Cat and kids issue

[toon_town_nutter]

Our cat has taken to not respecting food boundaries at all. If we're eating the cat is involved. Food gets swiped off our plates, food batted out of our hands, cups licked.

I've taken to sending the kids outside to eat it's got that bad. What can I do to stop it?

[azureline**]

I think if puss has recently started doing this, it is age related. (17?)

I would restrict puss to the laundry at meal times. We don't have a cat.... but if our dog licked anything, he would be placed outside.

We have had a 3 year battle with teaching him that children's food is off limits to him, he has finally got the message.

[patchoo78]

Surrender your cat to a cat rehoming centre. It is just feral to let your cat eat off your children's plates and lick their cups.

That's a bit extreme.. By doing that you're only inflicting the problem on someone else, that's assuming the cat gets adopted and not PTS...

Just fill a spray bottle with some water and a bit of vinegar. They soon learn, my cats run as soon as they see me pick the water bottle up

[cherry*135]

Not as extreme as the suggestion of stop feeding the kids though:^O

[patchoo78]

Not as extreme as the suggestion of stop feeding the kids though:^O

No, but I'm assuming that you'd realise that greencat was joking ;\

[cherry*135]

Yes, that is why the laughing emoticon was at the end of my sentence.

[bella_again]

Spraying puss with a bottle of water and a drop of tea tree oil will make the difference.  I hav cats and I never allow them on the benches and tables. You can train your cat, I trained the stray that was here not to do it in no time at all.

Or like Azure said put the cat in the laundry while you eat.

[vampire-teddy]

seeing it is an old pud i would just put it in another room while you eat.  old cats can get a abit weird sometimes.  a younger cat i would train.  my new kitten doesn't try to steal food but is obsessed with the washing up and always wants to chase the water as it goes from the draining board into the sink.

[bright.ton42]

A spray bottle of water is good but DON'T put vinegar in it, it could harm their

eyes badly.  The water's enough.  . 🙂

Kit's too old to train now, so just put it in another room with its food maybe. Trust me 

it will survive     😉

[everything*that*i*ever*wanted]

Spray bottle filled with vinegar. Everytime they jump on the table / bench / etc they get a squirt. Also at night smear the table and benches with vinegar. They will associate the table with the unpleasant smell.

I have trained every one of my cats this way. One of which was 11yo when I rescued him.

[cat_mioux]

My cats will steal food off the table too but we never give them a chance. If they try to get up I will stop them with a gentle shove and a NO. If we have to leave the table we take our plate with us.

If we leave the table unattended and leave our plate/glass then we cop the consequences :^O

I once made a huge lemon tart for afternoon visitors. I left it cooling on the kitchen bench while I got showered and dressed. When I walked back into the kitchen one of my kitty's was licking the tart.

I admit I thought about pretending it never happened for a few seconds but my sense of decorum won and I threw it in the bin.

😐