Posted: 1/2/2017 1:30:26 PM EDT
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My roommate got a kitten, the cat lives upstairs with him because my girlfriend is allergic to cats, the cat is supposed to stay upstairs and we have a baby gate at the base of the stairs to keep his cat (and the other roommate's cat who is not a problem) upstairs and my dog downstairs.
Of course, the kitten has no real problem jumping the gate, and while she can be chased back upstairs with a spray bottle, she hasn't been dissuaded from coming down. Naturally my dog and the kitten get along perfectly well and are best friends, but lately the kitten has come down and gotten on the kitchen counter and table to knock things down onto the floor where she and my dog can play with them. This has included numerous food items, recently a bag of chocolate chip cookies and this morning some Reese's cups. Is there any way I can break the cat of this habit? Make her afraid of coming down here? I've had enough of cleaning up chocolate dog poop/puke and take out containers. |
nope you don't understand
 Cats Being Jerks Compilation NEW |
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So instead of trying to train the cat I should try and train my girlfriend? That doesn't seem any easier. Quoted:
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Don't leave stuff on the counters. Kittens get into everything. Everything. Put up a door from the up stairs. A little gate is useless. So instead of trying to train the cat I should try and train my girlfriend? That doesn't seem any easier. You don't train cats, they train you. |
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Quoted:
So instead of trying to train the cat I should try and train my girlfriend? That doesn't seem any easier. Quoted:
Quoted:
Don't leave stuff on the counters. Kittens get into everything. Everything. Put up a door from the up stairs. A little gate is useless. So instead of trying to train the cat I should try and train my girlfriend? That doesn't seem any easier. Some cats you can spray them down soaking wet and it won't do a damn thing. Look up willful in the dictionary and there will be a picture of a cat. I remember seeing a video of a couple game reserve people releasing a panther out of a cage in the back of a pickup in Africa. One of the people was poking the cat with something and when the cat came out of the cage, it specifically went around to the poking dudes window and crawled half way inside and clawed the shit out of him. His screams were a sign not to poke kitty. |
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I don't even like cats, it's my roommates cat. Guess I could get a new roommate, but this dude has been my friend since middle school. |
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First off there is no point in ever being angry with the kitten. And no I didn't say you were it doesn't come across that way. Kittens are just curious and mobile. Tough to restrain.
If you keep that spray bottle handy and spray her every time you see her on the counter or downstairs eventually she'll get tired of it. In fact eventually just shaking the spray bottle works. And despite naysayers you CAN train a cat. it just isn't as simple as with a dog. They aren't doing it to make you happy like a dog does, they are changing behavior to make them happy. Counters are actually easy to protect. Get some heavy cardboard or wood or whatever and put two sided tape on them. Line the counter top with it. Cat jumps up and doesn't like sticky surface and jumps down. After a few trips up and down eventually it correlates counters with sticky and stops. Of course it will find other things to do that will be mildly annoying. Have fun. 
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Two things to remember when dealing with cats:
1. You cannot police their activity 24/7 without locking them in a room. And once they go somewhere or get away with doing something, breaking them of it is very difficult. 2. Cats are the kings of negative reinforcement. They will do things just to get a rise out of you. The best way to stop a cat from doing something you dislike is to either ignore them or completely remove their ability to do the thing (close doors, put away everything, open cabinets they want into, etc.) Cats will quickly tire of their antics if there is no "payoff"... but it means they will go looking for something else to do. I've found the best way to keep cats in line is to eliminate the things they mess with and to play with them for a good half hour a day to burn off all that nervous cat energy. A tired cat is a well behaved cat... because it will be curled up in a ball on the bed sleeping rather than pushing cups off counters. Squirt bottles and the like are short term solutions. Cats quickly learn that the squirt bottle can only make them slightly wet, and they will learn to "take a hit" in order to misbehave. |
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Kittens need to be played with, a lot. If the little dude is his own mini herd, someone needs to put in the effort to simulate crowd fun. Laser pointers, fish toys on strings... The little dude would have a blast.
