Obedience

senordingdong

We got two kittens a few months ago (June)and basically, they were never disciplined.

I tried but the rest of the family let them away with murder and now it's a problem because we can't stop them doing certain things.

Tabitharose

you need to give more info if you want anyone to advise you.....

senordingdong

Ok, for example, they are not allowed on the kitchen table or the food preperation area.
But they still climb up there.

They are removed when they areseen up there and one of them even runs away when she sees someone goign to take her down because she know's she shouldn't be up there.

How can I stop them doing it in the first place?

Capt'n Midnight

leave orange peels around

Sigma Force

Some people use tin foil to put them off, but cats generally like to jump onto surfaces, they are climbers by nature so a firm no and put them off the table and they might get the hint. Don't leave anything on the surfaces that they would like to eat when your not around. Also a large cat tower/scratcher one they can climb and play on.

Nala

Unfortunately cats are very much creatures of habit which means once they start doing something it can be difficult to get them to stop.

Prevention is better than cure, everyone should have agreed on what the cats are and aren't allowed do but I guess you already know that.

Cats hate the smell of citrus or anything acidic (e.g. nail varnish remover), try leaving some orange peel around. Recognise when the cat is going to do something bold and prevent it from doing so. Cats go by the tone of your voice so if you are telling a cat off be sure to use a firm voice.

A lot of people tend to discourage bad behaviour but ignore good behaviour, which is stupid. If the cat is behaving itself, e.g. sitting quietly, a "good girl!" in a happy voice and a pet on the head works wonders. Cats are quite egotistical so praise works a treat on them. So if Kitty walks into the kitchen, looks about to jump up on the table and you say "NO!" and she walks away, make sure to tell her what a great kitty she is. Some people would simply put the cat out of the room but this method works better.

The trick with cats is to make them see that doing things your way is to their own advantage.

senordingdong

Thanks folks, I'll try that.

senordingdong

Ok, we don't actually have any oranges.

Any other suggestions?

Capt'n Midnight

satsuma's / limes / lemons

Cats, like all north seeking animals, instinctively hate citrus fruits

A water pistol, but spray up so it seems to fall from the ceiling, don't let them see you doing it or they will blame you and not the ceiling, you have to be sneeky.

To parahrase I know said "You can train dogs to do things or behave for food, but a cat will just look at you as if you're stupid."

Cats aren't less clever than dogs, they just don't look up to you as a natural pack leader and you can't motivate them in the same ways. They never bothered inventing can openers, they domesticated one instead.

Nala

It's true. A cat trains its owner a lot faster than the owner trains the cat!

Unlike dogs, they see us as equals at best. Dogs will look up to you.

Capt'n Midnight

Nala wrote:

Unlike dogs, they see us as equals at best. Dogs will look up to you.

Actually it's more a case of

Sir Winston Churchill wrote:

"Dogs look up to you. Cats look down on you. Give me a pig. He just looks you in the eye and treats you like an equal."

BolBill

Consider this a warning.

luckat

Cats are very trainable, and they like training games.

But your problem here isn't training the cats, it's training the family. Change your aim and you'll solve the problem.

senordingdong

Change my aim to what?

luckat

Change your aim to training your family. Perhaps start with "Sit!" (give suitable rewards), and move on to "Leave it!"

When this is accomplished, you could try training "Move cats off surfaces!"

MrSinn

Put a rothweiler up on the food prep area and move the table closer so the rothweiler can guard that too

luckat

Karen Pryor talks about this on this page:

http://www.clickertraining.com/karen/letters/index.htm?loaditem=karen_letters_2k5&itemnumber=3

It's down a bit, search for "kitchen counter" (without the quotes) and you'll get to it.

WhiteWashMan

to be honest, unless you can create an environment where the cat wont go (such as using the citrus trick), then cats will do pretty much as they please.

its why i love cats

senordingdong

I tried leaving orange peels around, but the genius just navigated around them.

WhiteWashMan

senordingdong wrote:

I tried leaving orange peels around, but the genius just navigated around them.

rofl.

crafty animal

Capt'n Midnight

It's dead easy to train cats - google for pawsense :v:

senordingdong

That was no help at all.

Capt'n Midnight

senordingdong wrote:

That was no help at all.

It should give you some idea of the level of difficulty involved if people are willing to part with money for that particular product.

senordingdong

Ok, but I'm not trying to protect my computer from them.