Lemon & Lime Keep Cat Away

I've tried everything to keep Whiskey away from food while I prepare a meal. We've used sticky tape, foil, pennies in a can, squirt bottle, etc. Yet for some reason he thinks he has to inspect everything that is put out on the kitchen counters. He thinks he's helping to make sure everything is cooked fully or doesn't burn by sticking his face into pots & pans while food is cooking. He also thinks he has to taste everything that I'm slicing and dicing too. Throwing food into the garbage disposal in the sink is out as he would dive into the sink to retrieve the food.

But, I think I've found a way of preparing a meal without Whiskey inspecting everything up close & personal. I've noticed that he hates the smell of sliced lemons & limes. If I put some lemon or lime slices on the counter he avoids the area. So I put a slice on one side of the stove and one on the other side. This seems to keep him out of the stuff cooking. I've also put some in the sink and this now keeps him out of it.

We're keeping our fingers crossed and hope the lemons & limes continue to work until he at least gets the hint and stops trying.

Thank you for the great idea! I know my Ollie dislikes the smell of tangerines but I never thought of using them as a deterrent for meal times! He was inspecting yam slicing tonight as well as sticking his nose in the au jus pan and generally using the kitchen counters as his personal jungle gym! LOL I guess it is a Maine Coon thing. ;o)

Yes, it must be a Maine Coon thing....none of my cats in my 55 years of life have ever done this. I am always so worried Spartacus will get burned on the stove, or cut while I am chopping up something on the cutting board. I will definitely be getting some lemons and limes tomorrow at the grocery.

PS...I wonder just how much cat hair we end up eating everyday? LOL

Great idea thanks I have the misfortune to own just one that won't learn,waterbottle works for rest but not him,my friend has movement detectors on the sides in her kitchen if she has a problem one but it makes such a noise when it goes off I think I would leave the house at the same time so have never gone that route but luv the idea of the added benefit of L & L as well,lovely smell....

I must be lucky as none of mine bother when I'm preparing/cooking food. Sounds like you may have found a solution to your problem though with the lemon and limes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by afgreyparrot

PS...I wonder just how much cat hair we end up eating everyday? LOL

---

Yes, I have often wondered about that too. I guess I will know when I throw up my first hairball. ;)

Day 2: Preparing meal. Whiskey stuck face into bowl of grapes. Picked up a slice of lemon on put on top of grapes. He squinted and walked away. Success! Chopped up some shrimp. Whiskey jumped up and stuck face over shrimp on plate. Grabbed slice of lemon and put between his nose & shrimp. He turned and laid down to watch staying out of my way. Another success. Let's hope this his hate of lemons & limes will continue.

Of course DH says the easiest thing to do would be to lock Whiskey in a room until I'm done preparing the meal. But I'm not one for taking the easy route.

what an interesting idea. I wonder does it work with Egyptian Maus as well? My Tiny's mum is an egyptian Mau cross and his little brother salem, the 3 of them jump on benches. Today they tried to pinch boiled potatoes whilst I was making potato salad

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CatsMom

Day 2: Preparing meal. Whiskey stuck face into bowl of grapes. Picked up a slice of lemon on put on top of grapes. He squinted and walked away. Success! Chopped up some shrimp. Whiskey jumped up and stuck face over shrimp on plate. Grabbed slice of lemon and put between his nose & shrimp. He turned and laid down to watch staying out of my way. Another success. Let's hope this his hate of lemons & limes will continue.

Of course DH says the easiest thing to do would be to lock Whiskey in a room until I'm done preparing the meal. But I'm not one for taking the easy route.

---

So far so good. Fingers crossed it continues.

This should work with all citrus fruits. Lemons/limes may work better as they are "sharper"

I will be trying this as nero is becming a real pain. He has worked out what a fridge is for. If it is is opened within earshot he runs across , jumps in and pulls anything he can reach out onto the floor just in case it is edible.
He will eat carrott cabbage bread cheese potato (loves pasta) in fact pretty much anything he can get and he has cat food to eat whenever he wants. Maybe I will try him with a slice of lemon.

