First, keep this in mind. The key to teaching your cat to stay off the counters is “negative reinforcement.” Your cat needs to learn that jumping on the counters produces a negative result. Also, you need to realize that cats are natural climbers, so you need to have a cat tree, cat shelves, or something that your cat is allowed to climb onto.

Method 1: Spray Bottle

This method works, but is not the most recommended because you take the chance of your cat associating YOU with the negative results. But here’s how it works…

Keep a water spray bottle handy at all times. Any time the cat jumps onto the counter, give it a quick little squirt (not in the face). The trick is to not let the cat know that the squirt is coming from you because that will just teach him that the negative results only happen when you’re around.

Method 2: Soda Cans On A String

This method also works, but is not recommended as much as method 3. But here’s how it works…

Tie a few empty soda cans together across the edge of the counter. Put a can on one end of the counter, then a string, then another can, then more string, another can, etc. Space the cans every 2 – 3 feet. Tie the string high enough than when the cat jumps up, he will trip the string, pulling the cans over. The noise will scare the cat.

The problem with this technique is that it could scare your cat a little too much, resulting unnecessary anxiety for your cat.

Method 3: Surface Covering

This is my most recommended method. The goal is to create some type of surface on the counter that is uncomfortable for your cat to walk on. You’re not looking to cause pain, just discomfort. The best things to use are double sided tape, upside-down contact paper, or upside-down plastic carpet runners (with the little plastic pokey things).

All you have to do is place the tape, contact paper, or carpet runner on top of the counter. When your cat steps on it, he’ll feel the sticky tape or contact paper, or step on the pokey things on the carpet runner, and realize he doesn’t like the feeling. Within a few days, he should have no interest in jumping on the counter. It works great!

Remember, don’t ever punish your cat for jumping up on things. Instead, practice negative reinforcement to change his behavior. He’ll lose interest in the bad behavior before you know it.

• Buy or build cat scratching posts and place them where your cat is sure to frequent. Different cats like different types of cat scratching posts, so you might need to try several kinds.
• Encourage your cat to use the scratching post by putting catnip on and around it, and reward your cat when he scratches the post.
• Try putting the scratching post next to your cat’s napping area, or bring your cat to the post after a nap. Cats love to stretch and scratch after naps, so make it easy for him.
• NEVER encourage your cat to scratch on old furniture. Your cat doesn’t know the difference between old and new.
• NEVER punish or yell at your cat for scratching or clawing your furniture. This will just teach your cat that he shouldn’t scratch when you’re around and can result in stress and anxiety (which usually results in worse behavior).
• A quick spray from a water bottle isn’t punishment. The trick is to not let your cat know that the spray is coming from you. Hide the bottle and give him a little squirt when he’s not looking at you. He’ll get confused and eventually realize that scratching the furniture results in getting wet. Most cats hate that!
• Consult your vet for alternative scratching solutions.

Scratching and clawing is natural for cats. They do it to sharpen their claws, stretch their muscles, and mark their territory. You can’t take that natural tendency out of a cat. But with proper training, your cat can learn to use the scratching posts, and not scratch or claw your furniture.

What are ear mites and what do they do?

Ear mites are tiny little bug-like creatures that crawl around in your cat’s ears. If there is one ear mite in your cat’s ear, there are probably thousands of ear mites. They dine on your cat’s ear wax. As your cat’s ear becomes irritated by the ear mites, the ear’s lining secretes serum from blood in the ear. If you’ve noticed a black, scab-like formation in the ear, it’s a combination of the ear wax, serum, and ear mite poop. Gross!

If left untreated, ear mites can lead to infection. In severe cases, the infection can cause a ruptured ear drum.

The ear mites will mate and lay eggs in your cat’s ear, so it’s important to stop the life cycle if you want to put an end to these irritating pests. If you follow the procedure below, you should completely end the ear mite’s life cycle and do away with those pesky ear mites once and for all.

