Cat tripping us up on the stairs

[BFPDec21]

How can I discourage this?

When he sees us heading up/down the stairs, he races up quickly, often getting under our feet and tripping us.

When he doesn't to that, he lays at the top of the stairs so we try to climb over him and plays with our feet. If he senses we're cautious, he then rushes down a couple of steps and stops to plays with our feet whilst refusing to move unless you climb a whole step over him.

Each of us have had falls down the stairs before DCat (who we've now had for 4 months and he's nearly 8 months) and I don't want him to keep tripping us up, especially as I'm pregnant.

You have to move to a bungalow, sorry OP.

Hmmmm. Following

Mine doesn’t trip me, but if I walk by her whilst she’s laid on the stairs, I get swiped across my ankle

Hmm, pick the cat up and carry up/down stairs with you? Or don't let cat upstairs and close door to kitchen/dining room so they are confined to that area

It's quite good practice for having a crawling baby/toys everywhere to watch where you're stepping and sometimes kind of sweep your feet low to the ground rather than taking big steps. You never know where little fingers will be! (Admittedly, probably not on the stairs!

I'd just pay close attention as you go up and down, almost in a meditative way!

Also you could get a baby gate with solid gate, not bars. Might slow him down a bit and you'll need it eventually!

My ddogs follow me up and down stairs all day if I am in. I frequently tell dc one day they will find me dead under a pile of sobbing ddogs.

Mine does this all the time it’s really annoying if I go down she rushes down quickly past me I’m lucky I haven’t tripped yet but it drives me mad

He does it because he can.

Mine does it but his favourite trick is to nag me out of bed or chair then start doing cat yoga in front of me

I think he is trying to kill me for buying the wrong cat food sometimes

Mine got a cup of tea poured on him doing that once 😬
He was ok thankfully

It's a thing. This is off insta.

Stand still. They then either run past or stop and look confused.

Mine nearly did for DP when he first moved in because he wasn't used to cats upstairs, but as soon as I taught him the stop technique (used going up and down), they chilled out and became less kamikaze in their approach.

When you've got a wee furry shite intending upon pouncing upon you, you either step over them very slowly, tell them to move or accidentally spill a bit of water on them each time they go to pounce. They soon get the idea that pouncing on the stairs results in an unpleasantly wet head.

It's all good practice for being heavily pregnant or carrying a baby as well - you will need to go slowly when you can't see your feet or can't use the bannister, cat or no cat. Going down the steps so that both feet stop at each one takes a little longer than just going top to bottom in one, but is safer when you're further along.

Mine do this. Don't know which is worse, fat one taking up entire stairs or the whole of the landing before the top step, or little one bouncing under my feet as I try to go down. Either way, they would not pass muster on a risk assessment.

Mine runs behind me then cuts in front halfway down the stairs. I'll be booted off mumsnet but I purposefully keep walking at same pace and strength and she gets a boot if in the way. (not a kick by the way, just the unaltered knock for going directly under my feet). I need her to learn so she doesn't take me and a baby in arms down doing this move. They can learn.

It's all part of their big plan to take over the universe ...

Mine did this all the time! As pp said the easiest solution was to just pick him up and carry him down it was too annoying / my legs weren't long enough to clamber over him

Move to a bungalow

Mine does this, but if I tried to pick her up, I'd resemble a pin cushion.

The cat needs to go to boarding school to learn how to behave. A Swiss boarding school if you can afford.

On a serious note, my rescue cat was abandoned at the age of nine years because the twats had a baby. I still wonder how they sleep at night.

Watching with interest as Sodding is awful for this. So much so it is covered in the verbal handover and written info when neighbours are feeding him for us. DH spent a morning in A&E because of him (thankfully a near miss for more serious injury).

@Santahatesbraisedcabbage

My ddogs follow me up and down stairs all day if I am in. I frequently tell dc one day they will find me dead under a pile of sobbing ddogs.

I say the same about my cat! Except I don’t think he’d be sobbing….until he realised there was no food in his bowl

Impressive thread where every single reply is just yup, my Dcat does that too. No help for the poor OP here!

Lol its a cat thing. Although mine stopped when he realised that getting under my feet on the stairs invariably meant he'd be accidentally kicked in the process.

Op, just slow down!

Sorry OP but that is a cat's sole purpose in life. Nothing you can do 🤷‍♀️

A spiray bottle will encourage them to move. They will learn that loitering on the stairs isn't fun. It's preferable to an injury