Question:
I have a 6 month old cat and I want to keep it away from undesirable area. I've read up on some things like CAT SCRAM (emits noises only audible to cats) and Tattle Tale (emits sounds human and cats can hear). Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? ANyone use any of these or known anyone who has?
Thanks,
Iona


Answer:
Those are good products (especially for kitchen counters) along with water spray bottles that shoot several feet away and cat repellant spray. Please note in order to be effective the spray may have to be used two to three times a day. Usually they smell terrible to us for about ten minutes and then fade to an odor that only your cat can smell.
I have several cats and have learned to pick my battles wisely or else I would drive myself crazy. Kitchen counters are absolutely not allowed but my furniture is o.k. (for lounging, not scratching). I've seen people get upset that their cats are on window sills and bureaus. It is natural for cats to want to look outside and to be high up. Like I said.. pick your battles and then stick to them.
I know some people may gasp in horror at this but I had one cat that kept going on my counters and stove. Of course regarding the stove, I was concerned for his safety. I finally caught him in the act, grabbed him by the scruff, shook him gently but firmly and gave him a sound telling "off." He has never been seen on my counters again!


Answer:
It really depends on the cat. My male is very smart and knows when he isn't supposed to be doing something. But when you try to punish him, he doesn't really seem to care. We resorted to spraying him with a sports bottle (bigger stream) and it only detered him for as long as it took him to dry himself off. My female on the other hand gets very scared even when we raise our voices. I have used time outs as well and they seem to work but I think only because their attention span is so short and once the time out is over, they forget what they were doing before.
I have never used the products that you mentioned...have you tried clapping and using a loud voice?


Answer:
When I foster kittens and they are exploring off limit places, I've done similar to what CT mentioned... I scruff them & hiss at them (like their mother would do)... and I find that has worked really well... I've used the spray bottle on older kittens & adults cats (make sure that they don't see that it's you spraying them b/c then they just learn to do it when you're not around)... What areas are you teaching him to avoid? We may have more specific suggestions if we know more...


Answer:
Any luck, Iona?