How to treat cat ear mites:

1. Clean all off the black stuff from the ear with a mixture of warm water and liquid dish soap. Squirt some of the solution into the ear and allow it to bubble up. This will loosen the black stuff. Repeat this a few times, then rinse with warm water.
2. Place ear mite medication (available at pet stores for under $10) into the ear and massage the base of the ear. Follow the instructions on the ear mite medicine’s packaging.
3. Apply ear mite medication for 2 more days.
4. Wait 1 week for the medicine to do it’s magic.
5. After 1 week, clean the ears and apply the medicine again.
6. Repeat for 2 more days
7. Wait 1 more week
8. Repeat the ear cleaning / ear mite medicine cycle for 3 more days.

Again, following the above procedure to remove ear mites and their eggs has proven successful time and time again.

Occasionally, your cat will scratch her ear so much that it will become raw. If this happens, please see a veterinarian as soon as possible. The open wound could easily become infected and lead to further complications.

One other note… ear mites will travel from cat to cat or cat to dog. If you have other pets, you should treat those pets for ear mites also. Good luck!

Invisible Fence is actually a brand name owned by Invisible Fence, Inc. Underground fencing was invented by Richard Peck in the 1970’s and was marketed exclusively under the “Invisible Fence” brand until the patent expired in 1991. Today, the most popular brands are Innotek and PetSafe.

Basically, here’s how invisible fence works…

You install an underground perimeter wire around the desired pet containment area (your yard). Your dog wears a transmitter on his collar. If your dog gets too close to the buried wire, he gets a little zap through the collar.

Each system comes with training flags to mark the perimeter. In most cases, your dog or cat will be trained in about a week.

The advantages of invisible fencing are…

• It’s invisible.
• It’s much less expensive than a traditional fence
• It preserves the openness of your property.
• There is little-to-no maintenance. In most cases, all you need to do is keep fresh batteries in the dog collar.

Disadvantages of invisible fencing are…

• Since the fence is invisible, people walking by your property don’t know your dog is contained. People might be startled if your dog charges to the edge of your property only to stop at the last second. But, the person walking by doesn’t know the dog will stop.
• Some dogs have a higher pain tolerance and might run through the barrier if the temptation is too great.

For me, the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages. I’ve chosen to order my own kit and install the fence myself. I can rent a ditch digger for about $100.

The kits come in all sizes from 1/4 acre to over 20 acres.

The best prices and selection that I’ve found on invisible fencing is from PetStreetMall.com. They have the most popular 2 brands… Innotek and Petsafe fences. They also offer free shipping.

For my property, I’ll have the entire dog fence installed for less than $350. Monetarily speaking, compared to spending thousands on a traditional fence, you can’t beat an invisible fence.

I hope this information on invisible fencing helps you decide whether it’s right for you and your pet.

Recently, I brought a new kitten into my home, and I’ve noticed that he’s decided to urinate in a potted plant, using the plant as a cat litter box. This gave me a new mission: find the best way to stop my cat from urinating in my plant. While I was searching, I found that the same tips are also good for keeping the cat from urinating or pooping on carpet and furniture. Here are the top 10 ways I’ve found stop this poor cat behavior.

1. This method is very effective! Buy a Spray Repellent (for about $8 – $10 per can). Simply spray the repellent around the area where you want to keep the cat from going to the bathroom. Most of the repellents say they’re for dogs, but they work great for cats, too. PetStreetMall.com is a great places to buy the repellent for cheap.
2. Place large rocks or pine cones on top of the soil. The cats don’t like the feeling of the rocks or pine cones on their paws.
3. To keep them off the furniture, try aluminum foil or plastic carpet runner (with the little pointy things facing up). Again, the cat’s don’t like how it feels on their paws.
4. Keep the litter clean. One of the most common causes of cat’s refusing to use their litter pan… is a dirty pan. How do you like it when you go into a public restroom and the toilet is nasty? Keep that in mind for your cat’s litter.
5. Try putting mothballs in potted plants
6. Buy some of those cheap noise-making motion detectors and place them in the areas where your cat is making his / her mess. Next time your cat comes by to relieve himself, the alarm goes off and the cat decides not to go there again.
7. Tie a helium-inflated mylar balloon down where your cat has been peeing. The balloon will sway back and forth all day long and keep the cat away from the area.
8. Give each cat his / her own litter box. Some cat’s just don’t like to share.
9. Transfer the kitty feces to the litter box. Let the cat know where the proper place to poop is.
10. Some cats urinate and poop in the wrong place because they’re stressed out about something. If you’ve done your best to relieve any stress from your cat, consider anti-anxiety medicine from your veterinarian.

