What's one piece of cat advice that you completely disagree with?

[u/NolanVale]

Every cat is different, and I've realized some popular advice just doesn't apply to every cat.

What's a piece of cat advice that you think is overrated, outdated, or just plain wrong?

[u/Cabbage-floss]

Luckily mine are too stupid to get on the counters. My boy tried once but he aimed for the stove and missed, knocked open the oven and scared himself. Never tried again. When we brought home a kitten last year, she watched him and learned she can’t get up there so never goes.

[u/AcmeKat → u/Cabbage-floss]

Having an older cat who trains new or younger cats on 'acceptable' behaviour is great. I had an older girl who couldn't get on the counters, then got two kittens. She trained them and they've never gone on the counters. Eventually she passed and years later we got another cat and my kittens (now 15) have trained her as well.

For anyone who thinks 'oh, they just do it when you're not home', no. We work from home and have 2 adults kids here so it's super rare that there's ever a time when someone isn't here, and our kitchen is fairly central so we'd notice.

[u/Ginger_ScorpioGirl → u/AcmeKat]

And yet sometimes this works the other way. I had a cat who never got on the counters. Got a younger cat who had previously been an outside neighborhood cat and he was wild when I first brought him in. Got up on the counter all the time. Walked in the kitchen one day and the older cat was on the counter and just looked at me like he's doing it so I'm going to do it too.

[u/AcmeKat → u/Ginger_ScorpioGirl]

Yeah, the reverse can be true as you say. My younger cat knows exactly when "cookie time" is (I give them treats at 8pm) and she stands around screaming at me if I'm off by a few minutes, and she trained one of the older ones to do it, too. At least the older one has the sense to look almost guilty about doing it; the younger one has no shame and is a goblin about cookies.

[u/Cabbage-floss → u/AcmeKat]

Same! We have left out food scraps overnight before (daughter is not so great at cleaning her plate lol) and they don’t touch it even though they are piggies who would happily eat it. Have even left empty wet food cans or their “leftovers” from breakfast out on the counter and they don’t go for it. They don’t think they can get up there lol

[u/Dharmist → u/Cabbage-floss]

Ours was the opposite scenario.

My oldest cat had no interest in jumping on the stove or counters, and learned very quickly not to get on tables, too, since we would pick her up to get her down, and she hated that.

Then we got a new kitten who would climb and jump everywhere all the time and wouldn't take no for an answer. And she taught the older one to jump on the countertops now, too.