Climbing on Furniture/Knocking Over Items
Cats love to be up high. They also need lots of mental stimulation. When they
don’t have outlets for these needs, they may start climbing up on your dresser,
kitchen table or counters. In a playful mode, they may start batting at small
objects, trying to knock them off. Not only does this provide them with some
playful activity, but they may get a response from their human out of it, as well.
First, start by giving your kitty its own cat condo or high-up places to hang out
(you can clear off some shelves and put fleece pads on them to make
them more appealing. More interactive playtime with toys such as the cat
dancer or feather wand, in addition to solo play toys (ping pong balls,
fuzzy mice) will provide more mental stimulation.
Second, make counters and other surfaces unappealing – you can use cookie
sheets or pieces of cardboard with tin foil or double sided tape attached
to them. You can also “booby-trap” the area with empty soda cans with
a few pennies taped inside – when the cat jumps up on the counter, the
noise of the cans being knocked over will be a deterrent. Keep in mind,
this deterrent is not a good idea with shy cats or in multi-cat households
where a non-guilty kitty may be scared off by the punishment.
Third, praise the kitty for using its cat tree, and make it a fun place to be – try
placing some catnip, or solo play toys on the cat tree. Try incorporating
the kitty condo into your interactive playtime – get your cat climbing or
jumping on it to chase a toy.
Finally, as in the case of other attention seeking behaviors, punishment in the form of yelling or hitting is not effective for this behavior, and may just reinforce it.
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