A question some cat owners ask is “How do I stop my cat from jumping on the table?” One answer is to remove items from the table. This technique is said to remove a cat’s desire to jump onto the table. If there is nothing on a table for a cat to get or play with then he won’t jump up. That is the theory. I suppose it may well work for a decent percentage of cats but each cat is an individual. I don’t believe the only reason all cats want to jump on a table is to knock something off it or play with an item.
A lot of people will come up with a deterrent as a answer: put something on the table that puts the cat off. Smells and sounds come to mind but this is a form of punishment for doing something natural and it only makes the home less friendly for a cat. I think deterrents are to be avoided.
The answer is to cat-proof your home if you are concerned about furniture and household items (which actually works both ways as some items can be dangerous to a cat). I would doubt if cat lovers are sufficiently concerned about possessions to want to bother to cat-proof them (except for dangerous items like drugs). Also I am sure that only a relatively low percentage of domestic cats like to knock things off tables.
If a cat owner is concerned about their cat leaving paw marks on their table, as mentioned, leaving the table bare might help and what about putting on a table cloth when you are not at home? Or, as shown in the picture, provide a nice comfortable spot which she can use.
The reason why cats jump up is because they like to be high up for safety. It is inherent behaviour. Perhaps a good alternative such as a cat tree or condo is a sensible solution. There’d be no need to climb onto the table.
The absolute answer is not to worry about your table or possessions. Or get a cheap table 😉
They say, Rome was not built in a day, Michael.
I am against to go for any shortcut with my cats otherwise, I will loose their LOVE. And I will be FAILED in WELFARE for them 🙁
Simple example:
Our own children are like kittens in the early time of their childhood. We (parents & teachers) give time to them. Then after a long tenure of exercises and many ups n downs, they become decent. On the other hand their (from their Brain, heart, spirit to body, they remain FERAL HUMANS).
Personally, I want to learn. I want to spend time in Humans and Cats. I want to discover the TRUTH of the nature for why I am born as a human. 🙁
I may request every cat/ kitten lover to please never be ashamed of calling yourself Father or MOM of the (Cats/kittens) creatures of Allah Subhanahu. Actually our parents have acted as caretakers for us.
I always say here, “YES, I am the fathers of cats/kittens. And I have no hesitation about it. <3 <3 <3
Thank you Michael, today is my LAILA bath and grooming day. Combing, ears check, teeth check, nails check (remember, I never cut her nails and she never scratch to me, I can cut her nails and she never show aggression but being in nature is best for her). I clean her poo and with warm cotton, I give her the touch of her MOM's tongue to every part of the body. Alas I was a VET, I would have done every cat owner a favor in minimum/least price and my clinic's name would have been "LIVE LONG CATS" VET HOME/CLINIC.
I am not a greedy or HURRY UP kind of man. Patience is the key and time always takes its whole round. 🙂
Our cats can go anywhere in our house, upstairs or downstairs, apart from on the cooker, which they never even attempt to, since we taught them from being kittens that it’s the only dangerous place in the house. Even so, we never leave the kitchen door open with neither of us in there, when the cooker is on.
But we are paranoid about our cats safety, even check inside the washer before switching it on although none of our cats have ever in their lives climbed in.
Our boyz love sitting up heights and what harm does it do? None! Their happiness comes before any of our possessions.
Jozef loves being up high in the kitchen.
Thanks Ahsan. Rudolph Furtado in India suggests training. Cats can be trained but it does take some patience. I have some pages on that on PoC:
https://pictures-of-cats.org/tag/cat-training
I feel that most people won’t train. Most people will punish their cat but squirting water on their cat and I disagree with that. I suppose squirting water is easier than training!
Thanks Rudolph. Training cats is certainly possible. A lot of people won’t bother. I agree if there are breakable and valuable items on high surfaces they should be protected in some way because cats as you say love high vantage points. It is in their DNA.
That’s what we like to hear 😉 All cat lovers or good cat caretakers should be relaxed about their cat being on tables and raised surfaces. It is natural for a cat to want to be on a high surface.
I’d bet you don’t care less if a cat jumps onto your table 😉