P.S. most people who say theyre allergic to cats aren't allergic after spending a few weeks or months with them.. |
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Some cats you can spray them down soaking wet and it won't do a damn thing. Look up willful in the dictionary and there will be a picture of a cat. I remember seeing a video of a couple game reserve people releasing a panther out of a cage in the back of a pickup in Africa. One of the people was poking the cat with something and when the cat came out of the cage, it specifically went around to the poking dudes window and crawled half way inside and clawed the shit out of him. His screams were a sign not to poke kitty.  Don't Poke an Angry Leopard with a Stick |
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Kittens need to be played with, a lot. If the little dude is his own mini herd, someone needs to put in the effort to simulate crowd fun. Laser pointers, fish toys on strings... The little dude would have a blast. P.S. most people who say theyre allergic to cats aren't allergic after spending a few weeks or months with them.. This in red. Knowing cat's law, the thing is going to take a liking to her the most. Then she'll end up taking a liking to it. |
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I've had 2 different cats at different times that liked to jump up on the kitchen table. We had an aerosol air horn for when we saw a cat on the table or about to jump on the table.
I got one of those cheap battery powered motion detectors that you arm with a remote, and it has a siren when it's tripped. I put it on the table and armed it at night. Cat jumps on table and trips the alarm. Cats don't like loud noises, and IIRC only 3-5 horn/siren incidents and both of those cats forgot about ever getting up on the table. |
| Ssscat motion activated sprayer. Cats are dicks, if you spray them, they will resent you for it. This is motion activated. They do not like it. They do not associate you with it. Only that they get sprayed when they near the area you don't want them. Works great. I don't even arm it anymore... Its presence is enough to deter my asshole cat. |
| We had a problem with one of our cats scratching at the bedroom door over and over. Even spraying her in the face with a water bottle when she did it was only a very temporary deterrent. She also can hear your foot touch the carpet and run away. We bought one of these and she only had to step on it once. Scat Mat There are many different models available on amazon now. |
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Two sided tape is the answer you seek. Line the edge of the counter for a week or two. Kitties hate sticky stuff on their feet.
Cats aren't stupid. If they get wet every time your around and they jump on the counter, they don't associate the bad thing with the counter. They associate the bad thing with you. I promise the cat has checked out the counter when your not there. The added benefit of the two sided tape is that you don't have to be there for it to work. Also just fyi not all cats hate water. Some do, some couldn't care less, some love it. My ex's cat would take showers with me. |
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Quoted:
We had a problem with one of our cats scratching at the bedroom door over and over. Even spraying her in the face with a water bottle when she did it was only a very temporary deterrent. She also can hear your foot touch the carpet and run away. We bought one of these and she only had to step on it once. Scat Mat There are many different models available on amazon now. |
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Quoted:
We had a problem with one of our cats scratching at the bedroom door over and over. Even spraying her in the face with a water bottle when she did it was only a very temporary deterrent. She also can hear your foot touch the carpet and run away. We bought one of these and she only had to step on it once. Scat Mat There are many different models available on amazon now. Just saw one of these at my buddies house today. Cat doesn't jump on the counter any more...lol. |
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You either get rid of the cat or get rid of the roommate. There's no way to train the cat. They'll just learn to not get caught... say that to the cat whisperers at the cat circus 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODKNlhVW_GU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mfUJTF5zYI |
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Packing tape. The kind that comes on the 2"rolls. Tear several long strips off and place them sticky side up overlapping an area you dont want the cat to go. They get tangled up in it and hate it. Aside from a few lost hairs it wont hurt them, just scares them and they hate the crinkling stickness and after a few times they learn to avoid that area. Plus its sadistically fun as fuck to see them sprinting around n a cat panic with a two foot streamer of tape stuck to their tail.
ETA in response to the post above, cats train just fine, just differently than dogs. |