# Cats on the table



## giggler

I rescued 2 cats a couple years ago, and they are very sweet..

but I draw the line at them thinking they can get on the Kithchen table while I'm eating!...

I think they are trying to take over the house now..

Dear Spouse said Buy a Sqiurt Gun..

do they still sell those?

Eric, Austin Tx.


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## Aunt Bea




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## Rocklobster

you just gave me an ear worm...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUwjNBjqR-c


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## Whiskadoodle

I don't know if they still sell squirt guns.  I'd go to the toy store and check out the Star Wars section and get a replica super soaker.  That'll show 'em.

I could have a similar dilemma.   I allow the girls on the table Except during meal times.  My kitchen eating area is surrounded by windows on 3 sides, so I pushed the table against the double windows, better for them to check out the bird feeders in the back yard.  They can easily jump across to a  side board as well.   My oldest is too old to jump  on the table direct, so I keep a chair pulled out for her to make it up there.  If I am too lazy to swab the deck before dinner,  I just use place mats.  

At dinner, it's no feet on the table.  Now that could be too confusing for them.   How I handle it is to feed them just before I make up my own plate.  They are busy for a few minutes and then they are off for after dinner baths and preening.  

I do Not allow them on the kitchen counters, and there is no reason for them to jump up there nor did I ever think they ever did so.  I never heard a thump if they jumped down again.  Well, you know they are inquisitive.

I once put a new stick of butter on a plate and set it inside a cupboard.  Come time to use it and I thought that's funny, why are the edges completely rounded on one end instead of it being squared off.  Then I heard  a cupboard door slam pretty soon after,  and my doors are heavy.  Little Miss light on her feet but growing bigger in the belly by the minute was a busy girl.   Except in summer,  I like to keep the butter out of the fridge. Now I store it in the microwave, since they haven't figured how to open that door. Yet.


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## medtran49

We just use a squirt bottle like you would use in the garden to mist plants or a hairdresser would use to lightly mist your hair.  You can find them in either the garden section or beauty section at places like K-mart, Wal-mart, etc.  

You may be able to train the cats to stay off the table, counters when you aren't around but I guarantee you they are up there when you aren't around to see them.  We have a bay-type window behind the sink in the new place and Mindy likes to get up there and bird watch, if she can't get out on the screen porch.  We've found her up there several times.  

Even the pugs, or at least 1 of them, has managed to get on the counter.  The other day I was putting the last of the roast chicken away and had pulled the breast off the carcass and put it on a plate, but still had some other chicken meat to pull off when Craig needed me to help him with something outside.  When I came back, knew something was wrong but it took me a couple of seconds to realize the breast was gone.  I had stupidly left the chair I sit in to prep food close to the counter and my little Strider man decided to help himself.  That also explained the dog fight I heard while I was outside.   At least he couldn't reach the carcass.  We have actually seen him push the chair closer to the counter on previous occasions so he could jump up in it and see what was going on.


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef

When you aren't home, cover your table and/or counters with aluminium foil. Cats HATE that!


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## medtran49

Sir_Loin_of_Beef said:


> When you aren't home, cover your table and/or counters with aluminium foil. Cats HATE that!


 
Depends on the cat.  We had one that would lay on foil.


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef

Rocklobster said:


> you just gave me an ear worm...



Yeah, me too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn2Sa5UGxK8


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## Dawgluver

We had two cockers, one who was a bit light in the brains department, and a dalmation, who was the muscle.  Had one of those chocolate segmented oranges they sell here around Christmas time, up on the counter.  Apparently the dal was able to pull it off the counter and share.  I was frantic, and called the vet.  Thankfully no ill effects.

I think you can still find squirt guns.  I have gotten several from Walmart.  The plant/hair mister is also a good idea.


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## LizStreithorst

A squirt bottle works just as well.  I have a friend who adopted a cat that I thought was incorrigible and untrainable.  The cat wasn't always on the kitchen counters, she once put some packaged chicken in the sink to defrost (I know that's a no no) and she walked in the kitchen to find the cat in the sink trying to eat the frozen chicken.

She trained that cat.  It can be done.


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## Cheryl J

My 16 yr. old kitty has never had any interest in getting up on the dining room table or kitchen counters.  He doesn't care much for human food, although once in a while he likes a little treat of a bit of mild cheese. 

In the past though, I've had cats that I've had to take the squirt bottle to - but even that didn't help much.  They learned real quick that by the time I barely even reached for the nearby squirt bottle, they were gone - down the hallway and under the bed.  LOL


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## Cheryl J

Whiskadoodle said:


> ..........I once put a new stick of butter on a plate and set it inside a cupboard. Come time to use it and I thought that's funny, why are the edges completely rounded on one end instead of it being squared off. Then I heard a cupboard door slam pretty soon after, and my doors are heavy. Little Miss light on her feet but growing bigger in the belly by the minute was a busy girl. Except in summer, I like to keep the butter out of the fridge. Now I store it in the microwave, since they haven't figured how to open that door. Yet.


 
 I love your posts, Whisk - they make me smile.


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## outRIAAge

I landed at JFK (America! Enormous cars! Cops with guns...), and immediately got whisked to dinner with my fiancee's family. Dad was a diamond dealer in Manhattan, and Mom zipped around the world as a splashy Nikon representative.

I was working-class Scottish, about a foot taller than all of them, with hair down to my ass and a Navy kit-bag. Dad's attitude towards me was basically "You've been diddling my daughter!" I was ... uncomfortable. I quickly realized that the whole family ran on puns, with rapid-fire repartee back and forth.

The cat jumped up on the table. Everyone, in chorus, said: "He's never done that before!" Dad fed the cat some cheese, and asked if I minded. I said: "Gosh no, and now he can go after mice with baited breath."

Stunned silence. Dad grabbed his car-keys and came back shortly with a case of Guinness. For me. One of my glory-moments.


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## Addie

Teddy's food goes on the floor. And so does Teddy. Here and at home with Spike. Any time we give him people food, it goes on a paper plate and right next to his water bowl. Spike got Teddy at eight weeks old and immediately started training him. He refused to be ruled by an animal. Right now he has started nipping at your heels when he wants attention. I keep an empty Windex Spray bottle filled with water at hand all the time. I have it set on mist. Now all I have to do is reach for it, and he stops in his tracks. And he is six years old. Old dogs can learn new tricks. He also has a habit of running to the door barking when anyone is in the hall. He gets his one bark out and turns and looks at me. If he sees me looking at him, he stops instantly. But as he is going back to his bed, he lets out his last bit of a yelp. 

He is allowed up on my bed for patting and loving. And if there should be a thunderstorm, up he comes and I wrap him tightly and cover his ears. It seems to help calm him down. 

Oddly enough he knows the rules for here and at home with Spike. Here he can jump up on the bed as well at home. He can bark his head off at home, but not here. Elderly folks do not like barking dogs. He knows he cannot leave my apartment without his leash. If he needs to go out, he brings it to Spike or Pirate. Spike has pads that he trained him on as a puppy. He keeps one out when he has to leave him for a while. He will use it as a last resort. I have to give Spike credit for training him from the very first day he brought him home. 

BTW, nothing turns my stomach quicker than seeing an animal roaming on the counters where food is prepared. I would rather watch open heart surgery.  But that is just me.


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