How to keep a cat from jumping in closet and knocking things down?

[Draco]

Well, one of the two cats (Monet), has a habit now of jumping in the closet in the middle of the night and knocking things down. First it was his treats, I'd wake up to find open bags to treats all over. then it was a tupperware of dry food.. I'd find that to the floor, food scattered everywhere (and I am sure Cassie ate more than she should. and she's on a diet). I'd find my towels and other items fallen IN their litter box.. so I extended the shelfs to prevent anything from going in their box.  This morning I woke up to the sound of a gun shot.. nope, it was a light bulb that he knocked down.. and that was my last straw.I moved everything breakable out of the closet now, all their treats and food in a drawer where they (hopefully) can't get to.

Since I am hearing impaired, I can't hear them at night without my hearing aids.. but man, the light bulb got me up in a split second.. I really thought someone fired a gun in my room! Naturally otherwise, I don't get up and their behavior isn't encouraged with me getting up at night.. they're completely ignored until 8 am when I get up.

I can't shut the door because their litter box is on the bottom. I have no place else for the box at all so I can't move it.

Cats like to climb, and they do enjoy climbing those shelves.. but I have NO space to move anything out. What's in there has to stay.. I am in a very small apartment with limited space.

I don't want to use the Ssscat because of the box, I don't want to deter them away from it. I've closed the door just enough for them to squeeze into their box.. no dice there. I've tried moving heavy items to the front to block their access to the shelves.. no dice. I thought it was da Bird they were going after since it was in the closet.. I moved it and nope.

Does anyone have ideas how I can keep the cats from jumping into the closet?

 

[yayi]

Sorry, but cats love to climb and some make it a game to knock things off shelves. Perhaps you can attach bare shelves on your walls so your cats have other "climbing" alternatives and might ignore the closet altogether (except to nap). 

Also, instead of shelves in the closet, how about converting them to closed "drawers" to store all the stuff your cats might knock down?

 

[Draco]

closed drawers is actually a very good idea. I can see if I can find bins that'd fit in there. Thanks for that!

I can't attach shelves to the wall..1.. no wall space, 2.. its an apartment with very thin, weak walls. Even my pictures fall and they're attached to the studs!

 

[annettek]

Hi Draco;

What you can do for training purposes, is grab a balloon, blow it up, and pop it near the cat. Cats do not like loud noises, and the feline will scurry away to hide. blow up another balloon or 2, and place them into the closet, one on the lowest shelf, and the second on a higher shelf. Once the cat wants to jump onto the shelves, the cat will see the balloons, and will refrain from jumping onto the shelves.

 

[mystik spiral]

Oh my. So besides scaring the cat half to death, you suggest leaving around a popped balloon for the cat to choke on? That is, of course, if the cat ever comes out of hiding again.

 

[levi68]

I think going on a search for some plastic tubs that will act as organizers for your towels etc. This will leave no room for kitties.

There are all kinds of baskets and plastic containers for organizing. Although..I would stick to plastic or they will use the basket weaves

for scratching posts. Been there...done that.  Just make sure you measure your shelves, width and height before you head to the

stores. I would suggest Wal Mart or even a Dollar Store.

 

[yayi]

Hi Draco;

What you can do for training purposes, is grab a balloon, blow it up, and pop it near the cat. Cats do not like loud noises, and the feline will scurry away to hide. blow up another balloon or 2, and place them into the closet, one on the lowest shelf, and the second on a higher shelf. Once the cat wants to jump onto the shelves, the cat will see the balloons, and will refrain from jumping onto the shelves.

Oh my goodness! This way you might end up with a nervous, terrified and probably deaf cat! Sheesh!

 

[melesine]

Hi Draco;

What you can do for training purposes, is grab a balloon, blow it up, and pop it near the cat. Cats do not like loud noises, and the feline will scurry away to hide. blow up another balloon or 2, and place them into the closet, one on the lowest shelf, and the second on a higher shelf. Once the cat wants to jump onto the shelves, the cat will see the balloons, and will refrain from jumping onto the shelves.

I don't think it's a good idea to scare a cat near it's litter box. Next thing we will be reading threads about having litter box problems. 

 

[Draco]

Hi Draco;

What you can do for training purposes, is grab a balloon, blow it up, and pop it near the cat. Cats do not like loud noises, and the feline will scurry away to hide. blow up another balloon or 2, and place them into the closet, one on the lowest shelf, and the second on a higher shelf. Once the cat wants to jump onto the shelves, the cat will see the balloons, and will refrain from jumping onto the shelves.

Nooo.. I could never do that to my cats! Especially when their litter box is in the closet too! Everyone posted in ref to this has valid opinions about this too. Choking hazard, heart/deaf hazard, and fear of all! Nope, can't do.

Instead, I found some nice red cloth storage bins in Big Lots. It fits nicely in the closet, and when I leave the closet a bit open for the cats, it shows the red bins, rather than the towels and other stuff. Makes it look nicer and cleaner too (with a splash of color against the otherwise white wall/doors! I should take a pic). And thus far, working beautifully. Monet did try to climb in, his claws digging into the cloth bin and hoisting himself up, but the bin left no room on top for them to get in and there's no shelf space for them to even get a paw on, so his plans failed and he gave up (hopefully).

When tax refund comes and I get a decent refund I am going to invest in a taller cat tree. They have a short one, but I am seeing their needs for climbing more and more lately, especially for Cassie who loves to jump and climb. I have my eye on a nice one in Pet Smart for around $100.

 

[txcatmom]

Our laundry room has great built in shelves.  However, when we turned our laundry room into a cat room (and put a litterbox in there) we cleared the shelves and surrendered that space to them.  It's hard to give up storage space, but we saw no way to keep them from climbing on the shelves.  They have sat empty for over a year now.  We have shelves in the living room that they climb, but they are safe and breakables are puttied down with poster puddy.  The things we stored in the laundry room weren't safe for them to be climbing around.

 

[nebula]

Hi Draco;

What you can do for training purposes, is grab a balloon, blow it up, and pop it near the cat. Cats do not like loud noises, and the feline will scurry away to hide. blow up another balloon or 2, and place them into the closet, one on the lowest shelf, and the second on a higher shelf. Once the cat wants to jump onto the shelves, the cat will see the balloons, and will refrain from jumping onto the shelves.

Let's scare them, and then when they try to get into their safe place (food, litter, bed, etc) scare them some more-

Balloons are a choking hazard, @ Draco- Please don't listen to annettek's advice!!.