How to Train Your Cat to Recognize Off-Limits Areas

Cats have minds of their own, and cat people are often proud of their pets' independence. However, there may be some places in your home where you don't want kitty to prowl. You can train your cat to stay away from off-limits locales.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Cat repellent
• Packing tape
• Aluminum foil
• Carpet protectors
• Empty soda cans
• Pennies
• String

1. Secure the off-limits areas. Close all doors and other entrances to the areas. Make sure that crawlspaces and other hidden entryways are out of bounds, too. Close doors leading to them or block them with an object the cat can't move or climb over.
2. Remove any enticing objects from the off-limits area. Food, dangling bits of string, interesting smells and other factors may lead cats into these areas. They may also venture in due to sheer curiosity, but if you can take away the enticements, they will be less willing to explore.
3. Spray the entrance to the area with cat repellent. Commercial repellents, available in any pet store, release unpleasant smells that should keep the cat from venturing into the off-limits area. Citrus scents provide deterrence if you don't want to purchase a commercial brand.
4. Line the off-limits area with an unpleasant material. Cats hate the feeling of aluminum foil on their paws. Plastic carpet protectors turned topside down and packing tape with the sticky side up work well, too.
5. Fill empty soda bottles with pennies, and string them in a row where the cat is likely to jump or wander. The sound should drive him crazy, training him to stay away from the off-limits area.

Tips & Warnings

• Cats rarely respond to direct training techniques. Rather, they learn to avoid experiences that are uniformly unpleasant. If you scold them or punish them for straying into an off-limits area, they won't associate what they did with the punishment. Concentrate on making the forbidden area unpleasant for them to visit rather than punishing them for what they do wrong.
• Train the cat early. Use training techniques as soon as you realize there is a problem, and continue until the cat realizes what he's doing wrong.