jackiesmith

I have 3 cats "Herself" is the avitar - the 2 boys and her 2 people pretty well know what they can and can't do.

cr12cats

I have really enjoyed your all stories. We have 6 out of 12 left now. Trained them with water bottle when they were young all I have to do is hold a bottle and they run. Our Metoo is 20 years old now as of August when she was little I had to make sure everything was covered with a sheet , put the pins away and put a plastic cover on the machines or their cover that came with them cause she loved to unthread them. When I first got my serger I had to watch the video and stop ,do it ,continue and so forth IT TOOK ME 2 1/2 HOURS to get it right. then had to pick DH up from work when I got home She had all 4 threads undone and all around the room.She trained me to always cover everything if I wasn't in the room.

cr12cats

I forgot wanted to suggest cats don't like mint so plant some mint on the side of a potted plant or a cotton balled saturated with mint oil or lemon oil or juice. That worked for me when they were young. I also heard perfume saturated in a cotton ball where you dont want them but that never worked on mine. Of all things one loves to roll in DH's dirty socks (YUCK!).So him and the boys learned real quick not to leave any thing on the floor cause we had one that would mark it as theirs so at least they trained the guys for me LOL. Never had the problem of clothes and all left out any way.

grammiepamie

try a squirt gun. Works on minee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Betty Ruth

our 6 year old tom cat has never gotten on the kitchen counters or the stove (he was 1 1/2 years old when we got him), but he is allowed most other places. Sometimes, we have noisy discussions about the tables and the china cabinet. I rather like his company in the sewing room, except when he wants to lie on what I'm trying to sew. If scolding doesn't work, I can put him out of the room an close the door. As to what to use to train a cat not to get on certain things, our neighbor uses a squirt bottle of water without much success, but I think that's her fault for inconsistency. I used a rolled up newspaper for a while, but a loud voice is usually sufficient now.

Gramma

Have you tried a spray bottle with water in it? They say it works! May take a few times.
Good luck!!

Betty Ruth

I have not tried the water bit. My neighbor did. My loud voice worked better for me than the water did for her, and it's always at hand.

twistedsheets

My actually feelings about cats are this: You do not own a cat, the cat owns you. If the cat don't like you ,they usually get out and disappear. A cat who likes you and knows he owns you is true blue and there to the end.Dogs are the same way only they are better at letting you beleive you are in charge! I have both, and have had for years. This is what they have taught me!!

PKITTY1

This will be a rather long post...read at your own risk!

My cat trained herself. Once, I had my sewing machine set up on the dining room table. Pumpkin used to get up on the table. She would then knock items off and chase them. One morning, I got up to go to work. I got her food but I didn't see her. I then went into the bathroom to do the morning ritual. Pumpkin came to the door of the bathroom and fell over. I was horrified! It was the middle of National Laboratory Week. I was supposed to give a lecture that week on Mad Cow Disease. I had been researching the topic as well as other neuropathies. My first thought was she had MAD CAT DISEASE! I ran to my black long-haired cat to find....she had managed to wrap black thread all around her back legs. She had knocked a spool of black thread off the table and started to play with it. She had black thread wrapped around herself, the table legs, and one chair. She managed to make it down the hall to the bathroom door when she ran out of thread and fell over. Needless to say, it was a large spool of thread. Since then, she doesn't come near the sewing space. Unfortunately, I still can't make her leave the ironing board alone. It is the perfect height to watch the birds.

puzzler

I've had some success with moving cat beds into the sewing room. One cat agrees to stay in his when moved and the other agrees to stay in his perch on top of my fabric shelves. To lay out quilts and layer them, I have to lock the cats in another room--they love quilts as much as they love helping me make a bed.