Cat peed on my lens...HELP!

MFstooges · Jan 29, 2013

Man that stinks! I hope there is no extra charge for repairing stinky lens

madgardener · Jan 29, 2013

Whether there is an extra charge or not it will be worth it. When she comes over at night purring and curls up next to my head, well lets just say its better than any sleeping pill. She has made it plain more than once that I am her human, she basically lives in our bedroom, and since she got the antibiotic shot (it lasts 2 weeks, which I like, it prevents blood loss) and I changed to the urinary health cat food, she started using the box again.

The lens is a Sigma 400mm lens that has the Ricoh mount for my Ricoh kr-30-sp. I would have been far more upset if she had gotten my Weston light meter.

I am just glad that it was an easy fix, and she will be around for a while yet.

Thanks for all the help and advice!

For those who would lilke to know, there are a couple of products that work very well I don't know what its called in Europe, but here it's called Oxy Clean, its a laundry additive and its great at removing cat odor. The other, as mentioned here, is an enzyme cleaner here, its called Nature's Miracle.

Thanks again!

Sirius Glass · Jan 29, 2013

Give it a quick rinse, wipe dry, put it in a container with descant packs and rush it to get CLAed.

L Gebhardt · Jan 29, 2013

My old cat had an an issue at the end of her life and peed on the floor. It soaked through the floor and dripped down through the drop ceiling I have in my office. I found it from the popping sound and bright flashes my densitometer was making as it shorted out from the cat pee. She also got a monitor and a drum scanner mounting station that both survived. That was an expensive accident she had. Hopefully your lens won't be so expensive. And while we did have her put to sleep, it had nothing to do with this incident.

winger · Jan 30, 2013

I had four dogs (now three ) and can vouch for Nature's Miracle. Glad your cat is treatable and getting better.

Mainecoonmaniac · Jan 31, 2013

My 3 cats will wreck anything. I put away my photo gear so they can't destroy it. They're not malicious. They're just being cats.

lxdude · Jan 31, 2013

Mainecoonmaniac said:
My 3 cats will wreck anything. I put away my photo gear so they can't destroy it. They're not malicious. They're just being cats.

Specifically, cats that are the size of dogs!

madgardener · Jan 31, 2013

Mainecoonmaniac said:
My 3 cats will wreck anything. I put away my photo gear so they can't destroy it. They're not malicious. They're just being cats.

They are being Maine Coon cats that not only are the size of dogs, but has the attitude of "its all about me!" When friends come over, it's not to see me, its to see/pet my Maine Coon (Cozy). If they ignore her, she will just jump up the back of the couch and rests on the back right behind the visitor and plays with something of theirs, until they relent and pet her.

As for the other one (Pandora), she is back to using the litter box. All my camera stuff is put away, and hopefully, all is well.

lxdude · Jan 31, 2013

madgardener said:
As for the other one (Pandora), she is back to using the litter box.

Is that then Pandora's box?

Mainecoonmaniac · Jan 31, 2013

Maine Coons are more like dogs

madgardener said:
They are being Maine Coon cats that not only are the size of dogs, but has the attitude of "its all about me!" When friends come over, it's not to see me, its to see/pet my Maine Coon (Cozy). If they ignore her, she will just jump up the back of the couch and rests on the back right behind the visitor and plays with something of theirs, until they relent and pet her.

As for the other one (Pandora), she is back to using the litter box. All my camera stuff is put away, and hopefully, all is well.

My Maine Coon cat passed over 8 years ago. Buster was a character and was real charmer. Someone threw him away and was living on the streets until he charmed his way into our house. He's more like a dog and loves people more than other cats. Maine Coons are one of my favorite breeds. I love Maine Coons and my APUG handle is not from me loving Maine Coons so much. Buster was a catnip junkie. When he was on catnip, he was a Maine Coon Maniac.

Sirius Glass · Jan 31, 2013

Mainecoonmaniac said:
My 3 cats will wreck anything. I put away my photo gear so they can't destroy it. They're not malicious. They're just being cats.

Cats by definition are malicious.

LaChou · Feb 1, 2013

You have a chance to disassemble your lens, clean everything and re-assemble it. Only this way, the cat's curse will be lifted.

wblynch · Feb 1, 2013

It means your cat now owns the lens.

PentaxBronica · Feb 1, 2013

Be glad that it wasn't your bed... (says he who has twice had to pull everything off the bed and stuff it into the washing machine). Luckily it didn't get past the padded mattress topper!

I think with mine it's some sort of territorial marking behaviour, he's a neutered tom who'll be a year old this spring and gets a bit needy sometimes. He'll yowl pitifully from time to time and then start purring like a zeppelin engine when picked up and cuddled. Meanwhile his sister all but rolls her eyes as if to say "what a wimp!"

As for smells on camera gear, I've had a few smoke-ridden bodies and the only effective means I've found is a good clean with cotton buds, lens cleaning spray and paper towels for larger areas like leatherette. Also helps to replace the foam light seals, they've usually turned to black goo by now anyway and will have absorbed a lot of smoke particles. Basically you need to clean all the dirt out of the corners, especially on the top plate but also on side panels and around the lens mount.

madgardener · Feb 1, 2013

lxdude said:
Is that then Pandora's box?

Funny you should say that. We named her Pandora because she loves boxes. When she was a kitten, she loved saltine cracker boxes, she would pull out the crackers, curl up in the box and sleep.

When it's time for our Maine Coon, we will most likely adopt another one. We adopted Cozy when we lived in Salt Lake City. She too was thrown away because her owners got new furniture and she no longer complimented the new furniture color.

I got word on my lens today from the camera shop. The urine did not penetrate fully, it only got into the hood. I paid $150 for the lens on Ebay, and the shop gave me a discount (he had a good laugh at my expense), so the CLR only cost me $100. It could have been much worse.

fstop · Feb 3, 2013

Cats can be brand loyal to a fault,my guess is your cat let you know in no uncertain terms what it thinks of Sigma.cats tastes usually are expensive, I'd say your cat is Leica fan...

Cats by definition are malicious.

They also have a sense of humor.

lxdude · Feb 3, 2013

madgardener said:
It could have been much worse.

Glad to hear. It only takes transposing two letters for "urination" to become "ruination".

cepwin · Feb 3, 2013

Buy I'm synthetic, the last year of my cat's life he didn't know what a litter box was. (I had to put a plastic over my bed.) Hopefully nothing got inside so you can clean it up without any damage.

stormpetrel · Feb 3, 2013

My cat peed on my mamiya 23 once. She loves camera bags! One day I found her in my 5D bag. She was very close to succeed! Every time she comes in my office I'm VERY suspicious now. I have less problem with my dogs. They only chewed 5 rolls of exposed film last year but at least it does not smell!

cliveh · Feb 3, 2013

madgardener said:
Woke up yesterday to a strange sound and found out that my cat had peed on my 400mm lens. What are my options for repair/cleaning? Fortunately (for both me and my cat) it's a non electronic lens.

Don't know about the options for repair/cleaning, but I think you should attach a GoPro3 to the cats collar and one day it may give you a screen grab that will repay the damage to your lens.

Cat peed on my lens...HELP!

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