Wife had to have one, but I can't keep it off the countertops when I'm not home. It knows better when we're home, it gets sprayed with a squirt bottle.
I'm thinking electrified grid placed on countertops, or tape sticky side up. What a PITA cats are. Stinkin filthy animals walking thru the litterbox then onto the counters. This has got to stop.
Let's hear it.
_______________________________________________________ An 8 dollar driveway boy living in a T-111 shack
"Camping places fix themselves in your mind as if you had spent long periods of your life in them. You will remember a curve of your wagon track in the grass of the plain like the features of a friend." Isak Dinesen
Roy, The water bottle technique is typically a great way to train cats to stay off the counter. Some people make the mistake of yelling or otherwise raising their voices at the cat while they are using the bottle. By doing this, they only allow the cat to associate that it is you vs. the water bottle that they need to avoid.
In other words, if you are not there, they feel safe to continue to the behavior. A better way is to use a high powered squirt bottle on the cat every time it's on the counter. Don't say anything [as difficult as it is] or otherwise draw attention to yourself. Give the cat a good dose of water in the head each time. Most cats hate water.
I assume there is nothing on the counters to attract them. If the wife is giving treats, she needs to only give them in places you want them to be. Cats love towels, papers, and other items to sit on where they feel safe. Typically, this is an area that is higher off the floor.
Make sure they have a place in the house they enjoy....by a window, on top of a cat tree, on top of an appliance or dresser. Somewhere that they have their own place. Try catnip as an incentive.
Be patient. They are great pets with fun personalities. In time, they will win your heart! PM me if you continue to have issues with this. ~Sherri
Roy, The water bottle technique is typically a great way to train cats to stay off the counter. Some people make the mistake of yelling or otherwise raising their voices at the cat while they are using the bottle. By doing this, they only allow the cat to associate that it is you vs. the water bottle that they need to avoid.
In other words, if you are not there, they feel safe to continue to the behavior. A better way is to use a high powered squirt bottle on the cat every time it's on the counter. Don't say anything [as difficult as it is] or otherwise draw attention to yourself. Give the cat a good dose of water in the head each time. Most cats hate water.
I assume there is nothing on the counters to attract them. If the wife is giving treats, she needs to only give them in places you want them to be. Cats love towels, papers, and other items to sit on where they feel safe. Typically, this is an area that is higher off the floor.
Make sure they have a place in the house they enjoy....by a window, on top of a cat tree, on top of an appliance or dresser. Somewhere that they have their own place. Try catnip as an incentive.
Be patient. They are great pets with fun personalities. In time, they will win your heart! PM me if you continue to have issues with this. ~Sherri
you can't make stuff like this up..
Originally Posted by captain seafire
I replace valve cover gaskets every 50K, if they don't need them sooner...
Cats typically dislike COLD water, not water per se.
Angel's advice is sound. Remember that cats like elevated perches, and countertops are often the highest places in an average home. If you don't already have a cat tree, get one. Your cat should be drawn to the cat tree's height and may abandon the countertop for the higher cat tree. During the transition process, use the squirt bottle technique.
Roy, The water bottle technique is typically a great way to train cats to stay off the counter. Some people make the mistake of yelling or otherwise raising their voices at the cat while they are using the bottle. By doing this, they only allow the cat to associate that it is you vs. the water bottle that they need to avoid.
In other words, if you are not there, they feel safe to continue to the behavior. A better way is to use a high powered squirt bottle on the cat every time it's on the counter. Don't say anything [as difficult as it is] or otherwise draw attention to yourself. Give the cat a good dose of water in the head each time. Most cats hate water.
I assume there is nothing on the counters to attract them. If the wife is giving treats, she needs to only give them in places you want them to be. Cats love towels, papers, and other items to sit on where they feel safe. Typically, this is an area that is higher off the floor.
Make sure they have a place in the house they enjoy....by a window, on top of a cat tree, on top of an appliance or dresser. Somewhere that they have their own place. Try catnip as an incentive.
Be patient. They are great pets with fun personalities. In time, they will win your heart! PM me if you continue to have issues with this. ~Sherri
you can't make stuff like this up..
I'm sure the OP found your post helpful. Sorry it didn't meet your standards.
Roy, The water bottle technique is typically a great way to train cats to stay off the counter. Some people make the mistake of yelling or otherwise raising their voices at the cat while they are using the bottle. By doing this, they only allow the cat to associate that it is you vs. the water bottle that they need to avoid.
