Lessons You Can Teach Your Cat

Despite popular belief about the incorrigibility of cats, there are a few lessons you can teach your little four-legged friend. If you kitty can’t stop chewing on her tail or paws and you don’t think a medical condition is to blame, try using oil of cloves. You can purchase it at drugstores, and the taste is not appealing. Your pet will avoid biting the area if you apply the oil of cloves daily until your kitty no longer tries to bite the concerned area.

Lemon juice is a great instructional item for cats. The smell is unpleasant for most cats. You can soak a cotton ball in lemon juice and put it near an area where your cat urinates – besides the litter box – to teach your cat that he or she should not relief himself or herself in that area. If you want to keep the cotton ball there for an extended period of time or if it’s in a hard to reach spot, simply put the cotton ball in a lidded tea strainer. You should be able to hang the strainer near the area to keep kitty away.

If your cat has the habit of jumping on the counters or table in the kitchen, you can use lemon juice here as well. Put a bit of lemon juice in a spray bottle and spray down the area twice a day for a week. Your cat should not want to continue to get on the area because the smell of the lemon juice is repugnant to your cat. If you notice that your cat starts returning to the spot, pull out the spray bottle and have another go at it.

Citrus fruits can work well outdoors, too. If your furry friend won’t leave your garden alone, especially young and tender plants, put the rinds of lemons, oranges, and grapefruit in the soil where you don’t want your cat to play. He’ll get the message and stay away. You can freeze these rinds as well, so you can keep them over the winter to use in the summer months.

Some cat owners have discovered that double-sided tape can work to keep misbehaving kitties from clawing furniture or carpet. This method does not work for all cats and can be a pain for humans, but it does work in some cases. Put the tape, which will be invisible when you press it on, wherever you don’t want the cats to claw. The tape will stick to their paws, and they will learn to avoid the spot. The place can become yucky, though, as the cats may continue to try and get the tape dirty in the process. You will need to be prepared to replace the tape often.

Another way to keep cats from furniture is to use aluminum foil. Cats don’t like the sound, and they won’t continue to go where you have it. Before you bring a baby home, you can ball up pieces of aluminum foil in the crib – to be removed when baby arrives, of course. When the cats jump into the crib, the noise will frighten them, and they should avoid the area afterward. You also can wrap pillows on your couch in aluminum foil, and the same lesson will apply. Don’t worry, though. You don’t have to leave the foil there for long. Cats really are fast learners.

These simple techniques should help you with your kitty’s behavior problems. Remember, though, that cats are very different from dogs. They tend to hear humans but not pay attention, so don’t be surprised if it takes your cat time to catch on.