Reply to Old cat - let on counters? (more lifestyle than pet question)

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[quote=Anonymous]The pet forum is totally dead so I hope I'll get more variety of responses here.

We have a 14 year old cat who has had a lot of increasing health problems in the last 6 months. He's under ongoing care by a good vet who specializes in cats (and I've gotten a few different opinions). I'll be surprised if he's alive a year from now due to the rate his kidney disease is going, but who knows.

As part of some of the medicine he's on, his personality seems to be really unpredictable lately, and he'll get kind of fixated on one thing for awhile. Sometimes he is obsessed with the shower. Other times he yowls all night long and we have to shut him out of the bedroom. Other times he is super chill and easy going. Sometimes he is obsessed with human food, even though he has unlimited access to wet and dry cat food. It's not consistent.

The latest thing is he is obsessed with getting on the kitchen counter - in particular, the raised bar. He gets up there and just lounges. He has NEVER been allowed on counters. Loud noises, tin foil, spraying him with a water bottle -- none of this deters him. Every time we hear him jump up, we go get him down, but it is a total fool's errand. He just jumps right back up.

I'm ready to say "Who cares?" and let the cat get up on the raised bar. To me, it feels like our getting pissed over it is what is making our quality of life feel lower, not the cat actually being on the counter. We don't keep anything on the counter (dishes, food, papers, etc.) that he is getting into or knocking over. He just gets on there and lays. He has other high options, and cool tile options. There are no other animals or small kids in the house that are making him want to "escape." It's seriously just a quirk.

In theory/principle, i am COMPLETELY opposed to cats on the counter. But in reality, I'm feeling like obsessing over trying to keep him off the counters is making us miserable, and I'd rather just wipe down the counters any time we prep food (and we always prep on dishes or cutting boards anyway) and move on with our lives rather than walk back and forth to the kitchen 35 times a night to fight a losing battle with an elderly cat. Being up there seems to really chill him out when he is otherwise being neurotic.

When we have guests, we put him in the laundry room (large with a window, bed, litter box, food, flowing water, etc.), so I'm not worried about him getting up there during a gathering when we have food out.

Thoughts? [/quote]

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