Conference misery::feline_v1

they won't outgrow the habits without help.  Get a squirt bottle that throws
a long stream of water.  Fill it with cold water.  The next time you see
a kitten on the counter, squirt it while issuing the command "NO".  If you
are consistent, you will train them to not get on the counter when you are
there....if you don't want them on the counter when you aren't there, cover
it with one of the following:

	1) a big puddle of water if the counter has raised edges to hold
	   the water...and if you don't mind wiping it down each time you
	   get home.

	2) small/large cans, different sizes, filled 1/2 way with water,
	   enough of them to cover the area you want protected.  Again,
	   you have to set this up when you leave and take it down when
	   you get home.

	3) or you can simply assume that they will probably get up there
	   and wash down the counter everytime you prepare food/drink,
	   thereby saving you a lot of hassle and stress.  If your cats
	   don't get outside and into strange, icky things, they won't
	   be particularly "germy" and the counter can be cleaned with
	   a quick wipe down with a spray of water mixed with a little
	   bleach.  Wipe up with clean paper towels.  

I have opted for number 3.  It's just easier.  And they don't get up there
when I'm home.

keeping them out of the garbage...well, first you have to keep the great
smelling stuff out of the garbage.  If it smells like chicken, they are
gonna get in it.  I simply remove the garbage can to the garage each
evening before I go to bed...and get it when I get up.  When I'm around,
they get squirted with water for even looking at it too close.  I keep it
emptied and I keep meat scraps removed from the house immediately after
finishing eating.  They encourage me to keep a clean kitchen...

		D-with-4-furry-roommates    

    You can get garbage cans with lids (the lids that close all the
    way, not the swing type that have a clearance).  That keeps any smell
    from getting out.  I got mine at the local mega-hardware-homewares
    store.
    
    The kind I have has a step on thingy on the bottom which lifts the lid,
    so you don't need a hand to do it.
    

    Your kitties sound perfectly normal to me! :-)  

    Toby, Peanut and Tweetie like to get on the counter, too. They usually 
    only do it when there is food there or dirty dishes in the sink. We 
    don't leave food out unattended and always wash dishes right after  
    each meal so it's not too much of a problem. I keep the spray bottle 
    handy and give the naughties a squirt or ten and a loud "offthecounter!" 
    when necessary. I know they get on the counter when we're not there 
    but I'm not concerned about that (I do what .1 does in item 3).  It 
    helps if I feed the cats before the humans eat, and lock up the 
    offenders in the basement during our meal time or when especially 
    attractive food (chicken, fish) is being prepared. 

    My solution to the garbage problem is never to leave it where the cats
    can get it. I keep the kitchen wastebasket under the sink. However, 
    Cubby knows how to open doors and if he is so inclined, he and the 
    other vultures can get into the wastebasket. So, I don't put bones, 
    meat/fowl/fish wrappers, or anything else that might smell tasty to 
    a cat in the wastebasket. That stuff goes into a plastic bag in the 
    freezer. It doesn't smell and all I have to do is remember to put it 
    in the trash barrel on trash day. I also keep the bathroom wastebasket 
    in the linen closet to keep the cats from playing with (and eating) the 
    used dental floss, Q-tips, and other goodies. 

    Actually, your kitties might outgrow these habits if you wait long
    enough -- Misty, at 16, does not do such things. :-)  Meantime, a 
    combination of training and prevention should encourage your kitties
    to mend their ways. Have fun!

    Linda, Misty, Cubby, Tweetie, Toby, & Peanut

    This reminds me of a funny story, just after we moved into our first
    home I made a special meal for John (hubby) and I.
    
    For our sweet course I had made a whipped cream flan with Strawberries
    on top, and left it out on the work top, it was only out 5 minutes
    and when I went through to slice it all that was left was the flan
    base, Spookie and Rif-Raff were sitting licking the cream off there
    whiskers and looking quite content. 
    
    I was quite upset but after a while John made me see the funny side
    of it, and funnily enough everyone else I told couldn't see why
    I had gotten so upset, they thought it was hilarious.
    
    
    Regards
    Tracy-Anne

    I find that the microwave is a great place to stash defrosting
    food or extra meat while we're eating.  Keeps the kitties out of
    it.
      Nancy DC

    re cats on counter-tops - they jump up not only to get a better view
    of everything, but also because when they push stuff off, it falls
    farther.
    
