Hang Ten: Counter Surfing in Cats

January 17, 2024

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Hi, I’m Dr. Lauren! Read my introduction to be taught extra about me and my two adventurous cats, Pancake and Tiller.

Do you might have a Kelly Slater at house? A feline Kelly Slater?

Cats on counters. It’s such a typical prevalence within the feline world that it’s even garnered its personal time period: counter browsing. And it’s apparently so interesting, that even some canine are becoming a member of in on the enjoyable…

If you personal a cat, counter-surfing is usually all too widespread. Cats, in any case, are nonetheless thought-about lately domesticated, and retain a lot of their pure instincts. These instincts embody retreating to totally different heights for sleeping and enjoying, which might present a way of safety, whereas additionally permitting a greater vantage level, and rising energetic behaviors.

Studies on desire for scratching posts present that cats favor vertical posts to horizontal scratch pads.1 And present developments in environmental enrichment promote vertical areas, as they successfully enhance a cat’s territory, particularly inside restricted areas, akin to for pet cats which might be housed predominantly indoors.2 This can embody elevated beds, cabinets, ropes, cat bushes, and climbing poles.

But, such feline habits isn’t essentially congruent with our fashionable life, on the subject of co-existing. For occasion, neither of my cats is allowed on the kitchen counters or kitchen desk, which emanates from early coaching once they had been kittens. (It actually took me per week and a variety of coaxing to get a photograph of Tiller on the desk particularly for this article- probably why she seems so aggravated!) So, what’s the deal on why it’s not advisable, and the place is the glad medium?

Tiller shouldn’t be happy to be sitting on the desk…

Counter Surfing: Why Not?

I’m personally a powerful believer that (1) cats will likely be cats and you’ll’t change their inherent nature; (2) regardless, cats shouldn’t put their toes wherever I don’t put mine; (3) cats positively shouldn’t put their butt the place I wouldn’t put my toes (e.g. my breakfast toast).

It might sound pedantic, however as a lot as I really like cats, I don’t need ANYONE’s butt on my breakfast toast. And, there are zoonotic dangers. Zoonoses are ailments that folks can catch from animals, simply as reverse zoonoses are ailments that animals can catch from individuals.

For people, parasitic ailments akin to tapeworms, cryptosporidium, and salmonella are all potential considerations from issues tracked onto the counter from well-intentioned cats. True, counter browsing shouldn’t be a widely known type of zoonotic transmission. But the dangers don’t finish there.

Cats, themselves, are susceptible to risks on counter tops. Hot stoves, that curious cats step on, can result in extreme paw pad burns, with subsequent ulcerations and important ache. I see it no less than a couple of occasions a 12 months, when working in clinics. Cats leap onto a range, burn two or 4 toes, and are in ache for a couple of weeks, afterwards, requiring remedy. Similarly candles on counters usually entice heat-seeking felines, and result in melted whiskers, hair, and even burns. If it’s a cooking floor, sharp gadgets like knives and breakables like glasses may also be unsafe for curious kitties.

Tiller jumping off the table Luckily, there are different methods to hold ten!

Alternative Ways for Cats to Hang Ten

So how do you retain a cat off a counter? Or cease them from Kelly Slater-ing?

Tips to maintain cats off the counter:

Start younger! Don’t wait till your cat is an grownup to implement cat-free areas, and provides them various locations to interchange what they search. Kittens are most pliable for studying boundaries and good (and dangerous!) habits, particularly earlier than 1 12 months of age
Teach your cat the “No” command and be according to it
Add vertical areas to your home: cat cabinets, cat bushes, cardboard towers
Noise aversion methods DON’T work on cats (e.g. clapping, key shaking, cash in a tin can)
Squirting water can be a behavioral no-no!
I’ve personally discovered smells to be deterrent: spicy gadgets wafted beneath the nostril of a wayward cat (e.g. chilli flakes, or Frank’s Red Hot) instantly after they leap up can assist implement a no-go zone
Substrates (akin to tinfoil or double-sided tape) may also deter some cats from stepping onto locations they aren’t welcome
Give them their very own devoted outside viewing area to complement their setting: a window suction mattress, chair by a window, and so forth. Many counter surfers are merely desirous about a greater vantage point- not a lot the counter itself!
Adding vertical cabinets or cat bushes for energetic play and leaping behaviors, to interchange leaping onto a desk or countertop
Don’t depart tasty meals gadgets out on the counter, which might encourage curious cats to analyze

So, it’s completely doable to hang around along with your cat, whereas offering them with options to “hanging ten”. Tiller and Pancake reside proof! Even although these toe beans are lovely, they belong wherever however the desk or countertop!

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