Kitten training - help
 

Question for any of the experts/vets on this board. (By the way I am a new user.)

I have a 4 month old (soon to be *fixed*) orange male tabby. He is super energetic, playful, a great all round cat. HOWEVER: Big problem is with him climbing up on top of my kitchen counters, checking out the sink. 2nd big problem (probably bigger) is that he is obsessed with scaling my new screens on the front windows of my house. I just spend thousands on new windows last summer and Tucker (my cat) loves scaling the screens with his claws and the result is tears in the screening. He has a scratching post (which he probably has outgrown) and uses it regularily. Any suggestions would be great appreciated.

Just have to say - I absolutely LOVE orange boys! They are usually super sweet and full of personality!

About the counter top - make sure there is no food left out to tempt him.

Get some double-sided sticky tape and put some strips on the counter. Cats usually HATE anything sticking to their paws, and if he jumps up and not only is there no food, but he gets tape on his paws, he should soon give up the jumping.

Screen climbing is very common with kittens - just part of what comes along with them. You can try getting a cat repellant spray for the screens or you can temporarily try the sticky tape on those too!

You can also use a spray bottle of water, and when he climbs the screens, give him a little mist of water and say NO.

You could also get him a little friend to play with and burn off the energy. ;)

4 month old kittens are a real trial! They have energy to burn and are just learning what they can do and are capable of. It WILL get better as he gets older.:)

Try putting some pennies in an empty soft drink can. When he does something he shouldn't, give it a shake. It worked for Puss-Puss, altho T'Grrr just looked around to see where the noise was coming from. :D

The squirt bottle works sometimes, but other times he looks at me with a "What do ya want?" look on his face. ;)

He certainly is living up to his namesake: Darcy Tucker ( s**t disturber, pest). :D

When I went kitty shopping, orange male was a requirement, as my sister has an orange male who is super cuddly, playful. Tucker fits that description too. Windsor Humane Society had what I wanted. Too bad they are so under-funded and in big trouble financially.

I fostered an orange boy I found, and I must say that he was a terror - tortured my dog, broke everything and was just generally rotten - but so sweet and lovable I had to forgive him each time.

Junior looks like my little Yoda. So darn cute you could squish em!!!!!!!!!!

The shake can idea is awesome,i did that with my pup,scared him good...

Awwwww,so cute!!!
JKC27,the screen-climbing will stop,I promise :D
You might have to change the screen once,but it's not a big deal,I did it myself.
ALL my cats and FiFi my squirrell have climbed the screens,the waterbottle helped many times,but my latest little guy just loved a little shower :D
They are like little funny whirl-winds when they are babies,but it will get better...
I never was too concerned about my cats on the counter(when there is no food on it)two of my cats drink water from the tap.
Please do not consider declawing just to save a screen :eek:

The screen is the least expensive part of the window and easy to replace. I never liked the mist bottle near the window because then I had water spray all over the glass! :D
Something else that may help on the counters. Put a small bowl of orange peelings on the counter. Cats don't like the smell, but it smells wonderful! :p

I tried putting out some orange peels this morning, we'll see how that goes. I don't mind him on the counter, as there is no food, but I don't want him jumping on the kitchen table when we are eating, and stuff like that. He is a super good kitty, and I've had cats before, so I just have to wait 'til he mellows out.

I agree,cats on the table when you're eating is even to me a no-no :D
Rocky(my tabby)usually sits on the chair beside me drooling,but knows to stay off the table :)

Our cat always layed on table when we were eating steak,she had her spot on table with us..............

The 1st cat we had, when I lived with Mom jumped up on my lap at dinner and stole a whole hunk of my roast beef once. Which reminds me of no table scraps for kitty.

I've been looking online for free plans for cat trees and such and found a couple, so hopefully I can cheaply make one.

Catnip works wonders. Buy yourself a plant, and pluck a few leaves and rub them on the cat scratching post. There is also dried catnip and catnip spray that you can buy, the they love the fresh stuff.

Tire him out good a few times a day. Get him a toy that you can play with with him (the fishing pole idea with a toy at the end of the string works good) and spray or rub some catnip on it. You can also teach your cat tricks that he can work some energy off with.

My baby loves jumping on my kitchen counters too. I've tried squirting her, she just stares for a second, runs away, then jumps back up two seconds later. Tried the can thing too. She just wanted to play with it. I'll have to try the tape thing. She's just stubborn I guess. :D

Draya,cats jump because they can :D They love keeping an eye on things from high places,makes them feel safe.A kitten will explore and kitchen-counters where usually good stuff is kept,is a favourite place :D
Personally,I don't think it's a big deal and I do not keep foods unattended on the counter.
When my Vinnie first came to my house,strange things were happening,a cucumber disappeared one day and the culprit was Vinnie :D I found the cucumber downstairs,together with a few other things,he had a stash :D
He's grown up now and realized there is no need to stash food and steals no more :D