Wanted: Kitten Advice...

Now, let me start with a little disclaimer….we love Otis, he is an awesome cat but he is N-A-U-G-H-T-Y! He is SO bad! We have tried just about everything to keep him off of the kitchen counter, but he insists on being up there. We went from a squirt bottle, to a super soaker to keep him down. The only thing that we have not tried is these little pokey mats that do not pierce their skin, but it pokes them so they do not want to hop up there again. We have put every single ounce of food into cupboards because he has eaten so much miscellaneous food….this weekend he ate THROUGH one box of mac and cheese, he ate THROUGH the box of pop tarts and he even did a little dabbling in the box of waffle mix. If it is out, he eats it. Personally, I want him to learn how to NOT MESS with those foods, but for now I have them put away. I just don’t understand it…the minute we kick him off the counter, he is back up almost instantly. It’s exhausting…like having a toddler, he JUST doesn’t get it. Does anyone have any suggestions for disciplining a cat? The only thing I have though of is that Otis is 10 months old and spent his first seven months being stray…therefore, he is likely used to having to scavenge for his food. But, he has to eventually learn. Is it just and age thing? Does he just need time? Or does he just have a little pea brain so he cannot help himself? (just kidding!)

Also, does anyone have any suggestions for feeding two cats together? The scoop is that we feed each cat a fourth cup of food in the morning and the other fourth cup in the afternoon. My Libs just slowly munches on it all day but Otis scarf it down and then moves on to Libby’s bowl….we obviously cannot be there all of the time (and he is hella sneaky!) but is this something they will just get used to? He does get in trouble when we see him go for Libby’s bowl. (also, Libby needs to learn to defend herself!)

Otherwise, Otis is an awesome and unique cat! So, we are looking for some advice. But, along with this story, I must share the picture from a few weeks ago when he got his head stuck in a box of crackers he was sneaking into!