If your cat is jumping on cabinets, stop the behavior before it becomes a habit. Understand that your little acrobat jumps up high to investigate her surroundings. She might be looking for food or a place to rest. For her safety, make the cabinets off-limits and redirect her attention.
Step 1
Make cat food available around the clock if you believe your finicky feline is jumping on cabinets in search of food. Keep her food bowl filled if she's not overweight, and remove any food near or in the cabinets. Alternatively, put child-safety locks on the cabinets so you cat can't get in them.
Step 2
Buy a cat tree to serve as an alternative so your pet companion can jump and climb to her heart's content. Look for a tall cat tree with plenty of sleeping areas and perches.
Step 3
Cover the area that your cat stands or jumps on with an upside-down carpet runner. Cats dislike standing on the nubby surface and will stay away. Alternatively, stick double-sided sticky tape on large pieces of cardboard and place them in an area where your cat's paws would land. The sticky surface is unpleasant to your cat and might keep her from returning.
Step 4
Blow a whistle or shake an empty soda can filled with about 20 pennies to startle your pet companion away from the off-limits cabinets. Ensure your cat doesn't see you when you make the noise, because you want her to think that it's her cabinet-jumping that's triggering the noise. Make the noise each time you catch your feline friend in the act, and over time, she might stop jumping on cabinets just to avoid the unpleasant sound.
Step 5
Spray a commercial cat repellent on the cabinets to deter your cat. Cats dislike the scent of the repellent and will stay away. Before applying the repellent, test it on an inconspicuous area of the cabinet to make sure it doesn't do any damage. Alternatively, clean the cabinets with a citrus-scented cleanser for a similar effect.
Step 6
Booby-trap the off-limits cabinet with a pyramid of empty soda cans. Stack a bunch of cans on top of each other near the edge of the cabinet. When your pet companion jumps on the cabinet, the cans will fall and startle her, and make her think twice about jumping on there again.
References
Warnings
- Don't scream, hit or shoo your cat when you catch her lounging on cabinets -- it's ineffective and she might end up fearing you or injuring herself.
Writer Bio
Kimberly Caines is a well traveled model, writer and licensed physical fitness trainer who was first published in 1997. Her work has appeared in the Dutch newspaper "De Overschiese Krant" and on various websites. Caines holds a degree in journalism from Mercurius College in Holland and is writing her first novel.