Keeping them down from tables?

Okay this might sound as stupid question but how do we keep them down from the table. I mean kittens (9 weeks old)
I think they started because their mother (Our other cat) keeps going on the table.

So I have question:
How do we keep them down? Without hurting them?
Just so you know it I dont like punish our pets. You know like hurt them.
Hope you can help with this. Thanks people.

 

A spray bottle filled with room temp water, set the spray nozzle to mist and when the kittens jump up on the table give them a little spray and firmly say DOWN as you do so. This worked for all but one of my kitty's. Precious liked it and also likes to play in the water bowl so a misting of water was like a game to her but placing her on the floor and saying DOWN did eventually work to keep her from jumping on the table, she does still jump up on the table once in awhile, but immediately jumps off it when we tell her Down

 

Oh okay.
I will try it Thanks for good answer, really appreciated.

 

I agree that a spray bottle is a good way to go for lots of cats, except when they see it as a toy.
I've also heard of special bottles you can put in the place where you want the cat not to come, and it gives a little puff of air in the cats face when they walk towards it. Distraction can also help (lead them away from the spot with an attractive toy). I saw those last two things on "my cat from hell" where a cat therapist helps out people with all kinds of different problems with their cats.

 

Thanks for the tips! My 4 year old cat has just started doing this. He never did it before and it's driving me nuts. He's also starting to jump up and reach for things on the table when we are having dinner. It was cute and funny the first time, but now it's embarrassing when we have company over. I keep telling him to get down and no one is giving him scraps. I have no idea what he is going on with him. I'll try the spray bottle. Thanks again.

 

I will also try to use the distraction toy.
Thanks for the good answer.
@steph84 that the same thing with my older cat she didnt do anything before we had some guests.

 

I would never spray my cat with any bottle. Cats operate differently than dogs to negative correction, so it's important to work with species-appropriate discipline.

My little Max (in the pic) is still young, only 4.5 months, but there are two ways I deal with naughty behavior. If he's on a surface he shouldn't be on, I simply remove him while stating gently but firmly, 'No' in my 'stern' voice I reserve for correction. This way, I think I can eventually get him to know my intent without even touching him. What's amazing is that he's learning! He no longer steps on my computer keyboard and jumps on the table less often. He gets tired of being picked-up and moved.

Also, consider that cats love high places. Doe he/she have a high perch where they can get a good view of the humans and/or the room? My cat will perch near us on the shredder (turned off, of course) when we're eating so he can be 'high' with us but not on the table. We also got him a cat condo, so if he doesn't want to sleep on our laps he can be high up and watch TV or watch us or just sleep.

For minor biting and such, it's good to deal with this the way a cat would. Signal pain by making some kind of high-pitched noise and then ignore the cat for a few minutes (fun is over). Then, make up and resume activity. The cat will learn not to bite or to greatly reduce bit pressure (in the case of love bites). Max was biting me legs under the sheets before he realized those were attached to me! I put him out of the room when he did that and now he never bites me whilst sleeping.

 

I tell our cats No and Down in a loud and stern voice and wave my hands at them. They know what I mean and they pretty quickly jump down. I don't rush them unless they stop trying to get down, but if do that I give them a light nudge towards the edge of the table. They seem to learn better when I make them jump down on their own instead of picking them up to put them down.

 

Yeah, cats do really well if they can make the right choice on their own...even if we have to show them what the 'right' choice is.

 

Thanks for the tips on biting! I forgot to add that my cat now jumps up and bites people who are wearing long sleeved shirts. He will jump up, wrap his paws around you and bite. We joke that he has a sweater fetish. He just doesn't like them and it's getting annoying now that it's colder! I'm going to have to keep my water bottle handy this time of the year!

 

Thanks alot for the long good written respons.
We have alot of high places they can go. But most time they lay on our shoulders. (Not too long and not while we are eating and such). I dont know why but they like to climb up on our shoulders. So we let them sometimes.
But yea they are not that much on the table any more actually. I think they did it for attention. Anyway they still do it sometimes so we just have to show them that they have to keep away from it.

 

My cat used to jump on the counter and I learned if I clapped my hands loudly and said 'down' firmly she got the idea it wasn't a good thing to do. Still, once in a while she'll look up at the counter as if ready to jump and I'll clap my hands. No need to say 'down' anymore.

 

I say "No!" in a strong voice and he knows what that means, but with cat's it's not enough to get them to keep off those places.
I had an air conditioner in my window and it wasn't very safe, but he liked to sit up there, and I could never keep him down, and then I got some tape and put it on the spot he sits on, so when he jumps up he'll get it stuck to his feet, and they don't like it.
He never did it again. So get some double sided tape, or just fold the tape so it's like it's double sided, and just put it on the spots your cat jumps on, and let it jump up and then it wont like what happens, and probably wont do it again. Maybe once or twice, but they really don't like things on their feet, so it's pretty effective.
Hope I could help out. It's still worked on my cat, and I'm going to do it with the rest of the high spots in the house soon.

 

Like Sammilynn, a good strong NO with a clap of my hands is all that it takes for me...and what is funny is that I allow them on all tables except the food table and/or kitchen counters. Actually neither one has ever gone on the counters, but I just recently sold my dining room set and moved a small cafe table set with 3 chairs into the room that I used to have in my sun room. Well, this was OK in the sun room, so Romeo immediately jumped up and was laying on it when I came in the room but I said NO really loud with a clap of my hands and he knew what that meant. He never tried it again.

 

I had the same people with one of my cats. I used the spray bottle to get him out of getting on the table and the counters. I've had him for 8 years and he still knows he isn't suppose to get up there. He listens better than my kids. Haha!

 

I use a spray bottle also especially around the holidays to defend the Christmas tree. LOL

 

What I have tried is to use the food cover to put over the cats when we eat. This is how the food cover looks like:



After doing it a few times, the cats get the idea and keep away when I am eating.

 

I started out by never feeding them while at the table. They will learn in time not to try your patience. Spray bottles do help alot with keeping the cats away from the table. This tip will work well, because you'll know that you aren't going to scare them, while helping them learn not to cross those specific boundaries.

 

I definitely agree with this point of view. Cats hate being squirted with water, but it's a better method to use than physically hurting the cat.

 

I agree with the clapping your hands and saying no method, it seems to get the message across to them well and stops the behavior. I usually say my cat's name in a commanding tone while I clap and he immediately stops and behaves. You can also try finding something to put on the table that will deter them away - perhaps you can find a way to position an aluminum soda can with a few coins taped inside on the table in a way that it will be rattled when they get on the table - that noise is obnoxious to cats and should help to keep them away if you can set it up properly. That method worked well to keep my cat from scratching our living room speakers, anyway.
Last but not least, we've had high bookshelves that we didn't want the cat climbing on but that he became obsessed with, and in the end we just covered the surface of the shelf with enough stuff that he couldn't get up there, so maybe if you can make the table fairly inaccessible to them for awhile they will learn to ignore it.