unstoppable super kitten

hannya

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Jazz is just under a year old (we think). He is, for the most part, a great kitten. He is as they told us when we adopted him... all boy. Boy oh boy is he. Energy to no end. Curious. Playful. Mouthy. And adorable!

A few weeks ago (as per a post in health), Jazz jumped ontop of our wood burning stove when it was going and burned his paws very badly. He has recovered very well with some TLC and pain killers. We never even knew he did it. It took some good detective work by our vet to figure it out. We dont ever ever want this to happen again. Or something worse.

But therein lies the problem. Jazz is super cat. Nothing will deter him. Bitter apple? He loves it. Water? Not phazed in the least. Tinfoil? Chews it. Plays with it. Sticky tape? A game! And a good way to groom himself apparently. He isnt startled by shaking a can of rocks, yelling, clapping, scat cat cans, phermone sprays... nothing!

So how do you deter the undeterable cat from destroying himself or the house? His recent adventure is his determination to destroy the vase and flowers I got for V-Day. He succeded in killing the flowers much to hubby's dismay. I know they can't be punished in the conventional sence. And Ive catproofed my house as much as I could. But something has to give! Anyone got any ideas because I am lost and need to find this cat's cryptonite! lol
 

persi & alley

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Originally Posted by hannya

Jazz jumped ontop of our wood burning stove when it was going and burned his paws very badly. He has recovered very well with some TLC and pain killers. We never even knew he did it. It took some good detective work by our vet to figure it out. We dont ever ever want this to happen again.
As far as the stove goes, I wondered the same thing and then somebody here on TCS told me something so simple I could not believe I had not thought of it. Keep unused pots and pans on the stove burners until they cool down. So when you take off a hot pot of food, put an unused cool pot on the burner right away.
 

robertb

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They were talking about a wood burning stove though, which is for heating (think fireplace) and not for cooking. I had the same initial thought, though.
 
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hannya

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I got one of those stove top kettle steamers in the hopes that the steaming would keep them away from it. Ideally the hope is that silly boy learned his lesson the hard way on that one!
 

saya

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I've learned that you can't rely on deterrents, you have to adapt.

as far as the stovetop goes... can you buy a large trivet or multiple trivets for it? This would keep it raised above the top of the stove hopefully enough so they won't get too hot. (assuming your steamy pot doesn't work)

as far as the rest goes...? Well, you can't be there all the time, you can only do your best. childproof your home and keep a laser pointer in your pocket. I use one to distract my kitties when they're being naughty. It's not a cure-all but it'll get him away from your flowers for the moment anyway...
 

abstract

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Sounds like you have a cat just like my three. I wish I could help, but I'm going through the same problems and haven't found a solution yet.

As a side note, my cats actually like that bitter stuff too. I've tasted it, it's disgusting, how could they like it??
 
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hannya

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I'm with ya Abstract! I dont get it at all that stuff is awful lol
Of course, super spazz Jazz loves vegetables too. If i dont put away the produce immediatly after shopping he takes off with the bags and eats it. Its weird seing a cat happily chewing away on brocoli


Good idea about the laser pointer. I know he loves it so maybe I will try that as a distraction and hope he grows up fast lol
 

raskolnikov

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My kitty would do the same things. Kitty didn't have a learning curve, so the only thing I found to work was make it so she couldn't get into too much trouble. All garbage cans are sealed at all times, no fire is ever left unattended, sharp edges are kept away, etc.
 

abstract

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Originally Posted by hannya

I'm with ya Abstract! I dont get it at all that stuff is awful lol
Of course, super spazz Jazz loves vegetables too. If i dont put away the produce immediatly after shopping he takes off with the bags and eats it. Its weird seing a cat happily chewing away on brocoli


Good idea about the laser pointer. I know he loves it so maybe I will try that as a distraction and hope he grows up fast lol
Lol Are you sure our cats aren't from the same litter? Mine will "eat" bread. It's not that she likes it, but I think she likes the smell, so she tears into any loaf of bread unfortunate enough to be left within her reach. She'll nibble on the bread, maybe a bite or two and then be done with it, but of course by the time we find it, it's no longer edible for us. ;p

I've come up with a semi-functioning solution for punishment using the bitter spray. Spraying it on objects and whatnot as a deterrent doesn't do a thing for my cats (or yours, apparently), so I tried squirting the cats themselves with it and it seems to be much more effective. I transferred the stuff into a regular squirt bottle with a "stream" function rather than mist (mist is ineffective for some reason - I think more of it gets in the air than on them and you get a longer range with a stream), and they get a good shot to the side or bottom when they misbehave. It bothers them much more to have to clean that stuff off themselves and generally when I point the bottle in their direction, they get the idea to leave whatever they're messing with alone.
 

calico2222

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If you can get some Boundary spray to spray around the stove that might help. It's made by LambertKay, and it isn't cheap, but that is what we use to keep the cats away from the Christmas tree. It does stink, I will warn you of that, but it starts an avoidance behavior that seems to last. We could only find it at a feed store around here, but you should be able to find it online.

Your cat should grow out of his exploratory phase soon, although I still have a hard time having flowers in the house. My youngest kitties are almost 2 so they have gotten past the "attack" stage but are still in the nibbling stage. It does get better!
 

worriedmommy

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Your Jazz sounds exactly like my Jazz
He is all boy. Anyway, Have you tried doing a search for child safety things? They have guards or just about everything. It would be worth looking at. Good luck.
 
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