I hope at least one of these tips to keep your cat from spraying / urinating / peeing / defecating / pooping (or whatever you want to call it) in all the wrong places is helpful. Hopefully this will help save your carpet, your plants, your furniture, your cat, and your sanity.

These are all some of the best cat videos on the internet. Let me know if you have any suggestions of other cat videos.

To remove a pet stain, first make sure that you’re actually finding all of the stains. Animals tend to return to the same spot over and over. Even though you may not see a stain, that doesn’t mean it’s not there. If they can smell it, they’ll probably return again. The best thing to do is get a black light from your local home improvement store, make the room dark, and look for soiled areas. You may even want to get on your hands and knees to sniff around. Yes, that’s strange, but it’s important that you get all of the stains cleaned.

Next, clean all of the soiled areas thoroughly. For urine stains that have already set in, start with a wet vac with clean water (no chemicals yet). Believe it or not, clean water is very effective on stains.

After the area is clean, use a pet odor neutralizer. You can get this at your local pet store.

If, after you’ve cleaned and de-odorized the area, the carpet still looks or smells stained then get a good carpet stain remover such as “Resolve For Pet Stains”. I’ve even used laundry stain remover such as “Spray and Wash.” Just make sure you test the product on a safe area first.

Do not use a steam cleaner to remove the stain. The heat can cause the stain to permanently adhere to the fabric in the carpet. Carpet shampooers are fine, just don’t use hot water. One thing to keep in mind… when you apply a odor neatrulizer, it’s most effective if the cleaning solution is completely rinsed out. Most odor neutralizers and cleaning solutions don’t mix, and this combination renders the neatrulaizer useless.

If the pet stain has soaked all the way into the padding under the carpet, you might have to remove and replace that section of the carpet and/or padding.

There are enzymatic cleaners available from carpet cleaning professionals. They can be expensive, but can also be very effective.

As a last resort, you may need to all in a professional to have your carpets cleaned.

Treating fresh pet stains is much easier. If you happen to notice urine on the carpet when it is still wet, quickly get several paper towels, fold them up, and soak up the urine. Repeat this 2 or 3 times until you can’t get any more urine from the carpet. Apply as much pressure as possible when soaking up the urine. You can even press the paper towels into the carpet with your shoe to get as deep as possible. Next, rinse the are with clean water (not hot water) and use a wet vac to remove the water. The quicker you catch it, the easier it will come out.

The most effective method of eliminating pet stains from your carpet… teach your cat or dog that it is not appropriate for him to relieve himself on your carpet. Here’s a great ebook on house training any dog. Or, teach you cat to use the toilet (honestly, it works!).

Best wishes!

So, what causes matts and how do you treat matted fur?

There are several things which can cause matting, but the most common cause is lack of grooming. If you haven’t brushed your cat or dog for a while, shame on you. Your pet can’t do it himself. He’s totally dependent on you to take care of him. If you can’t do it regularly, please take your pet to a groomer regularly.

Fleas can also cause matting. They can create a tangled mess in your pets fur. Check and treat your pet for fleas regularly.

Some cats and dogs have 2 coats of fur which shed and need to be brushed out. This is a natural process and it is important to brush out the undercoat when your pet is shedding.

So how do you de-matt your pet’s fur? Well, let’s get this one out of the way first. You can always have your pet shaved and let him start all over. Sometimes it’s the best thing. In the right weather, a fresh shave feels great to your pet. It might scare you at first glance, but it always grows back. However, many people are shocked at the thought of shaving their little beauty, so here’s how you can take care of matted hair on your own.

