"thil_and_jerman421" <jilly_willy421@yahoo.com> wrote in message

Perhaps some type of underpad to absorb the water?

I have a carpet like underpad beneath my cat's litterbox. When she jumps
out, she usually lands on it and that gets rid of most of the loose litter
on her paws.

That's what kittens do. They *will* outgrow it. If tucking the wires out of
the way is not enough then you can buy protective sheaths to cover the
wires. An alternative you might try is to brush a little Tabasco on the
wires where they like to chew. The smell and/or taste of it should
discourage them.

Everything your cats are doing, my cat did. It began to stop a little before
she reached a year old. One other thing that stopped was her jumping up on
everything. I built her a three foot tall cat tree and almost immediately
she was able to jump over it entirely. Now, it's a scratching post and a
resting area that she uses to look out the window. Her increased size and
weight makes it more difficult for her to jump heights and longer distances.

Again, they will outgrow most of what they're doing right now. They won't
outgrow all of it and that's preferable in my opinion because part of what
they do is what we like about cats.

One kitten can be a handful, but that is what they do!

As they get a little older they will change their behavior, when they start
going to toilet on the carpet or start ripping it up it gets really
annoying.

Just persevere, I hope it all works out.

Those little frisky guys are gonna have fun anyway they can. The nice thing
is that, since cats have a relatively brief lifetime, at least compared to
humans, they tend to mellow more quickly.

What about putting their water dish in some kind of tray? At least the
splash will be contained. Maybe that way they won't have wet feet dragging
kitty litter all over the place.

I don't allow Isis on my kitchen counters. By saying "NO" loudly and
clapping my hands she has learned it is Forbidden Territory. I don't want
her stepping onto hot stove grilles and I don't want kitty hair in my food,
either. Do your cats respond to an angry "NO" or some other loud noise?

Mike in Illinois

Cats *do* respond to training, if it is firm, kind and consistent.
If you nab them every single time you see them on the counter,
and talk to them very firmly and in a disapproving tone of voice,
and every single time, grab them off, and set them on the floor,
they will get the message, eventually..  Make sure
there is nothing tempting on the counter to attract them.  There
are "repellant" sprays, but they stink.

Keep the litter in a very different room altogether, from the food
and water, and for awhile, you might want to set up a towel or
something that they must walk on before getting to the litter
box and hopefully it will dry their feet before they can step into
the litter box.

If they are particularly rambunctious, you may have to invest
some energy into tiring them out.  Play with them, using
games, or cat toys that will get them hyped up and let
them expend a lot of energy.  Perhaps, then, if they are
pooped out, they will not be too restless or bored which
can lead to troublesome exploratory behaviour.

I'm not a big fan of spraying cats with a bottle.  I think
it's really rude, and they certainly think so.  But having
wet hands and shaking them at the cat is quite different,
and just enough to get their attention, and usually enough
to get them to think they'd rather be somewhere else
other than that kitchen counter.

If they tend to instigate each other, then one response
when they are naughty, going on the counter, if they
do it together, is to immediately grab them and put
each one in a different room for about fifteen minutes
or so.  It's like a timeout.  It can have a wonderful
steadying effect if they are a real twosome.

Good luck, and I hope you stick it out.  Keep in
mind that you are at the most troublesome age
of kittens and it does get better from here on
out.  As they get older, they will settle down,
and you'll find yourself reminiscing soon enough
about their "kitten zoomies" that they used to
get.  Also, have a camera ready and snap stuff
that you might want to chuckle over later,
when it is far enough away in time that you can!

Consider a smaller tree than usual, so that you
can put one on a dining table or some such
surface up from the floor, less tempting to
kitties.  Consider lights up the walls, and
more traditional old-fashioned ornaments
on the tree, even if just for this year, to
eliminate the risk, and your anxieties
which will make your Xmas more
stressful if you are worried.  And definitely
jump on it when you see the kits near
any wires, starting from now, so that
six weeks from now, it might not be
such an issue.

Best of luck, and have a kitty-safe
X-mas.

--tension