Keep kitty off the table

[smg680]

What can I do to keep my kitties from jumping on the kitchen table? Shadow doesn't do that, but Sassy and Pretty Kitty do it all the time (Sassy actually more than Pretty Kitty.) We have a water bottle that we use to give them little spritzes as punishment or negative reinforcement, but they still do it. There's a huge tote on the table that Sassy and Pretty Kitty love laying in, (and it contains things we use), but Sassy jumps up on the table and walks around. She also sniffs any food in front of her, but we cover it and get it away from her (There's also a small butter tub of cat food in the tote, and she eats that). I even pick her up and set her back down on the floor. Surprisingly, Ambre only did that once, then never did it again.

Also, how can I keep them from jumping on the high shelves? Shadow especially does this, and the shelves are full of breakable things. So far nothing has been broken, but I I'm not sure how long my luck will last.

[hazelrunpack]

Well, if you can figure the shelf thing out, I'd love to get some pointers myself! We ended up cleaning off all our open shelves to prevent breakage. Although it helped us to declutter, which in itself was a good thing, it wasn't an entirely satisfactory solution... The only things left on the shelves are things too heavy for the cats to push off, or indestructible items that we don't really care about if they end up on the floor...

As for the table issue--are you saying that the tote is on the table all the time and there is a small amount of cat food kept in it that the cats are allowed to eat? That might be the big draw. Is there someplace else you can store the tote? Chances are, the kitties would lose interest in the table and follow the tote, which is what they seem to enjoy.

[smg680]

Shadow is still jumping on the high shelves. Tonight was her first casualty: a small antique kerosene lamp (which has been on the shelf for a long time, and it's probably older than I am, since I don't really remember when we got it). Anyway, I gave her a 'time-out' in our basement. I always try to put her, Sassy, and Pretty Kitty in the basement so they're not underfoot when my mom and I are cooking, and when we unload the car after shopping trips. I also used to put Ambre in the basement at night, but that practice stopped after I had an accident. He still went down in the basement when my brother and niece came with their dachshund Spike. The kittens even went down to the basement when they brought their new dachshund Bella (RIP Spike).

Back to my question: how long should I keep the kitties in the basement? I know for human children, it's one minute per age, but after an hour or so, I sometimes heard Shadow start crying. I didn't hear her this time, but I kind of figured she was sorry for what she'd done, since I called her 'bad Shadow'.

[hazelrunpack]

Depends on the basement. If there are windows, a varied environment for them to play in, and if it's warm and dry, they can probably stay there quite a while. We have an exposed basement including a partially finished room with a bank of windows, and it's warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The cats have toys, two litter boxes, cat trees, beds, and access to fresh water down there. They stay there together happily most of the day. Come evening, I bring them up in the family room with me and get in a few hours of cuddling and play, but most of the time, they're content with their basement Kitty Palace.