How to train a cat to stop doing almost anything

Tired of your cat scratching your furniture or jumping up on your counters? Cats can get into many things they shouldn't, even more so than dogs due to their ability to jump high. They might, for example, be fascinated by your printer and jump up on it to see if more paper will come out. Or they may take a walk across your computer keyboard or, for that matter, your piano keyboard. Training cats isn't easy, but it can be done. Here's how to get them to stay away from things you don't want them around.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Spray bottle filled with water
• <br>Scratching post

1. Fill an empty spray bottle with water. Keep it in a handy place so that you can grab it quickly when your cat is doing something you don't want her to do.

2. When your cat performs the undesirable behavior, lightly spray him in the face. You don't need to soak him. Cats hate water in the face, so a light spray should be enough.

3. Repeat as necessary until the cat stops doing whatever it is you don't want her to do. It shouldn't take more than a few times before she gets the message. In fact, once she associates the spray bottle with being sprayed with water, you can probably just show her the spray bottle to get her to stop the undesired behavior.

Tips & Warnings

• Cats with claws need to scratch. The spray-bottle technique should help in keeping them away from furniture, but you need to provide another place for them to scratch. Invest in a scratching post and train them to use it and try putting your cat near the post when she starts to scratch something else. At first, give treats just for being near the scratching post and then give treats for using it. Rubbing the scratching post with catnip may help your cat want to use it more, if she responds to catnip (not all cats do).
• It is important to pick your battles. Save the spray bottle for behaviors that really bother you. If you are spraying your cat for many behaviors, he won't like you much and will probably become really neurotic and unhappy. Avoid declawing your cat as it is painful for the cat and leaves her without protection if she gets outside.