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I have a set of furniture for my tv and dvds that my cat recently has discovered as something fun to climb on. For that she needs to start from the window-frame, jump behind the curtain and get on a closet.

I don't want her to climb on it, because she could cause damage by chewing, or throwing dvds on the ground, damaging the boxes and scratching the dvds.

I make it very clear that she's not allowed to climb the furniture set, by firmly saying 'no!' (and body language) and grabbing her by the neck and taking her off the furniture, if she persists. This usually works, as shouting or standing up from the couch normally makes her turn back. But sometimes she just rushes forward to reach as much as she can, before I have time to react.

The question

Is this just cats being cats, or might this be a sign of boredom? What can I do to get a more permanent solution?

PS: Sort of funny, she resets the clock above the furniture, by moving the big hand (she has to stand on dvds and stretch real high to do that).

kbd
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1 Answers1

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Cats have a natural need to climb in the wild - to literally save their life against predators and allow them to see to hunt - and without other alternatives they will ignore arbitrary rules. A better way of thinking is to provide an acceptable alternative to something you don't like...like in this case a cat tree, or a good scratch post to keep a cat from clawing the carpet or sofa.

You could even move the clock to above the new tree to allow the cat to have fun stopping the hand!

Oldcat
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