Jumping on Counters and Furniture |
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All cats enjoy resting in elevated places and sitting in window sills. Before bringing your new kitten home, select several
acceptable elevated areas around your house that you will allow your cat to use as resting places. At least one of these spots
should provide a view of the outdoors. After your cat has been with you for a few days, he will begin to "choose" his own favorite
resting areas. Whenever he uses areas that are acceptable to you, reward him with petting, praise, and food treats. When you see
him resting in an area that is unacceptable to you, simply remove him and place him in one of the areas that will be designated
as his own. Make off-limits spots unappealing to your cat by placing double-sided tape or inverted plastic carpet runners on the area.
With time, the presence of his scent in the acceptable areas and your reinforcement at these spots will condition him to choose
these elevated areas as his own!
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Helpful Tip! |
| Keeping Your Cat Off of Kitchen Counters |
Even with persistent training, some cats will still insist on jumping onto
kitchen counters or using pieces of furniture that are considered
off-limits. In these cases, the use of environmental corrections can be effective. There are some tips:
- Examples of environmental corrections include placing tin cans containing marbles in the area so that they will rattle
and startle the cat when he jumps up, or placing cellophane paper or tin foil over the designated spot. The smell of citrus
is aversive to cats and can be sprayed around the off-limits area as a deterrent
- Whenever environmental corrections are used, you must still continue to show your cat appropriate places to lay and to
provide plenty of praise and petting whenever the cat voluntarily uses those areas.
- Ambushing your cat with a spray of water from a spray bottle may appear to work (because the cat runs away), but most cats
quickly learn that the spray is associated with your presence. At worst, this can cause your cat to fear you and at best it
teaches your cat to stay off of the counter only when you are present.
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