I know that sounds peculiar but I think my kitty has lost his “jump confidence.”
Here’s the background;
Geoffrey is 8 months old and pretty much full grown. I have two female cats age 2 1/2.
The cat food is kept up on a kitchen counter and the girls have no problem making the short leap up there. When I first adopted Geoff (he was 5 weeks old) He would climb up on a baby gate that we use to keep the dogs from going down in the basement. We’ve since moved the gate and now Geoff has to actually jump to get at the food. I know he can do it because I’ve seen him but lately he cries and wails for someone to lift him up.
I don’t want him dependent on us to get at his food but he’s being a big baby about jumping up there. I’ve tried to entice him to jump, I’ve tried to “teach” him the motions related to the distance yet I get nothing. This morning I compromised by kneeling and letting him stand on my knee to jump from there.
I don’t think it’s fear because he’s a pretty ballsy cat and leaps all over the house especially when he’s tormenting the girls. My partner thinks that he believes he truly can’t accomplish the jump.
What do I do? I’ve trained my cats to do cute things but this one seems beyond my capabilities.
There’s a cat toy that’s great for jumping. It’s a piece of springy wire about a yard long. On one end there’s a handle, and on the other end is a little tuft of rubberband pieces. Once my cat got the hang of it, I tied it to the arm of a rocking chair, and he’d play with it for half an hour at a time, leaping constantly. He’s a terrific leaper, and I put it all on that one toy.
Another good jumping toy is this one here . It’s at any pet shop. Essentially just a plastic pole with a length of gabric and some feathers. Get him to chase it, and over time, raise it higher. One day, dangle it over the counter, he’ll go right for it.
I don’t know if using toys and stuff will really accomplish the task. What she really needs to do is make that jump a few times. Try putting something up there she absolutely can’t resist like a small piece of lunch meat or tuna. I find the secret to dealing with cats is finding out what motivates them and food is high on the list.
Exactly, he may have tried the jump and missed, now thinks he can’t do it at all.
I firmly believe he will try the jump again before starving to death. If your kitchen floor is slippery, maybe a heavy mat with good traction will help his confidence.
His favorite toy is the laser pointer so I was trying to lure him up there last night with it. So far, no luck. Even when giving them breakfast, he just sits on the floor and stares at me with his big baby eyes, begging me to heft him up to the counter. I figure he may have fallen at one point and is leery of jumping so I am going to continue to try to lure him up but still offering him a step up on my knee until he regains his confidence. I think with enough positive reinforcement he’ll eventually come around. I’ve got him trained to do cute things for me so I think I can get him trained to eat his food on the counter without a boost.
You need a catting rod, which in its simplest form is just a stick with a length of string tied on the end. Dangle a feather or a bag of catnip off the end for added effect, and make sure that the end of the rod is blunt or padded. Cat’s can’t resist them.
I taught a kitten how to sit on shoulders once, which I came to regret. It got bigger, while retaining the same needle-sharp claws, and took to spontaneously leaping onto my shoulder when I was cooking. Any avoidance manouvers on my part would just make him deploy his claws, so I learned to stay still if I sensed him flying towards me.
How about putting a step of some kind on the floor near the counter for him to use and make a smaller jump. Once he gets used to making the jump, make the step a bit shorter. Continue until there’s no step there at all.
Or just ignore his whining. He’ll jump when he gets hungry enough.
I have made the same mistake with my cat. Still, though, it’ll all be worth it come Halloween when I dye her green and wear and eyepatch. Or so I tell myself.
So far, he’s still acting like a spoiled diva and not jumping on his own. I’ll try the methods posted and see what happens.
Geoffy is a “parrot” cat too. But unlike a parrot, he doesn’t shit down my back every 12 seconds. Yeah, sometimes the claws digging into my tender flesh can be a bit much but I try not to complain too much. We wouldn’t want to make Geoffy upset.
Amazingly good. I grew up a dog person also, then one day my dad found a stray kitten at work. I was smitten. I’ve been mom to 12 cats since then although not all at once. My parents still have that original kitten though.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m crazy about my two dogs, but man, there’s just something about those cats.
