"What do you think you are doing?" I asked Martha the boy cat. No longer a kitten and not quite a cat, I suppose Martha has decided to see how far he can push me.
As you can see, Martha has decided to nap on the table. I just washed that table cloth and am not too happy with Mr. Martha. Like a teen is his prime, Martha is looking at me insolently.
Perhaps I shouldn't have bragged about training him not to claw and bite. I used the kennel as a jail for this. Solitary confinement. No bread, no water. He had to stay until he stopped crying pitifully. This punishment works only for teeth and claws, though.
"Get off the table!!" He seems to be saying "make me". Not only has he made this a nap area, but he has developed the nasty little habit of clearing the entire table. If the mail is on the table, he swipes it to the floor. Bowl of apples are rolled to the floor one by one, then the bowl, unless he decides to get in the bowl.
Mr. Martha, meet Mr. Fly Swatter. Really, you may want to re-think that paw you are extending! Mr. Martha has now experienced what the dogs have been warning him about. He is a very unhappy cat. He might think twice before he hops on my table again. Until this habit is broken, the table cloth will be removed before we eat and replaced after!
Besides trying to assert himself as the alpha being in my house, Martha has developed another problem. Martha eats dog food and cat food. I do not know if this may be cause of his problem, but Martha has gas. Well, that's not quite accurate, as he expels this gas with great regularity.
Although unpleasant, it does not make me love him less. But, he seems to actually choose his timing. He does this in the store while I am checking guests in. I smell it, so I know they have to smell it. They get this trapped look on their faces. They look around to see where this odor has originated and this is when Martha will disappear.
I want to deny any culpability. But I know they think I did it. On the plus side, check-ins have been really fast of late.
10 comments:
Ooh! He has that button-pushing look in his eyes.
All cats love to lay on tables and on any type of fabric, they think you put it there for them. My cats always made a game of knocking things to the floor one at a time, most of it landed under the refrigerator and I had to pull out the fridge and clean under it often.
Good luck training Mr. Martha. Our cats are 10 years old, but they still give us that "make me" look.
Hehehe laughing at his many talents...
I have a dog that likes laying and sleeping on the counter tops and table too. We think she was a table dancer in a previous life ;o)
You and Martha have made me laugh and share your story with my husband. Good chuckles. We are cat people, so we truly understand the shenanigans.
Training a cat? Who are you trying to kid?
I'm sure this isn't as funny to you as it is to me! On a side note, those are great photos of him. Don't animals remind you of children, and vice versa? My son has been pulling the 'make me' routine lately as well.
Thank you for your comment. I'm sorry you've gone through that and thankful that for you it has become something in the past. I am well aware that you cannot make an addict do anything and that denial is amazingly strong. I'm thankful too that my husband and I are past that part of the journey.
two owrds for Martha/Marty snip-snip. Or a spritz of water. He's a cutoe though.
Gotta love that Martha! He's getting back at you for naming him after a girl. Kinda of like Johnny Cash's song, "A Boy named Sue".
My daughter uses a squirt bottle to train her cats. Most of the time it works, but sometimes her big cat Khan jumps up on the counter.
Love this post, though I am sure I would not like Martha's gas problems. Morty never seems to have gas, or not in the house anyway. He has adopted my plant box as his private nest, out in the garden, and I am not pleased, as I used it to grow parsely, my favourite herb.
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