how can I win this battle

Well, I guess I will be posting alot of problems here How can I make my little girlie not to be on the kitchen table everytime I turn my back to her ?
Only she climbes there, neither her brother snowbell nor the big baby muxu climb there, muxu did climb when he was younger, I scolded him a couple of times and didn't do thatt for a long time now. Snowbell didn't even try to go up there, he is lazy Only she is the misfit. The thing is when she seems me coming and I give her that look * get down nowwwww* she flies to the floor But then again, when I go in another room and go back to the kitchen I find her there again.... lying like amodel on the table ! I think I will loose this battle with her..

Wow, your cats are beautiful! I think that as long as your cat sees this as a battle (and she knows it's one), you'll have a problem, especially while she's young, but if you can just suddenly start to ignore her (even if it kills you :-) for a while, and don't leave anything on the table between meals that smells good, she'll find a new 'game', because that one won't be much fun anymore - but you have to be consistent about ignoring it. Maybe you can find somewhere else that's 'up' where she is allowed to go.. she may feel she needs the advantage of height, being small now, most cats do.

Cats are perpetual toddlers. You have to be consistent. If you see her on the table, go and pick her up and say "no", and put her on the floor. You and everyone in the house need to be doing that, each and every time you see her on the table.

Don't be mean and yell or hit or squirt water. Just a stern "no", and moving her away from the area.

It's possible too that she likes the height. I've seen people recommend cat trees so that the cats have a chance to exercise their climbing and be up high where they like to be and feel safe.

My 2 cats have the run of my house. My oldest loves to sleep inside the pots cupboard and she figured out how to open the door to get in there. I've given up on trying to keep her out. I figure it's a place that she finds solitude and it makes her happy, so I can live with it. I have to wash my pots before I cook and after, but that's no big deal to me. Both of my cats love to lay on the table, especially in the summer, because it's glass and I guess is cool for them. I just Windex before people come over, again, not a problem for me.

It's possible that even with consistency and a stern 'no' each time, that your little girl will persist on wanting to be on the table. It might be the one place that she feels is totally her's alone and that she doesn't have to share with any of the other cats, as you say none of them go on the table except for her.

yeah I understand about the height thing, but she goes everywhere, over every furniture.. just to sleep ! I tell you she lays there like a model truly ! She only gets on the table to sleep, it makes me cry and laugh at the same time hehe. I don't know how I can ignore her, she just sees me coming, I see her, I give her that look, she returnes the look back *oh you caught me again yup* and flies off, unbeleivable. The table is always clean, when we sit to eat, she sits on the chair too like waiting for her plate of spaghetti ! But never goes on the table when we're eating.

Natalie - thank you for responding you too. I have 2 kids and 3 cats, and never did hit neither of them They are all my life and joy of life. Anyway she does't give me chance to pick her up, she sprangs off the table, she knows she's doing wrong.
About the cat trees, they are so expensive here in Malta, I would really like one but surely at that price can't afford it. I bought a scratch thing for Lm6, about 20 dollars I think, and it's a small one!
She has many safety places for herself. Her brother Snow usually lies near the shoe cabinet, that's his place, the big one Muxu in my bedroom in his spot but he usually is outside on the roof garden with his girlsfriend

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

If you see her on the table, go and pick her up and say "no", and put her on the floor.

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Actually, that'll get you nowhere. When your cat is being aggravating like that and you pick her up, she learns that the behavior gets attention.

Put double-sided tape on the table. Cats HATE things sticking to their paws. It's not easy to remove but once she gets the picture, you can remove the tape with goo-gone or WD-40.

Squirt bottle works like a charm. Whenever she jumps up, give her a squirt (not in the face). She'll eventually even react to the sight of the bottle being raised.

Make a pie-pan rattler. You know those disposable aluminum pie pans? Put some pennies inside one, cover one with another and staple or crimp them together. When she jumps up, shake it. Cats can't stand the sound.

Many times a squirt bottle has negative effects because the cat begins to associate you with the discomfort of being sprayed with water.

Sometimes you cannot win the battle when it comes to the cat being allowed on furniture. But for the table there is a pretty simple solution. Why not get a cheap table cloth to put over it so that way at least when she goes up there she isn't laying directly on where you eat off of. And she won't damage the table or anything with her claws. And you can just remove it when it is time to et.

thank you lunchbox
she is a bit of a snob, she doesn't like it when my hubby of kids touch her, she's not so affactionate with them. About me, I managed with time to make her feel safe at least with me. Although she not always wants cuddles even from me, but I guess that's how she is. She's a bit of a lonleyer. So I'm thinkin about the spuirting bottle, I don't want to push her away with that, maybe she will become afraid of me cos of the bottle.

