Hi! IMO you are lucky that cat is really cool and is not interested in jumping on the turntable . I have a gang of them here as my owners and one of them, who looks like a twin brother of yours, is always interested in the equipment. My rack is fully enclosed with sliding glass panes to protect the system. Even with then Tabby tries to jump in when I open the pane to change the record or flip the side.
Hi, I have three black cats (if you have more than one then it negates the hazard of having one cross your path - right ). They all love music, but will not leave the TTs alone. So I can only do digital stuff when they are loose. BTW they are really great at helping me in the work shop with my projects. They really go for 1/2 and 1 watt resistors.