Other Turtle Discussion :: the pet repellent isn't working anymore

[pumpkinsherbet]

i got some pet repellent and i spray a border around the tank. about 3 feet away from the tank, to give plenty of space. usually lily would walk up to the border, stop, sniff, then walk away. today i spray the repellent and a couple hours later what do i see?!?! lily with her nose to the tank. (no picture) it was cute, but i don't want my turtles freaking out.

they'll get a stand eventually, i promise, but for now i have to make do with what i have.

she made no attempt to jump up, but i'd still like to get her into the habit of avoiding the tank. in an easy HUMANE way. i have the spray bottle, which so far hasn't done much good either. we spray her whenever she gets on the coffeetable, she jumps off, looks at us, then jumps right back on.

*sigh*

[Starchick]

I assume Lily is a cat? My cat Louie used to be all about clawing my dad's speakers, he knew he wasn't supposed to but he would look around all sneaky and try to do it when no one was looking, and sometimes he would look right at you and do it slowly like he was waiting to see how far you'd let him go without stopping him. My dad finally ended it by playing the beginning of Sin Wagon by the Dixie Chicks REALLY loud, he only had to do it once or twice and Louie's never looked at the speakers since. I think to quell a cat's curiosity you really have to make sure it associates the tank with bad things happening, otherwise they'll just do it when you're not around.

[pumpkinsherbet]

haha, yeah lily's my cat. sorry! :p

okay, i suppose i could try yelling at her? i'll see if i can figure out something appropriately unpleasant.

[SpotsMama]

We've got two year old cats that are full of curiousity. To train them we use a couple of plastic squirt bottles filled them with water. When the cats start to get into trouble, we squirt them (preferably in the face) with water. They hate that! After only a couple of squirts, they learn what not to do - don't go near the turtle tank, don't run out the door when it's open, don't climb the walls, etc. It's a quick, humane way to teach a cat.

[Cayte923]

Starchick.....I have to say, your little story about your cat Louie made me laugh out loud for almost 10min!

Anyway...I have gone the cayenne pepper route. I made a paste of a tiny bit of water and pepper and spread it around the top, outside rim of my tank. Everytime I caught the cat near the tank she was leaning in with paws on the edge. It only took 2 tries, she smelled the pepper, licked her feet then gave me the kitty stinky face and bolted. I think the second time she was trying to test her luck. I still keep some of the paste on there as a reminder.

[camee1991]

ROFL! "Sin Wagon" OMG.....starchick- that is TOOOOO funny! Im SURE that worked too!
BTW- Have u had the kitties ears checked lately?! j/k

Cam

[pumpkinsherbet]

the squirt bottle idea isn't working all that well, as i stated, but i'm keeping to it. she just looks at me like ''so what," but i'll continue it anyways. i'll try that cayenne pepper trick, see how that works

thank you for the suggestions.

[SpotsMama]

oops, pumpkinsherbet, I apologize. I overlooked in your first post that you've already tried the water squirt bottle and it wasn't working. Lily must be one tough kitty!

[pumpkinsherbet]

it's all good