I wish I'd thought of this WEEKS ago.

There's been an issue recently because Stanley has INSISTED on trying to claw my stereo speakers. Unlike Captain, who responded to my carrying him to the scratch post and showing him how to use it, Stanley's been more insistent on using the stereo speakers to sharpen his claws.

A solution finally dawned on me this morning.

The stereo has a remote control that can be used to power it on and off, adjust the volume, etc.

So I set the stereo on "tuner", so it would play the radio upon being powered on. Then I turned it off, and cranked the volume knob WAY up.

The result is that when the stereo is powered on, it's going to abruptly start blasting music at a stupendously loud volume.

Stanley happened to walk by when I tested this theory. I only kept the ***BLARING LOUD MUSIC*** on for a moment, so as not to disturb the neighbors. But it certainly attracted Stanley's attention (which wasn't my intent).

Stanley went over to the stereo speaker and tentatively touched it with his paw.

I pressed the power button on the remote.

The speaker started to ***BLARE LOUD MUSIC*** immediately. Stanley stood there for about half a second, then scooted around a corner to get away from the noise. I turned off the stereo the moment he left it alone.

EVERY time he tries to sharpen his claws on the stereo, it's going to ***BLARE LOUD MUSIC*** until he learns to leave it alone. (Which I hope will be soon, because we do live in a row house and I don't want to disturb the neighbors.)

As I said, I wish I'd thought of this WEEKS ago. I'll keep encouraging him to claw the carpet-covered kitty tower, too, so he can sharpen his claws on something legally. But the stereo is off-limits, and the sooner that lesson is learned, the better.