Conference misery::feline_v1

    
    	What we did with Catnippy was to wait till she would hop
    	up on a piece of furniture and just "clap" hands at her
    	and tell her "down". We had to pay attention and catch her
    	as she "lit" on the furniture so the association would be
    	made. The sudden sharp noise is something that startles them
    	and disturbs their peace sufficiently that it seems to curb
    	them from doing things (unless they REALLY have a reason for
    	wanting to do it). We also made sure to get her some comfy
    	space to compensate too. She can go on the bed all she wants.
    	There is a nice warm blanket on the top of it for her to nestle
    	into. We also looked and looked (for about a year) for a wicker
    	basket that she might like to curl up in (since she seems to love
    	the plastic laundry basket full of clean clothes so well). We
    	found one and I put one of her favorite afghans folded up
    	in it and placed it where the sun shines in right next to Mom's
    	chair. She pops into her basket, makes "happy feet" all over 
    	the afghan and crashes for a nap.
    
    	That clapping stuff doesn't hurt them and it doesn't correct
    	EVERYTHING (obviously we hope for some cooperation from "le chat").
    	But, it's worth a try.
    
    					Kim and the "One and Only" Catnip!
    						(who likes to humor her mom)

    Hi Sandy - 
    
    Providing good places to nap and scratch and play is very important.
    You'll find references to "kitty condos" and "Cat trees" - basically
    they're sleeping platforms and cubbyholes (usually carpeted) and
    vertical posts for scratching. Lots of times cats will want to climb
    up on furniture to get a better view of the room, out of way of people
    walking around, so these cat trees are an important substitute for
    the top of the couch, for instance.
    
    There are a few "negative reinforcement" tools available too, 
    such as the C.A.T. (Cat-attitude adjustment tool) - (any spray bottle
    that you can adjust to a squirt-gun stream). The drawback is that you
    can only squirt the cat when it's misbehaving, so it doesn't work 
    during the day, when the cat might have the run of the house. The other
    negative-reinforcement tool I'm thinking of is "Kitty No", or one
    of the items like it. This is a spray that you put on places where you
    don't want the cat to be. Be Pavlovian here - spray some on the couch,
    and when the cat climbs up onto the couch, make sure the cat gets a
    whiff of the spray, then say "NO" or "BAD CAT" or whatever you use
    as a discipline word. The trick here is to get the cat to associate
    the scent with the discipline word. Then when the cat climbs up again,
    it hopefully will smell the spray, remember the discipline, and climb
    down.
    
    I'll let some other folks talk about their methods - Nancy and I
    have pretty much given the cats an okay to walk on what they want,
    (the table between meals was the last territory we caved in on),
    but you'll find that cats can be trained, if you're consistent and
    provide alternative climbing apparatus.
    
    jack

    re.1
    Please be very careful of the wicker basket.  If you baby chews,
    you could have a serious problem.  Oliver loved to chewed on his
    basket and came close to not being my luv anymore.
    
    Flo

    
    
    	Flo,
    
    	Thanks for the caution about the wicker. Hadn't thought
    	about that but, fortunately, Catnippy is old enough and
    	too 'dignified' to be caught chewing on stuff like a kitten.
    	Every so often we forget ourself and chase our tail or something
    	like that but mainly we just hunt, sleep, and act spoiled.
    
    							kim
    

    I line up round cat beds (3) on each couch.  They sleep in the
    beds and leave their hair in the beds.  I put throw blankets
    on the tops of the couches that I wash weekly.  Easier (I tell
    myself) than vacuuming the couches themselves daily.  When someone
    comes in and we sit in the living room, I just put the beds on the
    floor, and the cushions are free of hair.  It seems to work well.
    I have 14 round beds in various sizes - I've been picking them up
    for a couple of years at shows - of course, Anna, who makes them,
    only lives 2 towns away from me, so I stop over to her house in
    Epsom and shop once in a while!!  With 18 cats, 14 beds are almost
    always full - one in each or sometimes 3 pile in the 'pet' bed, which
    is about 14 or 15 inches.  Sure adds to the 'cat' laundry each week.
    
    E.

    I do the same thing as E.T., except that I only have 7 beds (and 7
    cats). The only problem with this method is that some cats don't like
    to sleep in cat beds (as it turns out, mine do, but I know folks who
    have cats that won't.
    
    Deb
    

    
    Well, I do believe I have found a way to keep Kitty off the furniture.
    We noticed that he would not lie on newspaper whenever the hopped up
    on the sofa.  Walla, we put papers on the couchs and chair and kitty
    now lies next to the baseboard heat.
    
    Pick up the papers when I get home and no cat hair on the furniture.
    
    Just hope it continues to work.
    

    Well, newspapers don't work for me.  Tried it and it seems they like
    the warmth from newspapers so they still get on the furniture and
    sleep.  Only difference is, the cat hairs are on the newspapers and not
    the furniture. :-)
    
    Pat, Holly, Midnight, Buffy, Thai, D.P. Gremlin
    

    What ever works.

    re: .7 - That would never work with our crew.  Of course, now that
    there's 11 of them I wouldn't think of trying to keep them off the
    furniture - after all, who's outnumbered here ;-)
    
    Whenever Jack tries to read the news paper Isis, or Dundee will
    make a dive under the paper.  Also, Isis will stand on newspapers
    and rip pieces off with her teeth.
     N
    

>>    Whenever Jack tries to read the news paper Isis, or Dundee will
>>    make a dive under the paper.  Also, Isis will stand on newspapers
>>    and rip pieces off with her teeth.

Nancy,

Hannah and Nick "double-team" my magazines and crossword puzzles...they
sit on the arm of the couch and in my lap and chew off the corners of any
available pages....the magazines on the table look pretty ratty, especially
my catalogues!  I think the kids are trying to tell me something...like
'PET ME!  Don't READ!!"

			D 8^}