jumping on kitchen counter, top of fridge, above cabinets...augh!

londonkat

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Hi!

My 5-month-old female kittens have been with me for a bit over 3 weeks. Over the past week, they have discovered that it's fun to jump up on the kitchen counter, up on the top of the fridge, and then above the kitchen cabinets. Also, they try to jump above the fireplace onto the mantle, up on bookshelves, and knock things down. They do not do it when I am home and/or awake b/c I've said "NO" loudly every time and gotten them down. Now, I catch them coming down from the fridge when I come home. More irritating is the fact that they go up on these high-up places at night and knock things over (which wakes me up).

Due to the design of my apartment, the only place I can close them off is the room next to my bedroom with their litter box and food (it's not a small room, but when they are in there they cry at the door which also keeps me awake).

I am looking for some sort of deterrent idea to keep them from jumping up on things and that will also help me get some sleep!

Thank you in advance!
A tired LondonKat.
 

yayi

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Solution: Cat proof your home.
Cats by nature love to climb, jump, explore and they are most active at night. Just keep all the stuff they are liable to knock down. Don't leave leftover food on the counters. Leave the door open to their "food/litterbox" room. Childproof all cabinets and get them more cat toys!
 

leesestyle

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Originally Posted by EggyToast

You could get something like this:

http://www.ssscat.com/
that ssscat is cool! wow, i could have used that when murphy was a kitten.


i've never found a way to keep murphy off countertops, the dining room table, etc... the best i've ever managed is to be sure there is nothing enticing or fun to play with (or break) on the areas where he roams... if i were you, i'd definitely clear your breakables or things that can be tipped over off the bookshelves for a while. look at it like "babyproofing" your house... but instead of electrical outlets and things near the ground, you need to look UP when thinking about what appeals to a cat because they will climb as high as they can. cat's love enclosed spaces like bookshelves so it's going to be literally impossible to keep your cat off unless that room is closed off. perhaps some fun toys (on the ground) will distract him somewhat but you can pretty much be certain, when you're out (or sleeping) he's going to hit all the places you don't want him to so you just need to protect your pretties until he's a little older...

good luck!

 

cococat

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I would say you should invest in lots of vertical space like cat trees, etc. so the up of the cabinets would be less appealing but it didn't help in my case (I have an adult). I get so mad, it is the most annoying part of having a cat to me, her getting on counters. I have tried everything listed except for sss (thanks!) and scat mats. Those are next on the list.
 

yayi

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Originally Posted by cococat

scat mats. Those are next on the list.
Aren't those suppose to give the cat an electrical shock? I would never use something like that on an animal.
 

ping

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Originally Posted by yayi

Aren't those suppose to give the cat an electrical shock? I would never use something like that on an animal.
No electric shock just a puff of air:

http://www.ssscat.com/english/index.html

Honestly we have thought of this to keep Ping from digging his way into the boys' room. SO far we have not bought one yet.
 

ping

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The one you link seems to be a different brand of mat. The link I posted came from the first site listed. Sure there are others that give a shock but the original one linked does not. It just uses air:

http://www.ssscat.com/english/index.html

It's fast, proven effective and painless
Adjustable angles between detection of motion and direction of spray
Adjustable nozzle position for upward and downward direction of spray
And one more from original linked site:
SSSCAT ™ has two elements: a motion detector and an aerosol can.
 

yayi

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Originally Posted by Ping

The one you link seems to be a different brand of mat. The link I posted came from the first site listed. Sure there are others that give a shock but the original one linked does not. It just uses air:
Yes, I saw and understood about ssscat. I'm just referring to cococat's post about getting the ssscat AND the scat mats. Both are different.
 

ping

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Oh whoops...been a long day and I missed that.
 
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londonkat

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Thank you everyone for your advice thus far!


Before I got these girls, I had a cat for 14 years. She passed away in August (as many of you probably understand, I was very sad for a while). Anyway, when I got these girls, I realized how much I forgot about kitten behavior... my old girl hadn't jumped so high in years! I THOUGHT my apartment was cat-proof before... but it definitely wasn't kitten proof! haha!

I agree that cats should be able to jump up on things, I just don't want them on the counter or the fireplace mantle (they already broke something up there that was a memento from my old cat. I was very sad about that). I don't have THAT much stuff for them to knock down (and I never keep food out anyway).

I have looked into some of those multi-level tree things, but they're quite expensive and I am not sure about their quality. Any ideas about nice ones for a good price?

The links from Catcaregiver gave me the idea of the carpet runners upside-down. That seemes the best option for my "cat-parenting" style. I personally don't want to squirt my kitties b/c I've read about that it causes stress and the potential of other health issues from that stress down the line (plus I can't always be there to catch them, so they'll just be afraid of me, which I don't want). I also probably wouldn't use the ssscat or a scatmat, but thanks for the info anyway. It seemed that the upside-down runners worked last night! yay!

Thank you all again for your advice. I am open to any other suggestions.

-LK

p.s. btw, the kitties have so many toys, when I went to the pet store with my boyfriend the other day, I was going to buy some and he said "they don't NEED any more toys right now!" haha!
 
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