Posted on 01/02/2010 7:09:29 PM PST by SWAMPSNIPER
>>> “Next item on agenda: Figure out how to ban them from upcoming new kitchen as their favorite places to walk are the counters and I spend all my time now chasing them off of same. No doors, just open doorways, so can’t close the room to keep them out.”
All of these work, tho the lesson always requires a booster shot eventually.
1. Cover counters with slabs of flat cardboard carpeted with duct tape installed sticky side up. Unpleasant for kitteh to adhere to countertop/walking surface.
2. Mousetraps (the sticky kind) scattered randomly on countertops til kitteh decides it isn’t worth it to flee with part of the counter glued to its feet or whoopsie-daisied onto its gur. (Kinda funny to see them come running out with the tray hanging off them.)
3. Snap mousetraps scattered on the countertop. Never seen a cat caught in one. It’s the noise that scares them off. Alas I’ve not been as smart(?!) as to avoid putting my own body parts under the snappy bar. Once in a while... YMMV
Love the kitty counter top deterrents. I think the sticky surfaces would work great, though not sure I want the downside stuck to the new granite, seems like it might be a task to clean. Cardboard underneath would fix that, though.
The actual mouse traps (to make snapping noises) would never work for me, as I’d end up getting snapped in them and the cats would walk around them like Tom Cruise avoiding the rays in Mission Impossible or whatever movie it was. And one of my cats has little common sense and might actually get caught in one.
Great tips, thanks!
Good luck.
I only had to use my arm to sweep all previous kitties off the counter & they got the msg. Current kitty is more determined, so I had to get creative. Really I don’t catch myself in the snap traps so much as the noise has frightened the [bleep] out of me like it’s meant to do to the cat.
What’s needed is deterrence. No need to leave the devices in place once kitteh has given up trying. She can’t see the counter surface as she’s about to launch from the floor. I simply eliminated (mostly) her urge to gamble on an unknown landing.
Excellent point re: traps on counter to deter determined kitty from ascending to same. I will have to think about whether my one cat with little common sense would be foiled (or snapped in the trap). Perhaps the others would indeed stay off. I’ve got about two months before the remodeling project is done (doesn’t start for another month), so I will think about the best approach. Thanks for the good advice!
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