In other words, if you are not there, they feel safe to continue to the behavior. A better way is to use a high powered squirt bottle on the cat every time it's on the counter. Don't say anything [as difficult as it is] or otherwise draw attention to yourself. Give the cat a good dose of water in the head each time. Most cats hate water.
I assume there is nothing on the counters to attract them. If the wife is giving treats, she needs to only give them in places you want them to be. Cats love towels, papers, and other items to sit on where they feel safe. Typically, this is an area that is higher off the floor.
Make sure they have a place in the house they enjoy....by a window, on top of a cat tree, on top of an appliance or dresser. Somewhere that they have their own place. Try catnip as an incentive.
Be patient. They are great pets with fun personalities. In time, they will win your heart! PM me if you continue to have issues with this. ~Sherri
you can't make stuff like this up..
I'm sure the OP found your post helpful. Sorry it didn't meet your standards.
The other trick I have heard of is putting mouse traps on top of the counter, then covering with newspaper. The cat walks across, enjoying the noise then snap! - it is startled but unharmed. Only a couple of snaps and it starts avoiding the counters.
Get divorced. Then you won't have a house with countertops to worry about. You also won't have a wife who brings chit into the house against your wishes, leaving you free to enjoy life on your own terms.
The other trick I have heard of is putting mouse traps on top of the counter, then covering with newspaper. The cat walks across, enjoying the noise then snap! - it is startled but unharmed. Only a couple of snaps and it starts avoiding the counters.
I'm leaning towards electrified hardware cloth.
_______________________________________________________ An 8 dollar driveway boy living in a T-111 shack
I was an avowed cat hater when I married Sherri and have shot a truckload of them in the past. When I ran hounds I even trapped and used alley cats with various game scents sprayed on them to train and keep my hounds in shape and in tune in between hunting seasons. Now, I am also pretty attached to the cats and understand what cool pets they can be. I have even been helping out on cat "trap,spay, neuter and return" programs around here with Sherri and my previous experiences as a small time trapper have come in very handy. I am probably the only cat rescue worker in a wide range of area who hunts and has done any trapping so my experience has been fun to use in a new way.
Do train the cat as needed, but give it a chance to win you over. You might be surprised. We have four of them now and I like them all. Sherri puts up with my hunting hound and critter heads all over the walls, and I her cats. We have both learned to truly understand and enjoy each others 'critters' To the point that Sherri was excited with and for me when I drew a couple of good tags for this upcoming hunting season. We can all grow and learn, this may be an opportunity for you to do likewise and show love for your sweetie by caring for and about the things that she cares about, like a cat. It ain't that hard. Good luck!
LOVE God, LOVE your family, LOVE your country, LIKE guns and sports.
About 2016 team "R" candidates "We definitely need a crew with a sack of balls the size of hot water bottles, bloviated estrogen leaking feel-gooders need not apply." Gunner 500
My daughter's Maine Coon was doing the same thing. Never when we were around, but would find hair on the counter, stove, etc. Tried the squirt gun, but they're smart enough not to do it whe you're around, after getting hit a few times.
One night before we all went to bed, I grabbed a roll of clear packaging tape, and pretty much covered the counters and stove with strips, sticky side up. Within about 10 minutes of lights out, a noise erupted from the kitchen......sounded like the Wreck of the Hesperus in there. As I flipped on the lights coming down the hallway, the cat was rolling/squalling/thundering its way toward the basement steps. I grabbed two loose ends of tape and jerked as he went by. You could've stuffed a pillow with what was left on the tape.
He had a hitch in his giddy up for a few days, but no real injuries. We all still laugh about it to this day. Never had an issue with him on the counters or the stove since. It's worth a try.
My daughter's Maine Coon was doing the same thing. Never when we were around, but would find hair on the counter, stove, etc. Tried the squirt gun, but they're smart enough not to do it whe you're around, after getting hit a few times.
One night before we all went to bed, I grabbed a roll of clear packaging tape, and pretty much covered the counters and stove with strips, sticky side up. Within about 10 minutes of lights out, a noise erupted from the kitchen......sounded like the Wreck of the Hesperus in there. As I flipped on the lights coming down the hallway, the cat was rolling/squalling/thundering its way toward the basement steps. I grabbed two loose ends of tape and jerked as he went by. You could've stuffed a pillow with what was left on the tape.
He had a hitch in his giddy up for a few days, but no real injuries. We all still laugh about it to this day. Never had an issue with him on the counters or the stove since. It's worth a try.