help with cat discipline. cat has serious behavior problems

[mchelsey]

ok... i've had other cats but none of them have been as hard to stop from jumping on counters and knocking things off shelves and just plain not listening. this is my grandparents cat and i cannot think of another method to help them out with their cat. will not saty of counters or tables and purposely knocks ornaments off shelves. and nothing we have tried has works spay bottles and loud noises don't work. she will sit there look at you and then go right back to whatever she was doing. she likes water so a spray bottle has no effect. even taking her of the counter or shelf does not work she just jumps right back up no matter what you do. for easter dinner she kept wanting to go on the table you would turn your back and she would be right back up there. then when everyone was there having dinner she would go onto the couch and try to jump onto the table with all the food and would just keep trying. locking her in a room only serves to have her throw herself at the door constantly until let out. i'm at a loss of how to stop this behavior.

[Tina B and crew]

First of all knocking her off the counters and hitting her is just plain cruel and will not teach her anything other than to fear her humans who are suppose to be loving and caring for her. Locking her in a room will only serve to frustrate her and may cause other behavioral problems. At 5 months old you have to remember that she is still a kitten and is in active "I want to play with everything" mode. It is expected with a kitten and sometimes patience is the best way to deal with it. When she jumps on the counters or tables you simply remove her, place her on the floor with a firm (not yelling) no. You may have to put breakables away for a while, that's all there is to it. Most cats grow out of this stage, some take longer than others. Make sure she has a cat tree or something she CAN climb on because cats like to be up on things, it's just in their nature. She also may be bored, so make sure she gets plenty of active playtime with her humans.

Another trick I've heard to keeping cats off counters is to put double sided sticky tape on the counters but that often isn't a feasible option. I had a counter jumper once and cut a piece of posterboard roughly the size of the open counters space and put the tape on it (just make sure it's NO heavy duty adhesive like carpet tape) The cat didn't like the feel of the sticky surface and would avoid the counter. Above all patience and firmness, but do stop the yelling, swatting and knocking her off the counters. That will get you nowhere.....

[Traci]

Do you live with the grandparents? Is this part of YOUR responsibility? Are YOU the one who is unnecessarily reprimanding her? If so, please stop it, she's a kitten, and kittens are extremely energetic, curious, and get into mischief. Just as human children do.

Cat-proof the home, just as you would a small toddler.

NO hitting, NO swatting with a newspaper, NO locking her up in a closed room. She needs to expend energy, be able to run, romp, play and exercise.

You need to create a safe, secure, interesting indoor environment for her, which includes your active involvement with her. Provide her safe, fun and interesting toys, a scratching post, a safe cat tree, a safe window (with safe screen) to watch out of, and spend lots of time with her in playtime and activity. Yes, she is demanding of attention, ALL kittens, cats and other pets depend on you for love, attention, bonding, involving yourself in their activities.

[mchelsey]

she does have lots of scratching posts and nd no i don't live with my grandparents but i'm trying to help them out with there cat and give them ideas of how to stop it these are just the methods they've tried and i'm trying to give them other options. and locking her in a room may not be the best idea but seriously what else is there to do if she wont stay off the table when were having dinner? its better than having a cat in our food.

[Tambrey]

"cat hair...its just another condiment"

sorry...could not resist saying that....

have you tried putting double sticky tape on the counters?...
I successfully used a carpet runner to keep mine off the counters....you can get them at WalMart..they are clear and have little bumps on one side...get the longer roll and cut it to fit the countertops...of course, most everything needs to be cleared from them...
you can also put them on the tabletop and tops of any other flat surfaces you do not want the cat to jump onto...

It will be a hassle to put them down and take them up...but after a while, the cat SHOULD learn that those surfaces do not feel good on her feet...

when you use a water bottle, is it on stream or spray?...make sure it is on stream and give her a good squirt in the RUMP...and a sharp firm NO at the same time...

both of these have been great in training my cats...

good luck

[Traci]

Well, they have to be comitted to training her, and NOT with reprimands! Remember, she's just a kitten!

If they aren't committed, or are elderly and don't have patience or not able to do this, maybe they shouldn't have a young kitten.

[mchelsey]

I think their spray bottle is on the mist setting i would have to to find out. i did tell them about the tape method. they wouldn't have to move anything neways since the cat knocks off all ornaments so there gone. i've also been told about somehting called a scat matt im not sure if it would work or not. i've never had problems with the cats i've had they've usually been really good even as kittens. the biggest problem i've ever had was introducing my older cat with a new kitten.

[Tambrey]

they need to set the spray bottle on the thinnest stream they can, so she really feels the squirt to her rump when they get her with it....along with the firm NO!