Great that it seems to be working. I had less success when I tried it.
We are fine-tuning the housetraining with our 9 month old kitten Herbie. Occasionally he will wee under the piano, when there are 5 litter trays in the house in 3 separate areas. I sprayed lemon juice in the area hoping it would deter him and make him go to the tray instead. But he just weed a bit over to the left.....bah!

So instead we have been really careful about blocking his access to that room - a bit tricky since we don't have a hallway and you walk through that room to get upstairs. But last night was a step forwards - Herbie was howling and crying to get our attention, and it turned out he wanted to nip down to the cellar to use his tray. Previously he'd have made no sound and 'gone' under the piano whilst our backs were turned. His 2 big brothers are very good at 'asking' to be let outside or downstairs should either door be shut. So fingers crossed, he's learning. Might not have to take him back to the shop after all....:LOL:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Howlinbob

Previously he'd have made no sound and 'gone' under the piano whilst our backs were turned.

---

Why not put a small litter tray under the piano? Plenty of space underneath that huge thing, lol. :LOL:

True, but I have resisted this measure so far because a cat loo under the Imperial Grand does not look good for clients :LOL:

So I bought a lemon and a lime ( just in case)

Started to cut them up. Just the noise was enough to get Nero on the worktop (cutting means food)

So I put some slices down . His first reaction was mmm something else to eat . He walks up to the lemon slices , smells them for about five seconds and sat down next to them. I think he was deciding if he could eat lemon. Anyway it had no effect on him in fact he was last seen playing with a slice after knocking it on to the floor.
Will need to look at plan B I think

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Howlinbob

Great that it seems to be working. I had less success when I tried it.
We are fine-tuning the housetraining with our 9 month old kitten Herbie. Occasionally he will wee under the piano, when there are 5 litter trays in the house in 3 separate areas. I sprayed lemon juice in the area hoping it would deter him and make him go to the tray instead. But he just weed a bit over to the left.....bah!

So instead we have been really careful about blocking his access to that room - a bit tricky since we don't have a hallway and you walk through that room to get upstairs. But last night was a step forwards - Herbie was howling and crying to get our attention, and it turned out he wanted to nip down to the cellar to use his tray. Previously he'd have made no sound and 'gone' under the piano whilst our backs were turned. His 2 big brothers are very good at 'asking' to be let outside or downstairs should either door be shut. So fingers crossed, he's learning. Might not have to take him back to the shop after all....:LOL:

---

Poor Herbie. Since cats are terriorial and will pee in areas to say "it's my area" perhaps Herbie wanted to claim the spot under the piano as his or perhaps he thinks the other cats marked the other litter boxes as theirs. I hope things work out for him & you.

I tried rubbing the counters down with the lemons and limes, but it didn't work once the stuff dried. So I found that lemon or lime halves work best as the slices dried out fast too and the halves held the moisture & smell longer.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by F,S & N

So I bought a lemon and a lime ( just in case)

Started to cut them up. Just the noise was enough to get Nero on the worktop (cutting means food)

So I put some slices down . His first reaction was mmm something else to eat . He walks up to the lemon slices , smells them for about five seconds and sat down next to them. I think he was deciding if he could eat lemon. Anyway it had no effect on him in fact he was last seen playing with a slice after knocking it on to the floor.
Will need to look at plan B I think

---

Day 3, I got rid of the slices and am now using lemon halves & lime halves as they hold their moisture longer. It must have given you a good giggle watching Nero take off with a slice.

Its par for the course .
There isnt much he wont play football with or eat.
came down this morning and he was trying to eat a melon I had cut in half yestrday.
When I get my new phone i will take some pics and post them up.

I wont bother with halves they are football shaped.

Update... It's a month later today and the lemon & lime halves are still working. I use them when preparing large meals as Whiskey insists on inspecting everything. I've laid the halves on the counter only to find that he has learned to walk around them. So whenever he pokes his nose into or over something, I place a half between his nose and the object. He squints, turns away, and then tries with something else. I wind up putting the lemons or limes under his nose a few times until he finally gets bored and lays down content just watching me prepare the rest of the meal. I'd rather have him laying on the counter then sticking his nose into everything.