I feel a bit of an ass.

[delissa]

For a while now I've known Chaz doesn't really look at my face much -  something I figured out on the day we were married, actually.  I was so self-centered I didn't realize until just last night that he doesn't look at people much, even actors on TV.  I only figured it out because we were talking about the number of actors who show up as guest

Comments

[evilcarp]

I'm somewhat face blind, so I don't pay much attention to them either. I don't think they know why that happens.

There's a couple of possibilities for the cat. How well they work depends on how smart and sensitive he is. The cheap way is to act like the door frame is the most evil and frightening thing ever. Yell at it like it's done something terrible while he's around to see.

There's all kinds of sprays you can get at pet stores that are supposed to keep cats away from things. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

Have a squirt gun and squirt him whenever he starts scratching. Don't say anything, just squirt him. Try to be as far away as possible while you're doing it. Hopefully he won't be smart enough to realize he only gets punished when he scratches.

You can also try a can full of coins that you shake whenever he starts being bad. Again, if he's not too smart, he won't connect the scary noise to you.

[alryssa]

What they said. *points up*

I used an old pop can, put in some popcorn kernels, and duct taped it. I tried the water pistol thing on Jack for a while because he'd keep jumping up on the counters, and while he'd run away, he didn't seem overly deterred enough to stop doing it. Once I started using the can? Oh yeah. He HATES that noise and flees whenever he hears it. What works for one cat isn't necessarily going to work for another, though, so work through the options. I've never tried the deterrent sprays like Bitter Apple, so I can't tell you if they're effective or not.

[sharyna]

I'm not 100% sure how Wendy trained our cats, but I believe it was the squirt bottle PLUS yelling "NO!" when they do it. By now, just the "NO!" usually works, which is convenient when you're doing something or can't find the squirt bottle. ^^;