Pet Cat !

Question
Hello !
Hoping all is well.
I recently adopted a very friendly cat from the local ASPCA.
The only problem I have with him is that he often jumps on top of several tables.
Is there a humane way in which I can get him to behave ?
Thanks !

Answer
Arnold,

Cats will be cats.  Also, cats tend not to respond well to negative reinforcement techniques like yelling, hitting, squirt bottles and the like.

What you might try is to put some two sided sticky tape on the edges of the counter.  Cats, generally, do not like the feel of stickum on their paw pads, so this may end up being a deterrent for the cat jumping up.  You may have to play with this stuff a little while to see how wide the sticky border may have to be to keep him from jumping up, if it works at all.

Cats can be incredibly resourceful in overcoming such "obstacles', so it may work for a little while or not at all.

The next question is what does the cat want up there?  So, you might want to cat proof the counters #i.e., remove anything of interest# to see if you can make them totally uninteresting. Also, you might want to provide the cat with an exercise post with shelves, so he can sit on high and watch from a more comfortable perspective. Cats prefer to be higher up and off the floor if possible.

Please let me know how things go.

Best regards... Norm.