    (like prescription bottles, vitamin bottles, and other little things.)
    
    However - 
    Nancy claims that MY CAT Isis knocked the glass coffee-maker off of
    the counter today, but I asked Isis about it, and she said that Nancy
    did it.
    
    I'm not sure who to believe anymore!
    
    jack
    (who keeps the kittens in the kitten room while the humans are out,
    which minimizes who we can blame for what!)

    Re: .4

    I think that's hilarious, too! But then, it wasn't *my* whipped cream
    flan. I bet your kitties thought you were just the best mom they
    could have, making such a nice treat for them.

    My first cat, a sealpoint Siamese named Alfie, used to do things like 
    that. He would steal bread from the table when no one was looking, 
    slices of fruit-nut bread that I would leave out to take to work 
    for my break, and once took a few bites out of the leg of a large, 
    plastic-wrapped, frozen turkey that was defrosting in the kitchen sink. 

    Actually, all my cats have been known to steal food at one time or 
    another. I remember how funny Cubby looked when, as a 5-month-old, he 
    stole a shark steak that was marinating on the kitchen counter. The 
    fish was almost as long as he was and stuck out a few inches on either 
    side of his mouth; undaunted, he trotted down the hall with his gently 
    flopping prize. 

    Linda

well, my furry roommates don't steal food or anything, but I did turn out
a beautiful cake for a friend's birthday several years ago...and when we
escorted him in to serve the cake, we found a Siamese cat cake decoration
sitting on top of the cake....a very LIVE siamese cat cake decoration, somewhat
vocal as I recall.  Tabby was SITTING on the frosting of the cake, in
the middle of a 13" by 9" cake pan, and screaming her head off -- I think
she was startled to find the cake was soft and mushy to walk on so she 
stopped walking and SAT DOWN....I was laughing so hard it was really hard
to keep her in hand while I washed her butt and feet off....she didn't
like THAT experience either....

Needless to say, we had ice cream/no cake for Jim's birthday....

one good thing...that broke Tabitha of ever going on the counter...she stays
on the floor where it is safe.

    My two cats are constantly on the counters.  I firmly tell them to get
    down three or four times before they actually comply, of course with a
    "yeah, yeah" type of sound emitting from their mouths.
    
    The whipped cream story reminded me of last Thanksgiving.  At that time
    we only had one cat (Oscar) and we wanted him to be with us
    Thanksgiving so we took him to my inlaws with us.  He was well behaved
    all day but........
    
    We had finished eating a hugh dinner, had our care package boxed up
    (left over turkey, left over apple and pumpkin pies, some left over
    vegs, etc.) and were getting ready to leave when my mother-in-law
    suggested we play cards.  Okay, we said.  We placed the hugh box of
    left overs outside of the kitchen on the living room floor and we began
    to play cards.
    
    About 20 minutes later I figured I had better find Oscar and see what
    he was up to.  Ignoring everyone's comments of my being a worrier and
    to leave the 'poor' cat alone, I got up and proceeded toward the living
    room. 
    
    It was at this point that I noticed SOMETHING on the living room rug. 
    I investigated and what do you suppose it was? Bones!  Turkey Bones. 
    It seems that Oscar (alias Garfield), got into the box of food, managed
    to get the flaps of the box to kind of close behind him, and began
    eating the left over turkey and discarding the bones on the carpet!!
    
    Needless to say, I was annoyed, embarrassed and amused at the same
    time.  We wound up leaving my inlaws with NO leftover turkey and two
    very, very sat on pies!!
    
    This Thanksgiving Oscar stays home!
    
    
    Jo Ann
    (Mummy to Oscar and Kashmire)

    Kelsey and Murdock LIVE on the countertops!  I grew up in a home with
    two large dogs and 5 cats so my mom had no choice but to feed the cats
    on the counters, otherwise, the dogs would eat the cat food if placed
    on the floor.  We were all very used to it but it never did sit well
    with guests :^) (my mom always washed off the counters prior to
    preparing meals).  I guess I am of the minority who doesn't mind the
    cats on the counters, as long as they stay out of mischief.  Kelsey is
    the worst offender but I love him so much discipline is sometimes hard
    to exercise.
    
    T.K. and Nikki are such good cats; they never do anything wrong.
    If Kelsey and Murdock had their personalities it would be like having
    no cats at all!!
    

