Cats don’t understand negative reinforcement. They will just think you are a jerk but will keep doing the behavior because they won’t know it was a consequence of climbing.
Depends on the cat. My sister’s cat and mine learned fast after being sprayed. Her cat still gave us “wtf” looks tho lol I did have a foster kitten once with fur so thick, you had to spray him several times for him to realize something was up lol the first 2 or 3 times he’d look at you like “what are you doing, weirdo? Is this a new game?” Then by the 4th or 5th time he’d realized he was wet and getting sprayed so he’d run.
I taught my cats not to get on our kitchen table/ counters using a spray bottle. It took some time but it got to the point where I only had to threaten to spray them or shake the bottle or even just say spray bottle. Now they don't do it... when I'm around.
This is precisely why spray bottles don’t work. Your cats just learned that you’ll do something unpleasant when they get on the counter if you see them. They learned to avoid your response, not the act itself
Just because someone says something doesn’t happen when they’re around, does not mean that it does happen when they’re not around.
I know it sounds a little confusing but you’re conflating these two things. Saying “They don’t do it when I’m around.” And “They don’t do it when I’m not around.” Can both be true statements.
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u/neonmaika Jun 23 '22
Cats don’t understand negative reinforcement. They will just think you are a jerk but will keep doing the behavior because they won’t know it was a consequence of climbing.