Funny story about the chair that they're sleeping on. It's a bar stool that sits on the side of the kitchen island where the counter is bar height, which is the outside part. The inside of the island has cabinets and is normal counter height. Which is not necessary to the story, but once I get started with a description, much like certain authors, I. Just. Can't. Stop. Going.
Anyway, a few days ago, (Monday, I believe) first Stash and then Meredith figured out the trick to climbing up on these bar stools and then from there onto the counter. Ms. Thang and I were vaguely horrified but mostly resigned as we had assumed this day was coming. The next night, Meredith climbed up the shelves on the wine rack thing and from there got onto the main kitchen counter. Again, we're sort of horrified but resigned. We knew it was coming.
Mom on the other hand, is full of advice about this. She was over watching TV with us both nights (Heroes on Monday and House on Tuesday if you're keeping score). When this happened, she looked at us and, with the kind of dead seriousness one does not generally associate with my mother, she said, "you must punish them." My 48 hours later snarky response is, "Mom, they're cats. They don't respond well to time out," but my response at the time was to just look at her and wonder just how much wine she'd had to drink. Ms. Thang looked at her with a look on her face that was as if her grandmother had suggested that we eat the cats. A look that said, "we should do what? You're a monster, Nana!"
I did, rightly, point out to mom that she is an animal spoiler of major proportions. I swear Eva's chihuahua, Bella, gets fatter every time mom sees her because my mother, the animal punisher, sneaks people food to the dogs all the time (I swear, sometimes it's half her dinner that the dogs end up with). I mentioned this, and she told me that she's cut back a lot on that. My response: "Only because you got caught." Which left her flat-footed because it's true.
I did, rightly, point out to mom that she is an animal spoiler of major proportions. I swear Eva's chihuahua, Bella, gets fatter every time mom sees her because my mother, the animal punisher, sneaks people food to the dogs all the time (I swear, sometimes it's half her dinner that the dogs end up with). I mentioned this, and she told me that she's cut back a lot on that. My response: "Only because you got caught." Which left her flat-footed because it's true.
In fairness, I think that mom didn't mean "punish" as much as she meant "train." We can maybe train/teach the cats that they're not supposed to climb up on the counter tops, but to punish a cat for being a cat? That's not going to happen.
2 comments:
I'm new to catdom, and I have utterly failed at cat training. You're supposed to squirt them with a water bottle when they're bad, only they are much too quick when they see me coming, and just laugh at me. I was really disgusted at the idea of cats on the countertops. Until I had cats. And realized... the inevitability.
I think the best you can hope for, even with punishment and training, is that they will stop doing it in front of you. I happen to have a terrifying (according to Patrick) yell, but clapping also works. Remind me to show you our two warning noises.
But Northeast Iowa Mom is completely right - it's kind of inevitable.
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