Cat dumps cups all the time!!!

BlueRaccoon

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 29, 2019
Messages
57
Purraise
54
Location
Virginia
My 1 year old male cat constantly knocks our cups over. I have stopped him and told him no, but he seems to be getting worse. I'm constantly cleaning water up. Sometimes he acts like he is trying to see under the cup. There isn't anything there, and the cups are not clear. Any tips? He's driving me crazy!
 

LTS3

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
19,209
Purraise
19,695
Location
USA
Some cats love to play with water. A pet water fountain might work to keep the cat (mostly) away from cups.

Maybe use water bottles or mugs with lids instead of regular cups to minimize clean up.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

BlueRaccoon

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 29, 2019
Messages
57
Purraise
54
Location
Virginia
LTS3 LTS3 , he does like water! He tries to get in the shower, but the problem is he gets ear infections, and I don't know if the water is causing it.
 

Texaskitty

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Oct 4, 2019
Messages
246
Purraise
1,018
Our kitties are like that too! I can't keep a glass of water on the bedside table during the night or they knock it over. Have to use bottled water with the lid on tight.
 

fionasmom

Moderator
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
Jun 21, 2014
Messages
13,119
Purraise
17,353
Location
Los Angeles
I have a cat who puts her foot in the water bowl when she is drinking and then shakes it like crazy all over the kitchen. Cats are funny.
 

Jemima Lucca

Forever a feline fan💕
Super Cat
Joined
Oct 23, 2019
Messages
956
Purraise
2,139
Location
Bend Oregon
I don’t know if I heard it here or not; but do you know how we know that the earths not flat? Because if it were, cats would have knocked everything off 😂🤣😅🌎
 

Xraystyle

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Feb 4, 2020
Messages
634
Purraise
1,818
Location
Seoul
The first day I had Puar he knocked all of my figures off the loft railing (breaking the foot off of one), knocked all of the medals off of my hanging medal rack, and pushed a potted plant off a bookcase (and returning him wasn't an option as his previous owner was leaving the country LOL) Now that I've secured things, I give him set things that I'm ok with him knocking over. Empty plastic bottles, cardboard tubes, containers that I know won't break...instead of training the cat not to do it, it can be a lot easier to train yourself not to leave cups and things on counters/tables, lol. 🤷‍♀️

It's attention seeking behavior so reacting to your cat at all, even if it's negative, encourages them to keep doing it. Leaving out the dummy stuff has helped a bit for me. He satisfies his primordial urge to knock stuff to the ground, and I don't stress out because it was nothing that needed to be on the flat top anyway.

Sometimes I fantasize about what it would be like to live with guys I have a crush on, but now when I see an instagram pic of their place and I see all the stuff they have just sitting on counters I'm like: IT WOULD NEVER WORK. :lol:
 

Caspers Human

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 23, 2016
Messages
2,693
Purraise
4,703
Location
Pennsylvania
Yup! Cats like to knock things over!


It's partly because cats are predators and like to "kill" things. Domestic cats don't have as many prey animals to kill so they take out their prey drive on inanimate objects. They also do it for attention from their humans. They get reinforcement when their humans react to the things they do. They also do it because it's fun to watch things fall. Cats' vision is keyed on movement. Things that move, fall, bounce, splatter and break are visually interesting to a cat.

If there are things that you don't want your cat to knock over, put them in a place where they can't get knocked over and damaged. You can also use "museum wax" to hold things onto shelves.


Museums use wax to hold valuable items onto shelves to keep them from falling and getting damaged. Some people in earthquake prone areas use wax to hold things onto shelves during temblors, too. I think you can find it at Home Depot, etc. Why not use it for keeping your cat from knocking things over, as well?

After a while, if your cat can't easily knock a thing over, it will probably lose interest and stop trying.

There is a picture on our living room wall, right next to Casper's cat tree. He used to like to climb up and try to pull the picture off the wall. We don't know why. Maybe he thought it was like a cabinet door. Casper likes to spelunk the kitchen cabinets. Maybe he thought it was a door to a new cabinet for him to explore. I don't really know...

Anyhow, we used some Velcro tabs to hold the picture to the wall so Casper couldn't get at it. After a few days, Casper stopped trying to pull the picture down. It's been months since we put Velcro on that picture. Casper virtually ignores it, now.

I venture to say that, if you put museum wax or something similar on your valuable items that you don't want your cat to knock over, your cat will lose interest in them.s

If he knocks over your water glasses, try to be as non-reactive as possible. Keep them away from the edges of the table. Try to make them as difficult as possible to knock over. If he sees that he can get a rise out of you, that will reinforce the behavior and he'll do it more. If he does some action and finds out that the results are boring, he'll stop doing it.
 
Top