Carol, don't forget dog pee, either. But regards to cats, on two occasions I was called to service and appraise organs. It both homes, when you walked in the front door, you would have sworn you just walked into a public restroom that didn't have any deodorizer and hadn't been cleaned for months. I advised both that the instruments were ruined as the uric acid permeating the air had done its work. I am a cat lover, my wife, Pat, and I have FIVE. And you can walk into our house any time and never guess we have 5 plus a dog. Ken Gerler > I don't think it's a good idea to give anyone the picture that cats and > pianos mix. This is the time of year when many people working in the piano > business are especially overtired, oversheduled, working their last nerves, > and could care less if they ever saw another piano or customer, so this > little story, although it seemed hillarious at the time, might not sound so > funny if you are a cat person. > > I was working for a large piano retailer and business was gangbusters > during this holiday season. People of all descriptions were buying pianos - > I swear some of them thought they were stereo systems with strings! Anyway > this lady had just taken delivery of a baby grand piano, and the movers had > just left. Suddenly she hears her cat squalling because its foot is caught > in the bass strings! She calls the customer service department and our > receptionist just lost it! She was laughing so hard trying to page a > technician. You could hear this cat in the background over the speaker > phone, and the lady was in such a panic. The whole service department was > in stitches while this poor woman was hysterical - and the cat kept howling > in the background! Finally, someone had the presence of mind to tell her to > get a wooden spoon and pry the strings apart to get her cat's foot from > between the strings. > > I doubt you will get many positive responses from piano technicians about > pictures of kittys on pianos. Many of us have the experience of removing > cat pee from the knees of our pants due to working on pedal lyres on carpets > in kitty homes. And the list goes on.... > > Carol Beigel
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