Sweater of Shame

Sweater of Shame

I am sure that any cat parent can attest that it is hard to teach a cat the difference between right and wrong.  Part of the trouble in teaching a cat anything is that they are so darn cute. They use their cuteness as a weapon to get away with thing they know are wrong.  Both of my cats know that they are not to jump on the television stand. Iggins, the good cat never does it. This is part of the reason he is the good cat.  Dib on the other hand, is smart and crafty.  He will jump up because he knows it will give him the attention he craves.  Anyone that has ever met Dib, knows that he likes to be the center of attention.

It has been a years long battle with Dib on not jumping on the television stand.  We have tried multiple solutions given to us by the mighty internet.  Try spraying him with water.  Dib doesn’t care. He will just sit there and take it. In fact he might even like it.  Put double sided tap down.  It works, but it also looks like and arts and crafts project gone wrong when it has to cover every single surface.  If there is even an edge open, he will perch a paw on it.  Shouting loud noises and tossing pillow at him also doesn’t work.  He looks at it as a game.  Dib is a stubborn smart bad cat that has way too much charm. 

It is true that when you hit rock bottom, the only way you can go is up.  This is the same with cat. I thought I had hit rock bottom and it was going to be hopeless, but then inspiration struck.  The Sweater of Shame. 

Dib hates wearing clothing.  When he was a young adult we had dressed him for Halloween once and discovered he was not keen on clothing.  Thus the idea of Sweater of Shame came upon me.  So far, this is working.

He hates it. He looks cute in it, so I am not compelled to take it off right away, and hopefully slowly he learns his lesson.  If he doesn’t then he will be even cuter running around in sweaters and getting away with even more bad stuff because he would be too cute to be stopped.