So she won the battle then I already made a cheap table cloth on. She will be more comfortable on it too

I let my cats on the kitchen table (as we never ate on it for years and that's where I give them their treats to come in at night ), but not the counters. They have figured out now that they aren't allowed on the table while we're actually using it, because they have learned "no" after all these years .
I accidently stumbled across a solution for the countertop problem and maybe it would help with your table- I bought a cheap "bar stool" that folds up to be put away, but never is . It sits at the end of the counter, and they love to take turns sitting on it while waiting for their treats, or when they are just curious about what I'm doing or what's up there, or sleeping on it during the day. They can see what I'm doing, but they aren't getting scolded for being on the counter.
I think age is also a factor- mine are all 7-13 yrs old, and finally know better and it's just not worth the bother!

With my foster kitten, I just flicked water on her with my fingers (no waterbottle), and gave her a stern "No No!" EVERYTIME, so she didn't associate the water necessarily with me, but with the "no no", and it worked surprisingly well- and she was a very stubborn kitten (hence resorting to the water)!

I have also heard of putting trays (like cookie sheets with short sides, or cafeteria trays...) with water in them all over the table, basically so that anywhere she jumps on the table, she gets her feet wet. That way she does it to herself.

Good luck! I think this is almost impossible to break otherwise, because when you're not there... You have to give her a reason that she doesn't want to be up there .

thank you for the advise, maybe with time she will learn

When I had one and even six cats we had the no table or counter rule. However, in that six cat group was Boo #1. He knew he wasn't supposed to be on the table, but he didn't particularly care about what was "supposed to be"!

I recall one night walking into the kitchen and there was my Boo laying in what I deemed his royal pose and just looked at me like, "What ya gonna do about it, you know I'll get back up when you aren't in here". I just started laughing and said you may as well stay there and be comfortable, neither one of needs the aggravation.

Ever since then the cats have just been able to go wherever they want and I clean counters and tables before use. Now my only "absolute!" is to not have a stinky cat box smelling house and that's on me, so all is well.

They sure train us well, don't they? LOL

Yes, i find a little misting from the spray bottle works wonders with the girls, somtimes all i have to do is shake the bottle and she hopps down

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

They sure train us well, don't they? LOL

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train us, own us, use us lol.... in here it's like i'm their pet do you beleive it? I had to cover all chair cushions, all sofas, remove all shoes from the floor, change curtains, replace carpet, name it and I did it... sometimes they play with my dear plants that I love so much too, and find a mess on the floor but the cats no where to be seen, they are like vanished and I tell the children *oh a ghost must have been messing with the plants* it's either they hide or the kids hiding them for me not to scold them lol. Last time I found all the picture frames on the floor, and god bless my daughter she hid the kitties (she says they are her brother and sister) in the warbrobe and was laughing like mad in her room. Well life without them would be empty indeed.

oh...another thing I have to say. I just went to the vet (most popular here in Malta) I asked about the soft claws thing and they didn't even know about it, it's a disgrace. Even the feliway thing. They just shrugged and said they never heard of it !

ok, i can almost understand the soft paws things as a last resort to a VERY destructive cat.. but personaly... their claws are to much a part of what a cat is... i could NEVER do that to any of my cats.. no madder how my furniture looked ... but in the end.. its better than getting them declawed

I've always had great success with Nathalie_ca's suggestion. Every time the cat jumps on the counter or table, someone (90% of the time it's me) says, "No" calmly and puts the cat gently on the floor. This works if the cat wants to be up high... I've never had a cat who did it for attention. You have to outlast the cat, but it's worth it in the end. The cat gets tired of jumping on the table only to be put on the floor again every time. Then all you have to say is "no" when the cat looks like s/he's going to jump, then they just stop doing it.

In this house we have room for a little table by the bay window and we'd just relocate them to this table. They were pretty fine with that.

Cheers, from
SwampWitch

well as I said I have 3 cats and declawing never passed my mind, I don't like it and i think it's horrible (my opinion anyway). But the soft claws thing it's no a bad idea for an indoor-cat-only. as long as you can take them out they are not permanent and does'nt damage their legs.

Gizmo is told to stay off the animation desk. She is constantly jumping up when she thinks I am not looking and all I have to say is "Down" and she jumps down, thinking I did not see her or know she was there.
She's also not allowed on the dining room table. I know she goes there when I am away. So I wash the table when I get home and tell her No when she tries to go onto it during dinner.

Cats are like little kids. If you don't see them do it, it wasn't done. Of course there is the hair and occasional whisker left behind to show where they have been!