Any ideas how to stop this?

[catnapper]

Mikey has a special talent. Its actually impressive, if you have a sense of humor. You see, he can knock a glass over the moment you put it on a table. He could be in a sound sleep three rooms away. You can put it next to you, thinking its safe for a few sips since he's nowhere in sight. You change the channel, blow your nose, tie your shoes... whatever -- its just a 5 second thing... and when you're done, the drink is splashed all over. HOW does this boy do it?

We have come to laugh over it, because if we chose to get mad, we'd be mad at him all day long. We are always saying "Mikey struck again." and rolling our eyes.

We have made loud noises. We spray bottled him. We "evict" him from the room. Nothing seems to be working... and if anything, the things we're doing in effort to stop him are only making him more determined to do it. He's obsessed with the whole ritual of knocking over drinks.

The other night, I placed a drink on top of the dresser, next to the TV. Its the only place he COULDN'T get to it. I had a big tub of cat litter next to the dresser, and he was standing on the tub, jumping up and down, meowing his head off. He was DETERMINED to spill the drink that was just out of paw's reach. He's since figured out how to get to it. He took a flying leap from the top of a book shelf.... went sliding across the top of the tv, fell off onto the dresser, where he slid into the lit candle on the other side, and continued sliding til he fell off on the other end. Then tore out of the room as if thats what he meant to do. My heart was in my throat. The candle, the drink, Mikey!

Any ideas how to stop him?

[RICHARD]

Super Glue or Earthquake putty..

SIPPY CUPS!

Make him pay for the drinks?

Make him buy his own drinks!

Ask the bartender to make him leave?

Don't drink in front of him?

Film it and put it on You Tube!

Thats all I got!

[catnapper]

Film it and put it on You Tube!

We figured on that one. As well as building some kind of cup holders.

As for sippy cups.... know what soda does in one of them once its been knocked over? It fizzes and forms a bottle rocket.

[aTailOf2Kitties]

is he drinking it, or just knocking it over?

[catnapper]

is he drinking it, or just knocking it over?

Knocking it over. He walks up to it, as calm as can be, looks at it, lifts his paw, and swats it over.

[Freedom]

You mean you want to deprive him of a basic cat pleasure: watching things DROP? How COULD you even consider being so mean!

I love Richard's ideas. I was thinking of a weighted bottom cup, I think some of the travel mugs are weighted?

My Sparkle loves to knock things off a table, lean over and watch it drop and . . . roll, splatter, crack and break. She finds all of this quite intriguing.

Seems you have made a game of this because, from Mikey's point of view, you keep setting it up for him! Like standing up the pins in bowling, lol. Somehow, he thinks you WANT him to do this. Or maybe it is a way he gets your attention?

What about if you carry him over, place the cup down, sit holding him, and brush him? Maybe if he associates the drink with brushing he will cease? Or enjoy the brushing up and forget about the drink. Somehow, come up with something to redirect him.

Oh, and PLEASE, no more lit candles, not even in supposedly cat safe places! That is the LAST thing we want to be reading about from you!

[columbine]

Get some nice STONE or GLASS coasters from overstock.com or someplace, and glue Velcro on them. Get some PLASTIC drinking glasses and glue the other half of the Velcro on the bottom. That's all I can think of. But what a strange compulsion! He must have been a firefighter in a past life.

Love, Columbine

[RICHARD]

Actually?

My ideas really don't makes sense....this is what mom always called PAYBACK.

Way back when, in your short life, something happened near a lake, stream or ocean that the gods have seemed to curse you about.
My way of getting over on him?

Reinforcement therapy.

Associate water with a shower-Now, this sounds cruel, ?

Set the cup/glass down and wait until he walks up to it and pushes it over....

Then you spring into action and pour-yes, I said pour!- a few ounces of water on his head.

Knock glass over?
I get wet on my head.

I do like the bruch idea, but you then have to brush and drink at the same time.


I hate doing the 'extreme' cat therapy stuff.....The squirter was good, until ED got the idea that he would do his scratching on whatever and would look to see if I was grabbing for the bottle. When we got to the point where I would stand up? He knew that water was on the way......

Really!

Good Luck with this behavior....there is worse, and I have a terrible sense of humor.

[Cinder & Smoke]

... a basic cat pleasure: watching things DROP?

My Sparkle loves to knock things off a table,
lean over and watch it drop and . . .
roll, splatter, crack and break. She finds all of this quite intriguing.

Oh, and PLEASE, no more lit candles,
not even in supposedly cat safe places!

Boots, da KAT, was quite skilled at testing the gravitational pull on falling objects!
NOTHING was safe ... he'd spend most of every night checking every
horizontal surface he could climb or jump onto ...
then *push* whatever he found toward an edge - and then OVER!

