Hi,
My wife and me talk about our ragdoll kitten and she is willing to take zyrtec to control her allergies. However, she would like to learn what to do to teach our kitten to stop walking over the furniture (sofa, seats, beds, etc). We normally grab him and tell him:"NO", but he still jump on it. What can we do?
Try providing your raggie with furniture of his own - cat condos, scratchers, beds, etc. Not that it will stop him, but it may help. Maybe hide treats on his condos to encourage him to go to them. Overall, I doubt you're going to be able to totally stop him being on the furniture though.
There is no reason to train him. You want him on the furniture, including to be with you. It is like "training" your wife not to use the floors. Why?
To JanH: I'm not there ,but it could possibly be due to said allergies.
lekniv: Keeping a cat off the furniture is like trying to keep a fish from swimming... it just wont work. The best thing to do to stop unwanted behavior is to make the unwanted behavior unpleasant (make it smell bad to them, squirt bottle, covered in tinfoil... etc) and the wanted behavior to be associated with very very good things (treats, loves, food... etc). To keep the cat off of the bed is pretty easy... just keep the bedroom door closed. We dont let our cats into our bedroom because I have asthma and need a relatively hair-free sanctuary when its acting up lol. That, and I just dont like sleeping with 7 different bodies at once (5 cats, hubby, son... lol)
If however your reasons for keeping the cat off the furniture is for things like keeping it hair-free... then you're fighting a losing battle. Best thing to do to keep the hair down to a minimal is to brush the cat frequently, and vacuum a few times a day.
I agree with the others, you're not gonna get your cat to stay off the furniture. From a behavioral standpoint, your reactions to him being on the furniture are not gonna be powerful enough to change his behavior. Assuming your cat has free access to your home while you are away, he has plenty of time to be on the furniture without being yelled at. If something mildly aversive happened to you only one out of every ten you did something, it probably would not make you stop doing it.
If it's allergy-related, your best bet is grooming your kitten often and vacuuming the furniture. If you're concerned about damage, kittens usually prefer a scratching post or TurboScratcher to furniture anyway and keeping claws trimmed will reduce accidental snags.
You can get most cats to stay off of counters and tables, etc, but beds/sofas/etc are totally different. They're for sitting and the cat sees you doing it and most likely just wants to be near you.