You guys remember my lists?
By ElicBxn
@ElicBxn (64169)
United States
November 13, 2011 5:54pm CST
well, we found something new to clean that wasn't even ON my list!
Fact is, I got a fridge about 11 years ago and it worked well for about 6 of them, but the last 5 years I've had nothing but grief with this darn thing!
So, the roomie and I were over by Sears Friday night and decided to go in and look at/price a new fridge.
We walked out after buying one!
Now... we wanted to get the floor cleaned where the other one has been before the new one goes out, so we pulled it out - after the other roommate got the floor cleaned in the middle of the space. She cleaned the floor there and mopped the whole kitchen.
However, that's just the floors, we decided to take some boxes that we had been using to keep the cats out of placed out of the way, and had to empty and throw stuff away.
Granted, we actually only threw about a box worth of stuff away, one box that was full of fabric is in the washing machine and the rest of the stuff either went into new boxes, and stayed out in one of the sheds, or went to new homes.
Well and good, but then the roomie decided to continue with last weekend's cabinet project. In the end, we got another set of shelves cleaned and rearranged.
We also got most of the counter tops cleaned. I say most, because we still have things that need to be run through the dishwasher and that counter top is still pretty dirty, and is hard to clean because of the stuff on it waiting to go into the dishwasher.
Still, it will be GREAT to have a fridge that we can safely put fruits and veggies into without freezing and keep tea cold, but not an ice cube!
However, I shopped till I dropped yesterday and then cleaned today... Actually had to do stuff to the floor because after the other roommate did such a great job mopping it yesterday, the cats were "helping" us today...
We are talking about some kind of different method to keep them off those counters, don't know exactly what yet tho...
Any ideas that will keep the cats from being bad on my nice clean counters? I would also like some ideas how to put some small appliances up there and keep them safe too!
1 person likes this
5 responses
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
14 Nov 11
I've used red pepper to keep my cat away from specific areas and it works great. I would either sprinkle red pepper around on the counters until the cats realize it's nasty (to their noses) up there or put red pepper in sachets around the counter. They also can't stand the smell of oranges so I've used orange peels to keep the cats out of my garden.
I remember "inheriting" a cat from my mother when she married my stepfather and moved out. She allowed the cat to walk around on the kitchen counter and even sleep on the stovetop. I didn't want the cat doing this, especially because we ate on one of those counters and I certainly didn't want the cat to get burned from the stovetop. I began just picking the cat up and putting him on the floor. When he kept doing it, I'd start dropping him from a higher and higher point until he realized that I meant business and finally stopped trying to get on the counters.
That may be a bit too much for you since you have so many cats so I'd start with the orange peels or red pepper or, better yet, both!
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
15 Nov 11
Hmm, maybe you could try some other spices to see if any of them would help.
How about putting sheets of slightly crumpled aluminum foil down on the counter for awhile. I know they hate walking on it. (I've used it in houseplants when I had an issue with a cat I had decades ago and it worked for me.)
I had a cousin who sprayed that Cat B Gone or whatever it's called on paper towels, then put them around on her counters. (She had 3 cats.) She claimed it worked great. That stuff really stinks but we can't smell it after about a half hour while the cats smell it for up to 12 hours. She just reapplied the stuff as needed until her cats got the message.
1 person likes this
@13tyates (1606)
• United States
14 Nov 11
Wow, it sounds like you have been very very busy! I wish I had that much energy so I could get some of that kind of house work done. I definitely could pull out the fridge and be cleaning off the floor for ever because I am sure it is very dirty! As far as it goes with keeping your cats off the counter I really am not to sure. I am also a cat person so I have to deal with it also. When they were kittens I could spray them with water any time I was them up there. (Just enough to get them down) That worked for a while and they knew not to do that or the water would for sure be coming. Well, as they got older they got sneaky and would find a way to dodge the water. So at this point I am at a losing battle and not really sure how to either. So I will definitely be following this post trying to find out what I can do also! Happy Mylotting!
2 people like this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
14 Nov 11
you can try washing the counters down with vinegar, cats don't like the smell of vinegar
2 people like this
@BarBaraPrz (51811)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
14 Nov 11
Use a lemon-scented cleanser on the counters.
@bellis716 (4799)
• United States
15 Nov 11
I don't know how to train full grown cats to stay off the counters. Neither of our last two cats would get on the counters and rarely would get on the table. However, we started training them when they were kittens. Any piece of furniture in the house was OK, but the kitchen was pretty much a NO, NO. They were allowed on the upholstered seat of the dining room chairs, but that was as far as they were allowed to go. Rarely did either break the rules.
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
15 Nov 11
and I've never had much luck since nobody was around all the time when they were kittens... So far... well... all that hard work didn't do any good because of the sissies hired by Sears to deliver the fridge took one sniff and ran away like rabbits!
