warm, soft stuff up high(to a cat) on a car is perfect for sleeping/etc. Convertible tops are the best, as far as cats are concerned. Other things mentioned should help reduce cat tracks on the car to a min. Or figure out a way to make cat-tracked racing stripes... . Some cats will listen & learn from a couple of NO!s at the right time, & rewards for getting off car w/o scratching it. If they absolutely positively have to get on the car w/o fail, provide an easy way up onto, & then down off of; = very little, if any, damage.Mine doesn't go on the cars, but does go under & in them. W/o damage, but she's getting old. Provide scratching/stretching material, too. I did provide her w/her own varmint-proof cat door, which requires that she wear a magnet collar, which was a problem 'till she figured out(w/my help demonstrating the advantages) why. Love them little furry things. They give more than they take. & the purring does wonders for lowering blood pressure, anger, frustrations, etc. Although the "garage cat" is now indoor/outdoor house cat. Marcus...
Hello, When we lived in our first real house, we had a two open-sided car port for a garage. The design of the house was done to make maximum space for views from every section of the house, including working in the garage/car port. Coming from a family that always had enclosed garages and work areas, this was a new one for us. Luckily, we lived above the coastal fog line most of the time. But, when the fog was super thick and moving inward towards the land, we did get our share of fog and moisture. We bought a inner felt-lined, car cover from a local supplier and it kept the surface clean for daily driving. It was one way to fight back against the weather and coastal environment. There were other similar builds of houses and they converted their two sided car ports to enclosed garages, but now, their houses looked like big VW delivery vans. So, we decided to keep the car cover and leave the openness of the original design in place. Our neighbor’s cat had other ideas as their car port was open on three sides and did not have any protection from the elements, especially during the rainy season. So, of course, the cat found the driest spot that was in the two walled corner of our car port. Luckily, he liked the area under the 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery rather than on top. The heat was better under there if I came in late at night. Plus, when it cooled off, the corner of two solid walls was much better than being out in the open. Jnaki After we sold the house to move to a more family friendly area with places for our son to grow up, the new owners enclosed the car port. Now, it looks like a big Sprinter van with nice architectural designs on the other parts of the property. It must have been a trend, as now, 95% of the old neighborhood has enclosed two car garages instead of an open carport. The cat? Those neighbors moved away many years ago.
Moving blankets are great, but kitty claws can go through them. I use moving blankets, but have a huge plastic tarp that just lays over the car after the blankets are on the roof, hood, and trunk lid. The cats don't like trying to jump up on the plastic tarp as it's too slippery, and not a place they like. Cats love car covers, as the cloth is a nice bed up high for them.
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