I
adopted a 10-12 month old male cat in March 2005. I
verbally praise him constantly for good behavior. I
have bought the “scat matt” to deter him form
jumping on the counters while I am not around and
associated with the correction. I have tried the
verbal correction, and the water bottle correction
together & separate. I know I am supposed to not
be around and associated with the correction. All 3
cats know their names and will basically come when
they are called. I use the verbal word
"no" after there name and basically try to
keep it simple. I have never heard of anybody having
this food issue problem. I have heard to try Tabasco
sauce as a deterrent. They were raised & trained
as kittens not to bother me while I eat. I know I'll
never be able to just leave the house with human
food out. But I should be able to leave the room for
a minute or so & not worry about turning my back
to them. (Shannon Cole, Illinois)
Often
when cats (and dogs) have had a difficult start to
life they have the learned behavior that food should
be eaten when its available. In fact, it could be
said this was the natural way of life for any wild
animal. However, in a domestic situation, it is far
more irritating than people who don't encounter this
problem might think.
You are unlikely to be able to train
your cat out of eating when food is available. Let's
concentrate on stopping him from going on your
counters. What you want to do is train your cat that
counters are a generally unpleasant place to walk.
You don't, however, want to hurt your cat or scare
him terribly.
Beth Adelman suggests the use of
sheets of aluminum foil and upside down shower mats
in her weekly column for us. See the link
below.
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Good
Litter Box Manners
Cats are extraordinarily fastidious creatures. Outdoors they tend to
urinate and defecate in relatively open and previously unused areas. More...
I
adopted a 10-12 month old male cat in March 2005. I
verbally praise him constantly for good behavior. I
have bought the “scat matt” to deter him form
jumping on the counters while I am not around and
associated with the correction. I have tried the
verbal correction, and the water bottle correction
together & separate. I know I am supposed to not
be around and associated with the correction. All 3
cats know their names and will basically come when
they are called. I use the verbal word
"no" after there name and basically try to
keep it simple. I have never heard of anybody having
this food issue problem. I have heard to try Tabasco
sauce as a deterrent. They were raised & trained
as kittens not to bother me while I eat. I know I'll
never be able to just leave the house with human
food out. But I should be able to leave the room for
a minute or so & not worry about turning my back
to them. (Shannon Cole, Illinois)
Often
when cats (and dogs) have had a difficult start to
life they have the learned behavior that food should
be eaten when its available. In fact, it could be
said this was the natural way of life for any wild
animal. However, in a domestic situation, it is far
more irritating than people who don't encounter this
problem might think. 
