apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

my cat, has been great about keeping her claws to herself, which is fantastic, however my new roommate's cat loves to claw at rugs. oh well, they're from ikea.

the only problem i've ever had is kitty wanting to hang out on the desk while i'm trying to work... but my new desk is larger and there's plenty of space for her to curl up without being right on my keyboard :)

My cats are climbers, I used to look up and see them perched on top of doors occasionally. I have to be sure that any area I don't want them to hang out on (top of the fridge, bookcases, etc.) has nothing near it to serve as a launching pad, so I've had to rearrange my kitchen layout a couple of times.

This little cuddly dog looks like he/she could hold it's own anyday in a battle over who owns the furniture, boot camp or no boot camp!

SNORGLE THE FURBABY! You have a most adorable pupper.

Occasionally my dogs will get up on the coffee table if there's a bone there they they want but that's very rare. They're too short to get up on any other tables, but Rupert has gotten very good at reaching up, grabbing hold of the edge of the table and trying to reach food with his crazy long tongue. They're not the most agile of creatures so luckily I haven't had to rearrange too much furniture but I do have to remain ever vigilant about shooing them out of the kitchen while we're cooking/eating.

Oh wait, I did have to elevate the recycling bin because Chester loves to shred paper. He's such a little monster!

I'm sure the Green Police will hate me for my "drip sink"...but our cat is a CRF kitty (meaning her kidneys are failing and she gets injections almost daily) and she only likes to drink out of the tap. So, we put a stool for her to jump onto (she's 15 years old - not able to jump as far as she once could...) so that she can access the sink in the bathroom which drips cold refreshing heavenly kitty water...

I thought about getting the fountain but I don't like the thought of water & electricity - and the annoying filters.

With a new puppy, anything I don't want chewed is now at least 2' off the ground--shoes, trash cans, etc.--as Bitter Apple, et al. are useless.

His new trick (now that he's tall enough) is "counter surfing". I'm having zero luck with "OFF!", so I'm gonna try reverse-side duct tape as a deterrent (wish me luck!). In the meantime, I've installed baby gates to control access in and out of the kitchen as needed.

Try aluminum foil (temporarily, of course) on surfaces that you don't want your pets to climb on. They don't like the sound or texture of foil.

In fact, I put a line of foil in the entrance to my dining room to keep my puppy from going in there (that's his location of choice for "accidents"), and it worked like a charm! Well, until the cats pushed it aside for themselves and he followed.

rockypondgirl - Off! only works if what you're offering (while you're teaching it) is better than what's on the counter. Eventually, you can use just the word, but in the beginning, your treats for getting off need to be really good!

how appropriate!
I came home yesterday to find my westie standing in the middle of my coffee table, whoa man was he in trouble, after a quick NO and DOWN he was immediately instructed to get in his house where he stayed while I counted to ten to calm myself down. I just assumed that he was a good boy and stayed on the couch while i was gone...

for some reason, my cat likes to pee on anything that is fabric and on or near the ground ie: curtains, my down comforter, dog beds, clothes, even shoes. It's really a pain. So, I can't have the cool puddling curtains or a dog bed for my dogs to have as their "dog safe zone" The pet beds had to be moved up to the sofa and beds, it helps with the furniture but looks ugly.

I'm stumped. If anyone has any suggestions I'd greatly appreciate it. Also, I don't have even one rug in my whole place, even my bathmat is hanging over the tub.
ugh

oh, sorry I know this was supposed to be us talking about suggestions, instead I'm looking for some.

stephvixen - male or female cat? is s/he spayed/neutered? declawed?

Steph - Your cat is angry about something - that's what they do when they are emotionally upset.

You mean how to get your pet to share your furniture with you.

Stephvixen - have you taken your cat to the vet? Sometimes this kind of peeing means an infection. Or, as I Love Upstate says, your cat could be stressed. I've had cats who have peed for both reasons. The former was solved by antibiotics, the second by anti-anxiety medication (oh, my spoiled, spoiled pets!).

Good luck!

Your dog is so cute! I have a dog about the same size, but luckily, she can't jump high enough to get on the counter or dining table. One time, she tried to jump from the sofa to the coffee table, and she slid right off and fell on the other side. She never tried that again! When she was a puppy, I had success using Bitter Apple to keep her away from cords and fabric.

steph- there are a small number of male cats who, when declawed, never really recover from it, emotionally. why males and not females? dunno. but kitty prozac might do the trick. so i seond the anti-anxiety meds. but it could be a urinary tract infection.... meds and special dry food will do the trick... get kitty to the vet!

I thought my cat was angry at me when she peed in the middle of my bed a couple times, but in retrospect she had a recurring urinary tract infection and I think this was her way of telling me it was coming back. Finally, after on and off every six months for about 2 years, a two-week round of stronger than normal antibiotics finally cured her and no more peeing inappropriately for 10 years.

I have to ask what kind of dog that is. He looks SO MUCH like my little guy, Bruno (he's a Bichon Frise/long-haired Chihuahua mix).

Bruno is a perfectly well-behaved 5-year-old, but his little brother, Fritz (a 7-month-old long-haired Chihuahua), is DEMON. A sweet demon, but he wants to chew on EVERYTHING (including Bruno). The only thing that's worked as a deterrent is Eqyss McNasty spray (Bitter Apple did nothing). Unfortunately, my formerly-mint-condition Danish armchairs suffered a beating before I started regularly using the McNasty, but I'm trying not to let it upset me too much. I love Fritz more than I love my chairs.

Stephvixen - please please get your kitty to a vet! That is definitely not normal behavior and sounds to me like a UTI.

Anna, your Bruno is sooooo cute! I love the pic titled "My, what nice chompers you have!" Fritz is a little adorable button too.

I love our cream Louis XV sofa but we almost never see it--it's always covered up: http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2008/08/house-of-flokati/

My cat used to pee on things when I first got her...she would pee on my bed (once when I was in it) and went through two cats beds. I asked the vet and the vet just shrugged :0/. I guess the little princess was just getting adjusted, because she stopped after awhile. Then she started doing it again after I had moved in with a boyfriend. He was horrible to me and it stressed her out, so she would pee in the laundry basket. Cats have weird ways of getting your attention. I moved out two years ago and not a problem since. Now she purrs allll the time. Even if I can't hear it, I can feel the rumble. Makes me happy to know she's happy. Maybe something...a person, a situation, a new home...is stressing your cat out?

my floor plan does not really allow for me to section off my kitchen, so my little guys run around the kitchen floor hoping to catch any stray food that falls (I am super careful that, that doesn't happen!)

Just a warning: aluminum foil doesn't always work. My kitten loves it. So I had to switch to double-sided tape; she doesn't love that. And my kitten is an acrobat. She hasn't figured out how to get on top of the fridge (yet).

I bought (very expensive) bottle of cat repellant to stop my cat from climbing onto furniture. The manufacturer advised trying it on a piece of cotton wool or a hidden spot in the fabric, if it was going to be used in a sofa. The first thing my cat did was to smell it and lick it happily. And I never got a refund. So basically, I've only managed to get her to stay away from the tv credenza by yelling and I'm pretty sure she does sit there when I'm not around.

The kitchen counter???? That's a brave soul you saved.

As for my problem, I simply sold the bed frame/headboard. Training would not work and the bed was too tall for the little guy (12 lbs) and too tall for the geriatric big guy (80 lbs). They kept trying and hurt themselves once. So, my mattresses are now on the floor until I find the lowest platform bed made (if anyone has any ideas, please let me know).