I would try the water spray thing and see if it helps. My problem is that my kitchen is connected to the living room and does not come with a door. I have to close them in one room for that and that would restrict them in a small place, I don't want that too!

I have two other questions...
1. For how long do you call a cat... a kitten?
2. How do get those signatures with the cats age timelines?

I called the fabulous and still much missed Beckett a kitten till he was around a year old, even shouting "kitten" at the door for him to come home, mainly because I didn't want him to grow up and become less playful. I needn't have worried as he stayed the same, but sadly he was only with me another 6 months.

Ian

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RIP Black Tom and Beckett, not just cats, they were my cats and the best ever.

I think my cats have learn't the're not allowed on the work surfaces in the day time, but its fine at night when all the 2 legs are asleep. Clever cats!
I know this because they don't jump up when I'm around (the're always put back on the floor as youngster + they soon get fed up with the effort) but if I leave anything out, there are nibble marks.

I just wipe the surfaces down with disinfectant every morning, and make sure edibles are put away........but I'm not the only 'two leg' in the house so sometimes counter surfing at night yields a tasty reward!

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Emma Yeoman
Purindoors Birmans
www.Purindoors.co.uk

The GCCF defines a kittens as under 9 months, but aparently they grow up quicker in the TICA world as the're adults at 8 months for them.

Personally I think it depends on the breed, physically my breed 'birman' don't reach full physical maturity till 2 or 3 years old, others like maine coons and siberians can be longer. Moggies and oriental breeds seem to do most things faster than the posh fluffs!

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Emma Yeoman
Purindoors Birmans
www.Purindoors.co.uk

I've taught Ari to not do something by saying 'no-no'.

I say it in the same voice I usually say nice things to her. So, when I caught her doing something wrong, I call her until she looks at me, then I say softly 'no-no'. If she ignores, I call her again and repeat 'no-no'. Sometimes she complains a bit (like when she's on the table). Then I tell her to go down and repeat the word, and when she does I praise her. If she's doing something that is dangerous (like playing around cables), I do the same, call her until she looks at me, say 'no-no' and add that it will hurt her. When she stops, I praise her. I don't know if it makes a difference that we use phonetically simple words for that. We use Italian words and words that my niece used when she was a baby.

It doesn't stop her to do that when I'm not looking, but she certainly knows that what she's doing is wrong.

PS1: I wouldn't use the water spray. Someone said that it makes the cat very jumpy. I don't need Ari to be any jumpier!! But in the middle of the night she plays with the bedroom blinds and attacks the flower pot. 'No-no' doesn't work there. Specially because what she really wants is to wake me up. I keep a water bottle close but I never used it because she runs when I pick it.
PS2: to make the ticker, you have to go to www.pitapata.com. After you add the code to the signature.

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i can get cheeky to jump down by pointing to the floor and saying 'down'. that took a lot of lifting him down for him to realise what i wanted him to do.
it doesn't work everytime,( sometimes he'll just turn his back on me and lie on the worktop anyway.
i dont know that you will ever get your cat to stop going up in the first place as they are climbers and like to do what they want

I swear mine actually answer me back when I tell them to get down! Jerry was on the worktop so I told him 'down...' no reply, a gentle push on the bottom did the trick but im sure his meow was 'and the second word's off!' cheeky things!

I found with Sam that just putting him down and saying "down" worked. He even learnt that he was allowed on certain parts on the worktop but not others (near the hob) and he's relearnt it in every house we've lived in. Milly's too lazy to jump on worktops, so there's no problem there. As for Eva .... the biggest problem is that my OH lets her do whatever she likes and says I'm being mean every time I tell her not to do something, so I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle.

Some cats are easier to "train" than others. As far as Sam's concerned, anything that flies, from a mosquito upwards, is a toy, but he's learnt to ignore bees and wasps. I think when he was younger, he recognised the difference in my tone between exasperation when he ate another fly and fear when he was about to swallow a wasp. He's even let a bee land on his foot, and just sat and looked at it.

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Proud Mummy to:

Sam (born June 1999, found August 1999)
Milly (born May 1999, adopted September 1999)
Eva (born 2010, adopted us August 2011)

I have kind of taught my 2 to not go on my kitchen worktops, table or coffee table..

The kitchen windowsill however is a completely different ball game, theyre obsessed!!!

Sometimes I think they do these things to annoy us, I just had to intercept the cat trying to go for a wee on the doormat, took her to the litter kwitter where she proceeded to go for both and then kick the litter everywhere. If this isnt bad enough after coming out and getting lots of strokes for being a good girl she went back just to kick the litter everywhere.

Back to normal litter tray with high sides when Natures Gold arrives and I literally can.not.wait!!!!!!!