We have three cats in our home. Two of them do the very rare clawing where they’re not supposed to, but it’s usually just an indication that their claws are too long and trimming them solves the problem.
One of them (who’s a littermate of the well behaved one) is just completely out of control. He’ll claw toiled paper. He’ll claw paper towel rolls. He’ll run his paws up and down doors, windows, mirrors and framed pictures (fortunately no claws there but it still makes an annoying sound).
But the biggest problem is that he likes tipping over glasses. It’s not even to get to any water at the bottom. They could be empty and sitting on the countertop and he’ll go up and knock them down. I’ve seen him do it where he literally just sits there, takes a paw, grabs the lip and tips it over. It’s almost like an experiment to see what happens this time. The tipping over of glasses would be a problem in and of itself if it weren’t for that annoying factor of gravity and the four foot drop onto the floor that inevitably happens. We’ve replaced literally one entire set of glasses because of this behavior.
He knows it’s wrong. He knows that when he’s done something wrong (or is even about to do something wrong) and he sees us approaching aggressively, he runs away and hides.
I guess one “solution” is to just put away the glasses to someplace safe, which we really need to do a better job of. But that doesn’t alter his fundemental behavior towards all these destructive activities and we need a way to change his behavior. I know one solution is a spray bottle but this is a cat that likes hopping into the shower with us and I’m not sure how well that would go over.
Besides, that wouldn’t stop the clawing of paper towels at 2 in the morning.
Any suggestions? Any ideas as to why he’s doing this?
My cat Bandit likes to tip over glasses to see what happens. He’s 17. We stoped leaving glasses out 16 years ago (I got him when he was 1).
Does he get enough constructive play time? Have you tried tiring him out with Da Bird or Cat Dancer? Another thing cats like, is this cardboard scratching flat – its cheap, you can buy it at a pet store or even Trader Joe’s. It lies flat on the floor and is made of corrugated cardboard. They scratch it about a billion times more than a traditional scratching post.
one training tip i’ve heard (from a professional animal behaviorist) to keep cats off of counters and tables is to place cookie sheets hanging over the edge significantly. cat either walking on or leaping to will tumble down along with unpleasant noise.
My cats like to tip stuff over sometimes too. Luckily nothing breakable like glasses but if I put a stack of DVDs on the table they’re probably going to be knocked off it. I think they just like seeing the results of their interaction.
If your cat likes water, you could try putting just a little bit of vinegar in the spray bottle. It doesn’t take much, maybe a tablespoon per bottle. Even if you can barely smell it, it’s going to smell a lot stronger to the cat. You could also try putting a can or two of SSSCat! on the counter where you leave your glasses. You can find it at Amazon or most pet stores.
We do have the horizontal scratching posts, but he doesn’t really use that. He doesn’t really play with many toys at all, which I guess would lead to a tad bit of boredom, which could be part of the problem. There’s one toy he likes, which is a feathered bouncy ball. He’ll literally toss it up in the air to himself to get it moving and then chase it around the house. We should stock up on those and see how things go.
I like the cookie sheet idea too. Noisy, I’m sure, but probably effective and better than the alternative noise of shards of glass going everywhere.
Some kitties just do that kind of thing. My cat has done this since he was a kitten and we drink out of plastic tumblers and have trained ourselves not to walk away from a drink. You finish it, dump it out, or put it in the fridge. Don’t leave a cup where he can reach it if you can help it. I’m sure the cat finds it annoying that I toss and turn in my sleep while he is trying to snuggle with me so I think we are about even.
My cat is a gravity tester too. Just pushes stuff off tables and shelves for no particular reason.
I built a scratching post that stands at the corner of the couch that he was beginning to scratch. It’s held firmly in place by the couch leg sitting on it. He totally goes to town on that thing.
I’ve always had fairly good luck at modifying cat behaviour, but I start early rather than waiting till they’ve got a real habit.
I’d try a squirt-gun - if the cat waits for you to come towards him and then runs, a squirt gun (preferably battery-powered) is the answer. Cats should never learn that you have to get up to discipline them.
If he’s doing it when you’re not around, then I’d try the repellent spray thingie.
OTOH, many years ago, my sister had a young cat that was prone to this behaviour. I warned him about what would happen, but did he listen? Noooooo, he did not. So the next glass of mine he knocked over, I wiped up with him. AFAIK, he never did that again. He was pissed off at me for a while, though.
On the clawing thing - the flat scratch pads work well with some cats, not so much with others. Do you also have tall (at least 3’) vertical posts? If those aren’t working, try a large log - we’ve got one cat that just shreds the heck out of a log, but won’t use any of the other scratchy things. I think he gets satisfaction out of actually tearing pieces off, which is why I thought it might fix the paper-roll issue.
Also a fan of SSSCat! That has permanently prevented the large potpourri bowl from being spread all over the room. And I too use the spray bottle with the tiny bit of white vinegar. I would recommend catching the cat in the act by standing by with the spray bottle and purposely setting up lots of glasses, then nailing the cat when she went for them. The fact you put them in a few locations will send the message that it’s not just a ‘glass on the dining room table’ that gets them sprayed, but also a glass on the coffee table, counter, etc.