The most important thing to remember when de-matting your pet is this: be patient. Bathing your pet before trying to remove the matts can often make the matts worse. Removing matts from your cat or dog is usually not a quick process, so be patient. My youngest yorkie matted up over the course of 2 weeks one time because I slacked on grooming, and it took me 3 weeks to remove the matts.

Here are the tools you’ll need to remove matts from your dog or cat (the best prices I’ve found on these items is from CheapPetStore.com):

• A steel comb
• A slicker brush
• A matt splitter

First, let your pet get into a comfortable position… on your lap, on the floor, on the sofa, or wherever he can get comfortable. You don’t want to wrestle your pet during this. If your pet is matted in several places, start de-matting in the places where your pet is most comfortable lying down. In other words, let your pet get comfortable, then work with the places which have easiest access. Also, do your best to control the cat or dog’s head. Control the head… control the pet.

Next begin to work on the matts with the steel comb. Be sure to brush with the grain of the fur. Don’t pull so hard that it hurts your dog. Just for an experiment, grab a small piece of hair on the back of your own head. Pull down, then pull up. Which one hurt more? Up, right? Keep that in mind when you’re brushing your pet. Use the steel comb to slowly break up the clumps.

Try to pull the matted clumps apart into small sections with your hands. The matts are easier to remove if they are smaller, and this will cut down on the amount of fur your pet loses. You may need to carefully cut into the matt with scissors to divide it up. Obviously, don’t get too close to the skin. A cut pet is an unhappy pet. An unahppy pet is more difficult to groom.

As the matts begin to break up, use the slicker brush to remove the tangles. Start at the end of the fur and work your way closer to the skin as the matts loosen up. If you try to start at the base of the fur, next to the skin, you’ll just end up compressing the matts even tighter.

If your pet is going to require numerous grooming sessions to remove the matts, that’s ok. The end results will be rewarding for both you and your pet. Take your time. Be patient. Help your dog or cat to remain calm and comfortable. If you’re sitting down to watch TV or a movie, that would be a great time to work on the matts.

After all the matts are removed, plan on regular grooming times for your cat or dog. Keep the comb or brush in a noticeable spot to remind you about maintaining your pet’s fur. It much easier to brush your pet a few minutes each day than it is to spend hours fighting to remove matted fur.

Good luck!

Cats are creatures of habit, and like all creatures of habit, habits can be changed with the right techniques. If you want to teach your cat to respond to his name more consistently, here’s how you do it:

Step 1: Start saying your cat’s name every time you pet him. Do this while he is most relaxed and comfortable. Lay him on your lap or lay down on the floor with him and pet him while you softly say his name. Over time he will associate his name with the pleasure of being petted.

Step 2: Keep some treats handy. While you’re doing step 1, keep an eye open for when the cat turns his head to look at you. When he does, give him a treat. He’ll catch on to this quickly, so keep your treats small because you don’t want him to get too fat. This step will teach your cat that responding to his name results in a reward.

Step 3: Throughout the day, look for opportunities where the cat is nearby (but not focused on you,) and softly say his name just like you did in steps 1 and 2. When he responds and approaches you, give him a treat. Make sure you don’t approach him to give him the treat. Remember, the purpose is to teach the cat to come to you.

Step 4: As your cat responds on to the nearby calling, start calling him from farther away. Don’t take big steps here, just increase the distance gradually and use the same tone with your voice each time. When the cat responds, give him a treat. Eventually, you can try calling your cat from a different room. Always reward your cat for responding.

One important point… don’t say your cat’s name to discipline him because that will defeat the purpose. If you need to get your cat’s attention because he’s doing something he shouldn’t, say, “No!” or “Stop it!” or something other than his name. Remember, when you say your cat’s name, you want him to come to you, not run away from you.

This cat training technique is very basic. Like at pet obedience training, it requires consistency on your part. If you want your cat to respond consistently, you must be consistent first.

I’ve found a great cat training book which I would recommend to every cat owner. The book provides techniques for You can purchase it here or click the book to the right. Best wishes to you and your cat.