Someone Is Teaching Our Cat Bad Habits

[voyager]

It has been over a year since the eruption and volcanic gasses ended here.
Our vegetation has almost recovered and life has pretty much returned to normal here in Paradise, almost.

When I first brought our cats back home from the evacuation they were surprised and ecstatic at being returned.
Within a very short time they were again acclimated.

To reiterate, we have 2 black neutered sibling toms that will be 3 years old the coming New Years.
They are as different from each other as night and day, personality and physically.
They only have their color, black, in common.
Hunter, now called Tubby, is the reclusive, stay at home, 'fraidy cat, a compulsive eater who's turning to fat.
Hence, his present name, Tubby.
He is the stay at home lap cat.
He is much larger and heavier than his brother Dexter, now called Doodle because he just doodles around all the time.

Doodle is the adventurous one.
He's always gone, hardly eats, and comes in late for breakfast every morning.
He also makes friends very easily.
We get comments from neighbors about how sweet and friendly he is.

Our cats were raised as outdoor cats.
They were intended to be raters.
they have evolved to be indoor/outdoor cats, as they feel at the moment.
Plus, the doors are always open on our house, except for the bedroom door. because
They come in at 4 or 5am to wake us up.
It's time for cats to be up and around playing and eating.
We should be up too, or so they think.

Tubby, the stay at home, is a klutz.
He has trouble catching his tail, has never learned to stalk and has a very high failure rate for catches.

Doodle on the other hand is always bringing rats and birds home.
The problem is that I'm constantly catching live birds or killing live rats in the house.
He's constantly bringing them home for us because we're pretty poor hunter, Gail and I.
Gail feeds them so much that Doodle is not hungry enough to need to kill and eat any of his catches.

We made certain that our cats never associated the kitchen with food.
Tubby still avoids the kitchen mostly, while Doodle now takes up residence in the kitchen whenever one of us is in there.
Doodle now follows us around poking his head into cupboards, and refrigerator begging all the while.
He lays in the middle of the floor, under foot all the time were in the kitchen now.
Gail dropped a small piece of spinach on the floor.
Doodle grabbed it and ate it before he realized what it was.
He's now a kitchen hunter.

Tubby NEVER climbs on the counters.
I've had to smack Doodle off the counters several times lately.
I've even caught him with his head in a bowl of shrimp on the counter, smacked him off the counter and kicked him out of the kitchen in a quick one-two punch.

This has all started recently, and only with Doodle.
I'm convinced Dood is being spoiled by his neighborhood friends when he visits them.

I'm lost as to what to do about it, and how to break his new bad habits.

PS
Keep in mind that our cats are not afraid of me in any way.
When I use the terms to slap or kick the cat, they never get hurt, but do register that they have displeased me.
Not that it makes any difference to them.

 

[kittychick]

I'm glad to hear you were able to return home - - and that in your area, volcanic activity has at least reduced enough to allow you to return safely! And good for you that you were able to bring your kitties home too!

Now to try to curb the behaviors you're not fond of. I know that no matter how much you love them, turning around behavior you'd rather not happen can be frustrating.

But I think with a few notes that might help you think differently about a few things, your relationship with them, and their relationship with your home, can become much more pleasant for all.

As far as their interaction with "wild things" - - - like ratting, and bringing in "gifts" you'd rather exchange. Not all cats are ratters/mousers/etc. While some of that type of behavior is "built in" to their DNA, alot of studies have shown that cats raised without mothers who taught them to "rat" (or mouse) means they're far less likely to be able to consistently do that. For many cats, that's a "learned" behavior (again - there are always exceptions - some do learn from mom and some from watching others. But if mom doesn't teach them, it's far less likely they'll do so consistently.

As far as the "gifts" - the only true way to break that is to keep them indoors and keep them busy, stimulating the hunting/catching/playing/pouncing/gifting part of them with toys that mimic that. Including interactive toys that you control - like "Da Bird" (feathers on a fishing-style wand that behaves like a real bird - - it really brings out the hunter and leaper in your cat, and can go a long way towards wearing them out! The "Cat Dancer" (a piano wire with cardboard ties at the end - dopey, but they love it!) is another that they love to follow, leap for, pounce on - - in other words, amuse the human and wear out the kitty! Other things that can be done to stimulate them inside are tunnels, "wack a mole" type toys, etc. Anything to keep them moving and wearing them out helps. Then they have less desire to go out, meaning fewer "gifts" inside!

As far as keeping them off the counter and other undesirable behavior, know that cats don't register punishment like humans do. For them, it's confusing. Even if done immediately after or during the event you consider punishable - they have trouble linking the action with your reaction. They understand you're mad or upset - - but they don't know why. 99% of the time the only result (particularly if it happens periodically over time) is that they come to fear you or become angry and scared. Which obviously isn't what you want, as you love these guys! Hitting and kicking in particular can do both mental and physical damage - - -even if you don't mean to. Plus, since it appears you love these guys, teaching them to fear you is obviously the last thing you want to do!!!!!!!