Our kitten has some issues with this as well and destroyed a very expensive Moroccan cooking pot in a gravity test that almost seemed like it was out of spite considering the cat really would have had to work at pushing this (heavy) thing off the stand for quite a while to be successful. If I am watching TV, I will often put items I don’t want the cat to mess with on the table in front of me with the goal of specifically wanting her to mess with it so I can nail her with the spray bottle. Then I put it in a different spot nearby if I am reading, etc. and repeat. That way, she understands it is item rather than location specific, and doesn’t somehow associate it with the TV.
Our two cats dont seem to see the stuff in our lounge we have cleared all our ornaments except two really heafty ones we never thought they would shift, they have just managed to break it we dont know quite how, and they even knock our computer speakers and screen over, I know these things shouldnt be in front of them but we tuck as much away from them as we can, they dont seem to care whats in front of them and go on a running spree breaking everything in sight, we dont know what to do now, but sounds like the spray your talking about might be the answer, we just cant keep anything nice here, even our curtains are in shreads, its breaking my heart, they are indoor cats with heart murmers black cats but their behaviour seems wilde, we have given them ample space to run about in our home, they even destroy heavy mirrors in my bedroom and knock everything off my dressing table, they are 18 months old, its a nightmare!
Are you buying the right kind of toys though? Not all cat are are easily entertained. The more intelligent cats need toys that are more of a challenge. I’d try buying him a couple of those Ball in track toys. It’s more of a “problem solving toy” and would give you cat better stimulation as opposed to aimlessly batting around a mouse on a string. That’s too boring for smart cats!
I have a cat who enjoys doing gravity tests with breakable objects, too! Now that he’s older, he seems to limit the behavior to times when he’d like us to notice that the cats haven’t been fed yet! We used a two-pronged approach to train him out of this. You’ll want to provide attractive alternatives to destruction at the same time you make the forbidden items unattractive.
There are products you can use to keep cats off the counter. SSSCat Spray is a motion-activated canister that shoots a blast of air when a cat comes into range, and Sticky Paws is basically large-scale double-sided tape that cats don’t like to put their paws on. If all else fails, there’s also the Scat Mat, which is kind of bringing out the big guns. You’ve probably already done this, but you can be sure all your toilet paper and paper towels are hung the wrong way (loose end towards the wall) so that a cat can’t easily unroll it.
At the same time you make the forbidden areas unwelcoming, you’ll need to provide alternate entertainment. If your kitty doesn’t like most toys, Kong makes a treat dispenser that’s also a cat toy - it gives them incentive to start playing. There are also a variety of hanging toys that may also keep him amused when you’re not around.
If all else fails, there’s always the plastic tumblers! Good luck.
Just want to point out Enderwe24 posted this thread 2 1/2 years ago and has probably solved the cat problem, although the advice being given now is sure to be helpful to others.
I’m in the same situation. Widget the wunderkitteh thinks all glasses containing liquid are hers to play with. Nothing has deterred her - including a spray bottle laced with a dab of hot sauce in it!
I too have trained myself to not walk away from an unattended glass of anything - including red wine - the folly of THAT learned the hard way.
To keep her out of my water at night, I’ve resorted to a bottle with screw top or a travel mug!
One of my cats, a 12-year-old, has made it his full-time job to get everything in the house down onto the floor. The only solution is to not leave anything breakable within reach. If I’m prone to leave half-full glasses on the counter, I switch to plastic or styrofoam, or anything with a tight lid. I’ve also noticed that he’s attracted to sounds. If he knocks something over and it makes a sound, he’ll do it at every opportunity.
And I’ve also learned not to get out of bed in the dark.
One of my cats also likes to play “clear the shelf”. I basically don’t leave anything breakable out after learning the hard way. Did you know that if you turn away for 1.37 seconds a cat can jump onto the counter and push a carton full of a dozen eggs onto the floor?
I’m a bit sad that everyone seems to be advocating punishment-based techniques rather than trying to get to the root of the problem. Here the cat is engaging in play behaviors – destructive ones, to be sure, but play behaviors all the same. So the cat wants to play, but the human just throws some toys on the floor and leaves him to his own devices.
The point is, does the HUMAN play WITH him? Do you interact with him and tire him out, or do you throw a bunch of toys on the floor and expect him to entertain himself?
He sounds like a high-energy cat. This means punishment won’t do jack. You need to channel his copious energy into something constructive instead of destructive. His toys need to move so he can hunt and stalk (and run and chase) after them. That means you’ll have to make them move. Get him to run and chase until he’s too tired to keep going. Then give him a 5 minute rest and do it again. After about three of those he’ll be done and won’t want to get up to do it anymore. He’ll probably want to just go eat something: hunt, kill, eat.
If, instead, you only resort to the squirt bottle, all you’re doing is teaching him he has to be sneaky if he wants to get his energy out. Plus, the cat needs the opportunity to bond with his caretaker. If that doesn’t happen, that can lead to issues too.