    In our kitchen what passes for the counter (actually a buffet) is
    situated in from of Kitty TV - the big picture window in the kitchen.
    I can't very well ask them to stay off of that ;-)  They ARE supposed 
    to stay off of the portable dishwasher however, which is where I
    prepare food.  Just to be careful tho, I wash it first.  With 8 adults
    and 7 kittens I have to very careful to pick the most important
    rules to enforce.  Lately its been the "no yelling" rule for Mao.
    She H*A*T*E*S the CAT. ;-)))))))

    my kitty won't stay off tabletops either and yesterday while I was in
    the bathroom she climbed onto my coffee table (excusable--it's fairly
    low to the floor) and ate the rest of the yogurt out of the cup.  I
    thought cats hate yogurt.  But she's still a kitten
    
    ----Becca +Snuzzy + Double

    Hmm.. Preschie has also been experimenting with tabletops..
    (Right Mama Cin..).. and we have had "some conversations"
    about that .. I refer to it as" inappropriate behavior.."
    in our conversations.. er um the N word is a foreign
    language .. a friend of mine call behavior like this
     as "having naughty paws.. the N word is then spoken
    with this phrase.. I will tell you thar Preschie
    seemed  alsmost nonchalant about the whole thing..
    Kate, Happy(  HEY Mom she is at it again..) Preschie(Who me..
     Mummy I am just a baby.. I would never do anything like that..)
    

    I remember something that happened Thanksgiving Day, 1988.  Mickie (my
    female) had just been spayed the previous Monday.  I was supposed to
    keep her from jumping for 11 days while she recovered.  (Eleven *days*? 
    I was grateful I could keep her quiet for 11 hours! :-)
    
    After dinner, I escorted my visitors out the apartment to their car. 
    When I came back in, I saw a hilarious sight.  Mickie was on the table
    with her head in a pie plate.  She was busy vacuuming up pecan pie as
    fast as she could while I was gone, and she didn't even take time to
    sit down.
    
    This is the cat who has earned the nickname "feline Hoover..." :-)
    
    					- Ken

    
    I used to have both these probs with Percy and Pookie about a year ago.
    We moved house and they thought all the rules had changed ;-) After we
    came back from a holiday, they had got into the habit of jumping on the
    kitchen surfaces AND raiding the bin. We solved the first prob by 
    catching them in the act and shouting as loud as we could ***NO***.
    Gradually, they stopped doing it - took about a week. We solved the
    second one quite easily. We had a pedal bin with a flat lid on it. We
    put the big box of washing powder on it to stop them opening the
    lid. After a few months (yes months!), the bin gave up under the 
    strain of supporting the powder and we got a new TALL bin with a swing
    top. That works just great.
    
    Lisa plus Pookie and Rolf.
    
    BTW Rolf attempted to eat a WHOLE chicken at the weekend GRRRRRRR!
    

    I forgot something - I tried scented bin liners. It didn't work and
    they are VERY expensive!
    
    Lisa.
    

    re: .12 - yogurt....are you kidding!  I couldn't eat any flavor yogurt
    or ice milk around Flame without sharing at least 1/2 of it with him!
    
    Jesse also used to eat plain yogurt.  We gave it to him when he was
    on antibiotics to combat his diarrea.
      Nancy

    re-1.
    
    My other baby Max also earned the name Hoover :-))  I remember when
    he was only months old and Daddy had made himself and Mummy toast
    with chicken and ham meat paste on top.  He left it on the table
    to go and bring the tea through, on returning there was an empty
    plate - the toast had dissappeared.  After searching everywhere
    we found Max in the corner "mmmmm... that was vewy good .. why can't
    I get that evewy mowning"
    
    It was so funny.  We also have photgraphs of the time Spookie tried
    to make a break with a corn cob that she stole off my plate, it
    had the little thinigs on either end that you use to hold on to,
    and as she tried to run between the chair and the setee she got
    stuck.. now that was the funniest ever. 
    
    Regards
    Tracy-Anne

    Another trick I've heard (I think in this notesfile) is putting
    double-sided tape on the counter (as long as it's not TOO sticky, of
    course).  I plan on trying that for my two.
    
    Re: food stealing - One morning my husband had made 2 tuna sandwiches
    to take fishing with him.  He checked the cooler a few minutes later
    and found only ONE sandwich.  We found Peaches under the livingroom
    couch with a tattered baggie and the remains of the sandwich.
    
    Paula (Snuggles & Peaches)