I have an old, empty, LARGE,, wine bottle on my dresser that I toss
loose pennies into - it always weighed MORE than da KAT ever did.
Boots started as a Kitten, and over the course of MANY years, managed to
*push* that penny bottle to the brink of disaster several times a year!
I'd let him get it to within about an inch or two of the Tip & Crash point -
then slide it back to the center of the dresser. Good for another 60 days or so.

And after a penny bottle "reset", he retaliate by shoving everything ELSE
on the dresser onto the floor the next night.
---------------------------------------------

Candle Caution:
Candles are DANGEROUS - and can become LETHAL to both man and beast when
you add a *Critter* to a room with a lighted candle.
One *SWISH* of a tail and you can have either a Flaming PET or a Flaming ROOM!

[catfamily]

i was just going to say the same as {Freedom,and Cinder & Smoke}
no lit candles in a home w/even just one cat/even a dog.
we don't want to here about you and your family hurt
candles are so nice but i guess it's better to be safe than sorry.
most people still use them but i get too nervous thinking a cat will
knock it over.

my husband mike just suggested putting a piece of foil over your glass.
but i doubt that would work.maybe though
i always have a big huge glass of water next to my bed,plastic jug w/a cover and a hole on the top for drinking,so when it spills at least if i'm around i can catch it before the whole area is soaken wet.
but now i decided awhile ago to put a ziplock gallon bag over the top of it mostly because all my cats are up there licking the top of it.
i'm tired of getting tummy aches (sensitive stomach)so i'm extra careful of everything now.
but i bet if you put a ziplock bag over your glass or a plastic mug with a cover
it would help keep your cat from dumping your drink.
i use the same ziplock bag for a long time b/c it isn't dirty on the inside.
and i take the slider off the ziplock (if it has one)b/c the cats will want to play with the plastic slider on the ziplock.
i hope that this helps.
i'm trying to find more mugs like the one i have w/a cover that has a hole on top.can't find them anymore.
i got it at walmart awhile back.i'm sure their around though.
but the ziplock may help anyway.it's worth a try.

sorry the picture is so big...don't know how to get it any smaller,photobucket has changed since i've used it,a long time ago.looks like i'm outdated....lol

[katladyd]

My cats don't knock over anything (I know, I'm lucky), but I LOVE your idea of using the ziplock bag! Ingenious!!

[catnapper]

Thanks for the idea everyone. I forgot to mention that all our drinks are now lidded with straws. I've loaded up on fountain drink cups from the local Hess station. Their cups have re-usable lids that can be run through the dishwasher. They snap on tight and only spill a little bit of drink when knocked down. The straw is another matter. It gets crinkled and splintered. He also LOVES to chew on it and destroy it. Straws must die!

As I'm writing this, I'm laughing my tooshie off. He's darn lucky we think its funny. I tell coworkers and customers this story and they're shocked I let him on the table -- Um, how many of you effectively keep cats off your tables?

And for the record, I am well aware of how dangerous candles are. We treat them with the respect they deserve. They are lit only when we're in the room and blown out as soon as we leave it. We have 8 cats -- no matter how clean our home and their box it, they leave a definite catty odor. We're allergic to the aerosol sprays (which are also labeled bad for use around pets). I have never even had a close call until this whole TV incident. Its been moved to a safer place. I am aware no place is 100% safe. The odd thing is ALL the cats instively know not to go near the candles. Even Mikey doesn't knock it over, nor have I seen him anywhere near it. He's knocked EVERYTHING over, including the betta bowl a couple times -- we have backup betta bowls now.

[kuhio98]

We had the same problem when Willy adopted us.

I always have a glass of water on the nightstand at night. After getting drenched 2 or 3 times -- such a rude way to be awoken -- I got a water bottle with a screw on lid. Willy still knocks it over in the middle of the night once in a while, but I don't get wet.

We're not big soda drinkers, but I started buying Diet Coke in bottles for the same reason.

But, Willy has now graduated to knocking over flower vases Haven't solved that one yet. Our dining room table chairs are water stained. I was going to re-cover them but why bother -- until he grows out of this new habit.

[RICHARD]

--------------

If you can find Earthquake Wax

http://earthquakeinfo.com/waxdetailQH.html


It works fairly well.....

[orangemm]

Put a couple of empty plastic glasses around so he can knock 'em over to his heart's content. Maybe it's the noise or the rolling motion he likes. Or a bunch of disposable plastic glasses/cups.

You might have to put your real drinks in bottles that have sleeves and straps so you can WEAR them!