How to stop my cat from jumping on counters and scratching curtains?

You could cover the counters with textures that cats don't like. For example, aluminum foil, placemats or cardboard covered with double-faced sticky tape. Many cats don’t like those surfaces, so the hope is for the cat to jump down once he/she touches the surface. Leave the mats on the counter at all times when not in use and, hopefully, she will stay off. After a few weeks without signs of her on the counters, remove a small section at a time and see if she will stay off.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am so sorry that Bingley is being so bad! First for your sanity, at night I would confine him so he isn't keeping you up at night. Put him in the basement (with food, water and litter boxes) or a separate room. That will keep him from getting in to things and allow you to sleep. The good news is that he will grow out of this behavior, he is very young still. As for getting up on the counters, etc: cats like high places. First provide alternatives, get a couple of cat trees or other things to enrich his environment. Make sure all food is put away and the facet doesn't drip so he isn't attracted to the counters. Then you have to make the counters unpleasant: cover the counters with textures cats hate — aluminum foil is one example; cardboard covered with double-faced masking tape or shelf liner is another. No, you won’t have your counters covered forever, but you will need to keep them covered while your cat learns to use the new perches. For the more determined cat, you can look at harmless automatic devices that discourage counter cruising by making sounds cats dislike when they trigger a pressure pad or electronic eye by jumping up. I hope this helps and have a great day!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. If you want to train your cat not to jump on the counter, you can try the following method. Obtain a spray bottle and fill it with water. Whenever Salem jumps up onto the counter, lightly spritz him in the face and say "off!" to show that this is an unacceptable behavior. I've had some clients use noise deterrants before where a motion sensing noise device is placed on the counter and whenever the cat triggers the motion sensor, a loud noise goes off. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

This can be a tough problem - I can sympathize! There are a few things you can do to help. First, make sure that you are providing really good, attractive scratching posts in the areas that your cat wants to scratch - many of the small, carpet-covered ones in pet stores aren't very good. A good scratching post should be at least 3-4 feet tall so that the cat can stretch all the way out when scratching. It should also be heavy and solid - if the post feels flimsy or tips over when the cat scratches, he won't want to use it. Finally, most cats prefer rough coverings like sisal rope or something similar rather than carpet. I would try to get several really good scratching posts and ideally also a few cat trees/climbing structures so that you can have at least one in every room where Pepper spends time. To help discourage scratching on furniture and door faces, you can use double-sided scotch tape over these areas - the tape sticks to their paws when they try to scratch, so they normally choose to go elsewhere. If you would like more specific suggestions for your situation, feel free to consult with me - I'd be glad to try and help out.

Cats will scratch where ever they see the opportunity. Unfortunately, it is not always where we want them scratching. I would encourage him scratching appropriate areas by attracting him with food, treats and/or catnip on/near his posts. Cats hate if sticky things touch their feet. Often just a piece of tape (made into a loop with the sticky side out) placed in the corners will stop them from scratching the carpeted stairs. Some stores sell specially made double sided sticky strips as well. I would recommend giving those a try.

It can be really difficult to keep cats off the counter. You should continue to put them on the floor when you catch them. You could look into something like a Scat Mat, although it does give a small electric shock. There are also some motion sensor forced air canisters that might work. If your cats are particularly anxious or fearful you should be cautious with any type of negative reinforcement since it could frighten them and cause behavioral issues.

This is such a frustrating battle. Here are a few suggestions that may or may not work. You can try giving him something else to scratch on like a tall scratching post or a piece of wood from outside. The scratching post needs to be tall because they like to stretch while scratching. Feliway also make a product now called feliscratch to help redirect the scratching to the scratching post. You can also apply soft paws to their nails so that even if they try to scratch, they won't do any damage. I hope this helps!