The cats, the table, the battle begins

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-22-2004
The cats, the table, the battle begins
4
Mon, 01-10-2005 - 4:07pm

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a way to keep my two cats off the dining room table, while still being able to use the table for meals. We squirt them with a water bottle when they jump up on the chairs or table, but since we're both gone during the day and alseep at night, we can't discipline them all the time. I tried putting alumminum foil on the chair seats (since our small kitty likes to sleep on them, we found), but they just pushed them on the ground. I've used Sticky Paws on another chair and a night stand to pretty good results, but Sticky Paw-ing the chairs and table means we couldn't use it for meals very easily. I hate to go to the expense of buying one of those electric mats (I think called "Scat Mat"?) that gives them a bit of a jolt to the paws when they jump up and don't want to hurt them. I've seen movement-activated canned air that's supposed to scare them, but don't know if that would really work. Any suggestions as to what to do while we're away during the day? I've heard people suggest a product call "Feliaway" or something like that, but I don't know what this product is/ or how/if it works.

Thanks for any advice!

Amy

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-29-2003
Mon, 01-10-2005 - 4:56pm
What about taping the foil to the chairs and table? Isn't there such a thing called fabric tape which won't damage your furniture? I might have dreamed that. Seriously, it's very possible. I had a dream within a dream the other night. lol Anyways, my point is that there should be a tape out there somewhere which won't damage your furniture and be easy to remove.
Avatar for cl_lcni
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Mon, 01-10-2005 - 9:22pm

I think if you are persistant with your squirting when you do catch the kitties where you don't want them, they will learn it's off limits.


Photobucket

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Wed, 01-12-2005 - 9:02am
I was having a problem with one of my cats clawing an ottoman. She would do it right in front of me while I would say "No! No! bad kitty!" and she would just ignore me. Squirting her didn't work. So I filled a coffee cup with water and the next time she did it, I dumped the entire cup of water on her. She ran off and she hasn't clawed the ottoman (at least in front of me) since then. Iri
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-22-2004
Thu, 01-13-2005 - 9:34am

Thanks, everyone!

I never considered those run runners with the little pointy things on the back. One of our local hardware stores even sells it by the foot, so I can get just as much as I need. Perhaps putting that on the chairs and table might work. I haven't noticed the placemats on the table moved in the past day or so, so maybe all the water squirting while we have been home has finally worked. Luckily, the cats seem to (at least for the time being) take no interest in the kitchen countertops!

Amy