One of the best ways we've found that works best to keep cats off of counters (and lots of people may weigh in and suggest other options) is to make the counters (or whatever they're jumping on that you don't want them to) far less desirable. Deterrents work MUCH better than punishment or yelling. We utilize wide clear packing tape. You place it on the counters - - parallel to the edge, along the edge of the countertop (prob at least two-three strips). Make the strip as long as the counter area you want them not to jump onto. oll the ends into loops, and place it sticky side up on the counter top. Make sure you go around the whole perimeter of the countertop - - and when they jump onto it, they so detest the stickiness, they jump down immediately. Voila! No punishment they associate with you - AND the counter's far less desirable! This works for tables, TV trays, etc. Some people also utilize "Scat Mats" - which send out a very low voltage jolt when the cat jumps on it (always test the voltage on your own hand or arm first - - if it's painful to you, it's painful to them! All you're looking for is deterring - - not pain). I've found they're expensive - - and even though I always used very low voltage and tested up, but it still made me uneasy.

Hopefully those suggestions helped some! Keep us posted on how you're all doing together.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Well, kittychick beat me to ALL of the advice I had for you, right down the line!

I will say this. Hekitty (my cat) and I have been working very hard on her "jumping on the counter" issues, and for several months. I'm very happy to report that it no longer bothers me at all, and I automatically cover all food when I step away from the kitchen.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Experts agree -- NEVER hit or kick a cat! I am outraged to read even the explanation.
And keeping food in refrigerator or cupboards means your cat will not have any reason to jump on the counters.

 

[kittychick]

Hope you will keep us updated as to your progress with your two. I really have faith you can solve your issues without anger towards them.

I know that often physical punishment is used because it's how what our parents did (mine did it with with cats, dogs, AND kids) and is a learned issue passed down through generations. It's the type of punishment that was far more acceptable in previous generations. And it's funny how that changes and evolves in generations following.

I wanted to tell you a little tale that happened to us and has been a HUGE reminder why it's up to us humans to keep kitties offf the counters - - largely by giving them no reason to even go there in the first place. Our current 3 indoor kitties never (or VIRTUALLY never) get up on countertops (and one is an ex-feral!!!!!!!!!!), so we've gotten a bit lazy about leaving things up there.

But recently, hubby got KFC (which we hadn't had in years!), and he put our plates on the counter when we were done, knowing we'd put them in the dishwasher soon as there was a timeout in the game we were watching. We never even heard Flick jump up to the counter. Suddenly, she's in the family room with us, and she'd eaten not only the meat and skin, but ⅔ of the thigh bone itself!!! Before I could get it away - she cried in pain and started pawing desperately at her mouth, which, terrifyingly, was now stuck fully open!!!!!! Hubby called the vet and asked him to meet us, and I tried to her mouth a bit to see if I could remove something. We also realized only a piece of thigh bone the size of a quarter was left! I frantically looked in her mouth (expecting to see a bone rammed through her palette) but saw nothing. As we rushed to the vet, her breathing slowed --she was dying as we watched! But right as we pulled into the vets', her mouth suddenly closed, and she relaxed a bit. A thorough exam revealed she was fine (vet thought she'd dislocated her jaw chewing the bones), but we were still sweating for over 24 hours, as we had to watch her even in the letterbox in case a bone hadn't been chewed well - as it could pierce her intestines.

In the end, Flick was fine. But it reminded us that leaving ANYTHING yummy on the counter was virtually begging a kitty to come up there (hey - if hubby left a creme brulee on the counter, I know I couldn't be responsible for MY actions!). So after that, we went back to tape on the counters, and leaving NOTHING out. Thankfully - - - no repeat of "the thigh bone incident." But it certainly reminded me that we can't watch the counter 24/7, so food no longer can be on the counter, uncovered!!!!!

Hopefully that little tale (of panic on our part!) will remind you why it's better to deter rather than to punish after, AND why leaving nothing out to tempt is the better choice all around!!!!!!!!

(And little Flick agrees!)

 

[Furballsmom]

smacked him off the counter and kicked him out of the kitchen in a quick one-two punch.

This doesn't help anything.

do register that they have displeased me.

What registers is confusion.

Take a look at the booby-trapping section of this article;
How To Keep Cats Off Counters And Tables

 

[tarasgirl06]

Furballsmom BIGTIME. You, too, kittychick . It is SO easy to keep things picked up and put away. It is TOO easy to blame a cat for something that is a human's responsibility or lack thereof.

 

[ArtNJ]

Even older cats pick up new behaviors now and then, so you may be blaming your neighbors for something that happened randomly. So you could potentially have success from any of the normal tactics people try. That said, if a cat is indeed getting fed on someone else's counters, that is definitely going to up the difficulty of your training task to a probably substantial degree. Since this might be a really difficult training issue, you might want to just skip to the pain-in-the-neck booby trapping thing recommended above, people have reported it works.