Why is my cat untrainable?

[Daisypaisy]

She is a nightmare! So cat is approx 10 months old, DD got her when cat was about 5/6 months as a therapy cat. Cat goes between here and DD’s fathers, so we have shared care of both!

This means that cat is a house cat as not sure she would cope with being allowed out at both houses, not get lost etc.

She’s a bit naughty, but she has learnt to use her scratch post/the door mat rather than the furniture.
She is very vocal! And will have a run around the back room and kitchen during the day, I work from home so had company. DD spends time with her on an evening. Cat is not allowed upstairs so doesn’t have free rein, similar set up at DD’s fathers house.

Issue is that she just refuses to be trained not to go on the kitchen worktops/mantelpiece/bookcase top. I’ve tried click training, water spray, firm no, tap on the nose. Nothing works. It’s driving me a little bit mad. She had down time, naps on the sofa in the day, comes with is in the lounge in the evening when we are in there.
So not lonely/bored/hungry/starved of affection.

I know she’s a cat and free willed, she and DD are made for each other! Any ideas welcome, thank you!

Why not get two cats? One at each house.

You little cat will be much more relaxed and cane get some outdoor time. I really think this is unfair on the cat - and focused on your needs not the cats.

And why are you bathing the cats paws - it all seems very odd. I have never heard of a time share cat

If you haven't experienced the 5pm zoomies yet OP, you're in for a TREAT!

CandyLeBonBon she is currently napping after having a lovely zoomer session!

Veterinari I’ll look into some shelving for her. She seems to favour the top of the kitchen cupboard at present!

Contrary to many of the above posts, I can't see anything about the cat's behaviour that the OP has reported which suggests it's stressed or unhappy. Everything the cat is doing is normal for a cat. It's the OP who is the unhappy one as far as I can tell!
I do agree the cat is probably going on the counters to expand its territory as much as possible as it is rather limited. I don't agree moving between two homes is automatically stressful, though. It's what this cat has always been used to. I also think a catio type arrangement for access to some extra space outside would be great. As for going on the counters I don't think there's much hope of stopping her but you could try covering them with something like tinfoil. It might put her off.

Ideasplease322 I had never heard of a time share cat either. DD was struggling in lockdown, she has had mental health issues previously. So we agreed to her having the cat, but with her MH at the time that is why she (cat) goes with DD.

The cat and DD adore each other, and there is little doubt that having her has had a really positive effect on DD.

Foil on the sides. That’s how I trained mine. Took about a week, they jump up on the sides abs hate the foil! I’ve trained all of my cats.

Are you real? You restrict her space indoors and wash her paws???? Why did you get a cat?

Prestel thank you. The thread was supposed to be light hearted, was just living in hope that there may be a way to stop her going on the worktops!

Yes I’ve been looking at a catio for her, she does need more space.

In terms of moving between houses, she willingly gets in her carrier, likes being in the car, and settles straight away, no hiding, no meowing from her.

I really don’t see the issue with cleaning the paws of a cat who doesn’t clean them properly herself. She leaves litter on the worktops 🤢
It’s not like it’s a daily occurrence, it takes 2 minutes.

Examples attached

You can also get mats to put outside the litter tray that collect litter from paws as the cat exits

viques how dare you. You have absolutely no right to site my DD’s MH as the fault of her parents.

Veterinari I’ll have a look at the shelving. She will like the ones with a scratch post as a climber!

Ah thank you, I’ll check those mats out.

OP, sorry you're getting a bit of a hard time here. This is what I would do:
-stop washing paws, it's unnecessary

• buy a cat tree or similar tall cat thing for her to climb on
• my cat used to climb on the worktop, I said "No" in a firm voice and lifted him down every time. It did work after a while although he's also obsessed with the clothes horse and literally nothing I do will stop him climbing on it (and shedding his fur all over our clean clothes!). He definitely understands the word "no", or perhaps the stern tone of voice.

-make it possible for her to play outside -stop the split housing arrangement if possible.

Good luck!

She's probably bored stiff living in the downstairs of the house all the time.

The worktop thing...mine did it a few times. I just put her on the floor. I read somewhere you have to do it like 16 times or something before they learn not to do it. I would say that was right. Obviously keep food away so not to attract her

Don't wash her paws, they don't like it and not needed. Also really advise you stop the moving between two homes. Cats are really territorial.

At 10 months she's prob just got a lot of energy to burn. I would let her upstairs...will give her more exercise and space to roam

OP - either change your fastidious cleaning ways or rehome the cat. The two don’t work together and you’ll just end up defeated. Cats go where cats want to go, including work tops and bedrooms. There’s no way I could lock my two out of my bedroom at night, they are so good, they just curl up and sleep on my bed. You can’t leave a cat alone confined to a room, they get lonely and it’s no life for them. I don’t think a cat is the pet for you, sorry.

A catio could well be enough for her. At 10mths she'd be really climbing the walls by now if she wasn't suited to being an indoor cat. There's nothing wrong with keeping cats indoors if you're prepared to put in the effort with toys and stuff and, indeed, is actually preferable sometimes such as if you live anywhere near a major road, for instance.
Veterinari I love those cat shelves. I've never seen anything like that before.

I have shelving in my kitchen that the cats love. They get up there when we're cooking to see if it's anything they like!
I reckon with a few sympathetic changes you can enrich your cats life and find ways to live with normal cat behaviour.
The litter catching mats are a good idea and can be washed to keep them fresh and clean.
My cats are certainly good for mine and my DD's mental health.

Cats are attached to houses not people. Moving between two isn't fair to her. Keep her in one home so she can go out and work off some energy.

She's probably incredibly stressed out moving between two homes regularly as well as part of both homes being completely of limits to her. You should not be moving her every 7 days!! I've never heard such nonsense before. This is actually really cruel and you're blaming her lack of training for her stress behaviour issues!!
If you're going to have a house cat she needs to live in one house and have a bit of freedom to roam it! Stop washing her paws, she's perfectly capable of doing it herself. Stop spraying her with water and stop 'tapping' her on the nose, cruel, unnecessary and she has no idea why you keep doing it. You don't sound like you have any experience with feline care. I suggest you read a few animal care books.

You are making the cat stressed by moving it between 2 houses. It may suit your dd but cats are territorial and your cat won't like it. I have 5 cats and 2 large play towers for them which has reduced the amount they climb on work surface. I would recommend a large cat tower. Just anti bac spray before using worktops.

For an example on the moving between two homes not being fair on the cat...when we moved house my cat was really sad, not herself and it's taken about two years for her to adjust! You can't overestimate how territorial they are.

Do you have any books on cats? I read some before I got mine and it helped me understand her little ways.