Is your cat obsessed with thumb tacks?

put Tabasco sauce on them.
make a paste of cayenne pepper and water and paint it on the thumb tacks.
paint them with the bitter clear nail polish stuff people use to stop biting their nails.

Move the board higher so he can’t reach.

Put the notes at the top of the board.

Keep the door closed when you are not in the room.

Get him some other toys.

You are right to be concerned. My cat once swallowed a needle. It was a holiday , and I just happened to be home and see her clawing at her mouth, and then down it went before I could get there.

The x-ray confirmed she swallowed it. She had surgery. the vet said it could have perforated her intestines. I felt so lucky I saw it happen or I probably would never have known.

Thanks guys! excellent suggestions.

@marina I can’t move the board up higher unfortunately, it’s attached in a way that it won’t go up.

@PerryDolia I will try the pepper, thanks for the suggestion!

I like the hot stuff idea too. Are you sure that is not a dangerous substance for cats? Just make sure. I am sure there is something they won’t like the taste of, but that won’t harm them.

@Marina Not SURE. But I don’t know how to be sure of anything I doubt they would get enough to cause any problems.

I suggest you lock up your thumbtacks in somewhere where he can’t reach. Get like a straw or something and play around with it. Cats like straw

OK, I looked this up and found this:

“Some people add a tablespoon of cayenne pepper to this mix. However, others argue that this can make a cat seriously ill. Consult your veterinarian before adding pepper, Tabasco or any other spicy repellents to an indoor spray.”

It does have a recipe for a natural, safe cat repellant:

“Fill a spray bottle with water with approximately one quart of distilled water.

Add 20 drops of eucalyptus oil. Swirl the water in the bottle gently to mix the oil into the water.

Add 20 drops of orange oil and swirl again.

Screw the lid onto the spray bottle and shake several times. Since oil and water do not fully mix, you will need to shake the contents each time you use the spray.”

Source

I like the spraying idea
Except I’d spray the cat

When my dog was a pup we used bitter apple to keep him from chewing certain things. They make it for cats as well.

Thanks Marina, nice find. I had some training spray left over (similar to petethepotheads suggestion), and soaked the tacks in this liquid, let them dry, and put them back out…we’ll see how it works.

Thanks again!

worked like a charm, he goes in like he’s going to bite at them again, and instantly turns his head away from the scent it puts out.

Thanks!

Three cheers for marina!
Hip hip
Hooray!

GA to a caring cat dad. Glad the problem is solved. Why won’t the little buggers play with their toys? No, they would much rather be in the middle of whatever you are doing!

@RandomMrdan, consider yourself lucky. When one of my cats would bite my computer cables, I tried EVERYTHING. Nothing worked. In fact, stuff I bought at the pet store that was suppose to repel actually attracted! Then there was other stuff I got at the pet store that was so poisonous I got rid of it and never used it.

She kinda grew out of it, but, just the same, I try to keep the wires out of harm’s way.

I wish I could figure out how to stop my son’s fascination with thumb tacks. He pulls them out of the bulletin board, lets my notes fall to the ground, and then uses them to put up posters of football players in the TV room.

I’m sorry. I’m not at all helpful here, but I laughed so hard reading reading that that milk came out my nose (and I wasn’t even drinking milk).

Your cat has thumbs?!

I know mine does

or get those flat tacks.