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YouTubeHow can I keep my kitty off the counter? He is driving me nuts. I spray him w/ water so now he just knows to run when I turn the corner to come after him. I tried putting tape up there, but after getting tangled up in it, he just waits until its gone (can't keep it there forever) before trying again. What to do?
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Keep cat off counters?
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Bear
The woods
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The pet store should have some tricks you can try. There's some liquid stuff that smells terrible to cats, you could spread that up there for a while... if it really bugs you I once knew someone with a mat underneath the tablecloth that had a wire mesh in it w/a low-grade electrical current that fired every few seconds, not noticeable unless you happened to be standing on it on your bare paws. Just depends on how far you want to escalate.
First, though, I'd try making a loud PSSST! sound before firing the squirt gun -- and always immediately when the cat jumps up on the table. Make the association -- jump-PSSST!-squirt -- as ironclad as possible in the cat's mind. They're brilliant at figuring out when one action follows another one regularly. But if you delay, at all, you're screwed, because the cat won't associate the water with just being up on the table -- has to be jumping on the table that produces that response.
Posted 2 years ago # -
captain janks
south side 4 life
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lol all the cat is gonna do is get up there when you are not home/are sleeping/are in the bathroom/ not looking etc.
the best thing is to realize that you are not in charge in this relationship. the cat is. just let him do whatever he wants.
Posted 2 years ago # -
captain janks
south side 4 life
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lilbit
GV
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The cat shouldn't see you coming with the squirt bottle. Because then, as captain janks says, it will just learn not to get on the countertop while you're around, but will feel free to roll around up there whenever you're not home.
You need to hide, so when the cat gets wet, it doesn't know where it's coming from. It just knows that bad things happen when it gets up on the countertop.
Posted 2 years ago # -
misskitty
Columbus
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Lakee911 wrote >>
Tin foil is no go. He just walked around on it, sniffed it and then started to shred it up. Boy did his eyes get big when I crumpled it up into a ball though. :)try to Add water to the aluminum foil to make the surface of the countertop even more uninviting. If your cat jumps on the countertop and gets water on his feet, along with a sliding surface, he will be discouraged from jumping up.
other then that keep on duty with the water bottle.
being consistent is key.Posted 2 years ago # -
Aunt Madge
Clintonville
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It is interesting that I never had this problem with any of my male cats, only the females. Whenever I would bake or clean, they would have to be right there in the middle of everything. I almost threw in the towel on the issue until I discovered that Miss FeeFee is terrified of fly swatters, so now I just lay one of those on the counter and she stays away. It helps if you at first use the fly swatter on the cat a few times, that way they make the connection and develop the fear ... otherwise they might just walk past the swatter too.
Posted 2 years ago # -
thorne
Clintonville
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http://www.hulu.com/watch/4102/saturday-night-live-dissing-your-dog
I think "Dissing Your Cat" comes out later this year.
Posted 2 years ago # -
lisathewaitress
SoHud
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i think more effective than a spay bottle is the bottled air that you spay your computer keyboard. the sound is very scary to kitties.
And, I know this sounds like a no-brainer, but maker sure there is NOTHING edible on the counter. We couldn't figure out for awhile why our one cat would always hang out on the counter and then we realized that if we left a pan on the stove after dinner, the cat would jump up and treat himself to any remnants in the pan.
Heaven forbid we leave the jar of lard on the counter. oy.
Posted 2 years ago # -
alexs
Limestone bluffs of the Scioto
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+1 on leaving nothing of interest on the counter, that's how I control mice, I bore them with cleanliness.
The cat might just be doing it for the sake of exploring. You could put boxes or something else on the counter so there's no place the cat can jump to. Or maybe a bunch of upside-down bottles that will cause a commotion when the cat knocks them over.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Lakee911
Clintonville (South)
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I've learned the hard way to keep things off the counter. But even if there is nothing to do up there, I don't like him there ... the little paw prints leading away from the sink, stuff like that bother me.
Thanks for the suggestions, folks.
Posted 2 years ago #
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