I have cats who like to chew. One or both have messed up two CPAP hoses and a speaker wire. Why weren't they banned? idiots. Here's what I did. First I cut off a foot of the coil and soaked it in a glass of vinegar. Then I tried to get the cats to play with him because I can be even dumber than them. (See my review of the replacement CPAP hose). You don't want to harm that coil after it's been soaked in vinegar. Finding it unwise to soak the speaker wire in vinegar, I poured some white vinegar on my hand and smeared it down the length of the spool. Here Kitty Kitty. No? Don't want to play? I can't imagine why not. PS If you cover a very thin wire, it can often jump out of the spool, which is very annoying. I wrapped a small piece of tape around the spool at 12 inch intervals. Save yourself the hassle and hour it took me to figure it out. PPS I have not used this reel on my CPAP hose - it is too small. I was just showing how nervous my cats are.