I made roomie a sammich for lunch.
This meant I had bags of Lebanon bologna and pastrami open on the counter and was more or less constantly nudging Huck away with my feet as he stalked the wild lunchmeat.
Unlike Rannie, he has not had nine years of conditioning to learn that We Don't Try For Mommy's Food. He will learn, though. Oh, yes, he will learn...
UPDATE: In the flurry to get out the door early this morning, roomie forgot the sammich. This means that I will eat it in front of the cat, saying "Mmmm-MM!" the whole time.
Does he sit in the sink while you brush your teeth?
ReplyDelete(wv: cryewot. Exactly. Cry, "wot?")
Been there, done that. A collection of strategically placed water pistols with 90% H20 and 10% lemon juice seems to enforce behavior modification fairly well, since cats don't like citrus, and the several foot reach of a decent squirt gun makes it easier on Mommy and Daddy. As that process unfolds they will learn to snoop on the counters when humans aren't expected, so it's beneficial to occasionally randomize one's behavior to periodically catch them in the act to reinforce the new anti-counter attitude. After a couple months the little monster here would start to jump on the counter and catch himself as he started to spring and divert back to the floor.
ReplyDeleteWe use spray bottles filled with tap water. They're distributed all over the house (hey, they're a buck each at Wally World - I can afford to have backups of my backups on this one) so that, no matter where the cats are when they decide to do something that they shouldn't, we can discourage them rather quickly.
ReplyDeleteTribble - my five-month-old kitten - is proving to be a stubborn one, though. Either she secretly really likes baths or she thinks that she's going to outlast me. Please. Despite my inherent laziness, I think that I can work up the effort to pick up a spray bottle whenever the cat tries to cross me.
The question then becomes, of course, how to best replace the sights on a stock two-nickel water pistol with something of a higher quality.
ReplyDeleteAnd is using a Crimson Trace sight on said pistol entrapment?
ReplyDeleteThomasF wins the internets.
ReplyDelete"And is using a Crimson Trace sight on said pistol entrapment?"
ReplyDeleteOverkill & unsporting.
I say go for it. Especially as most cats will go fot the laser dot, so its basically "stabilize sight picture, wait for cat to leap into the way"
As others have said, water works. The other cats didn't seem to need it, but Esme, the new kitten, doesn't learn well (or is just stubborn), I don't know if it's because of the name, or if the name was just prophetic.
ReplyDeleteI use the squirt bottle I used to use for grill flare-ups.
WV=cruffl. I intend to get a C&R FFL, so there's another oddity.
An air soft 1911 would probably be too harsh that close. (But it works well for pigeons 50 feet away.)
ReplyDeleteIf you wake up to the cat gnawing on your toes, don't expect sympathy from me :)
ReplyDeleteJim
Tam: Not to change the subject but what's the progress on the dental front?
ReplyDeleteAll The Best,
Frank W. James
Expect a blog post from kitty shortly, also titled, "That was annoying."
ReplyDeleteThe strays that we have adopted took a long time to trust in The Magic Bowl of Plentiful Kibble. Food was viewed as something not to be taken for granted and a little bit of dampness was worth it to snag a slice of Boar's Head.
ReplyDeleteFrank,
ReplyDeleteCheck your email...
oooooh Lebanon bologna! aaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh
ReplyDeleteUmm, is it bad that I like this laser-sighted squirt gun idea so much that I want to do it for sport in my target-rich environment (an aged and clueless Japanese Chin, a neurotic Chihuahua, a cold and aloof tabby, and a 3-month old snow-white blue-eyed boy kitten that terrorizes all the others, tears up the house, and has my sweetie wrapped around his furry little finger?
ReplyDeleteAT
Of course, at the moment that would mean shooting myself in the face or killing my laptop as the little fuzzball walks casually across my chest and my keyboard, purring haughtily all the while...AT
ReplyDelete"I will eat it in front of the cat, saying 'Mmmm-MM!' the whole time."
ReplyDeleteIf so, you might want to keep your shoes on a shelf for a while, Tam.
It'll work out fine once he figures out who the Boss Cat is around the house. Imagine his disappointment when he discovers it's not Him.
Funny, seem to have been there and done that minus the lebanon bologna... I need a padded kitchen floor so that I can walk around without worrying about breaking my neck when tripping over a cat. they tend to zigzag in between my legs when I am walking around the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteS
Bob is going to have to learn two lessons--stay off the counter and I don't feed from my plate, no matter how sad the eyes or pathetic the meows. I think he's a reincarnated Shakespearean actor from the show he puts on.
ReplyDeleteIf memory serves me well, one of the Sayings of Lazarus Long was: "Never try to outstubborn a cat."
ReplyDeletecap'n chumbucket
My kitty would never have offered to offend his human, natural gentleman that he is. Right now, he is on my lap, which is how I know he's not feeling well.
ReplyDeleteI am all bummed out about a near neighbor losing her tomkitten to whatever randomness (see my blog, the kitteh hasn't been seen since last Friday.)
I do blame the kitteh's human, a bit. The kitten brain is not even as big as the adult cat's brain, which is the size of a walnut. I speak as one who has his sleeping cat on his lap at this very moment.
I'm gonna look up lebanon balogna now. I'm thinking it's a brand and not a style. I wanna Glock 33, are the .40 conversions nice or a waste?
ReplyDeleteThat neat drop rate extrapolates to Newtonian orbital physics out past that pesky 17,000 mph (+ or -) escape velocity thing, but that was the other post...off to bologna now...
O.k., I saw it compared to a drier summer sausage. Summer sausage-mmmmm.
ReplyDeleteHungry now...