Eureka!!! There is progress!! I actually got a good night's sleep last night! Could this battle be over in just three days time? It is looking hopeful! No, I didn't banish Cody to another room behind closed doors, what I did was lay two bedroom pillows on the floor in front of the bedroom door and sweetly slumbered to the "sounds of silence".....not one scratch, thud, whack, jingle or a boom!!!
While soliciting solutions to this ongoing dilemma I learned an interesting fact from my online friend (Jacqui):
CATS HATE THE SMELL OF CITRUS!!
I had never heard that before so I did some researching. There were a number of different articles on the topic but "Wikihow" is the one that I chose, here is what they had to say:
"to deter your cat from certain areas such as counters or specific windowsills, adorn the area with fragrant citrus fruit. Cats tend to be repelled by lemons and oranges due to the acidic smell; also, citrus is highly toxic to felines if ingested, so cats naturally avoid it"
The "highly toxic" part does raise a concern so I am not sure if I really would even try this remedy because I wouldn't be able to closely supervise Cody. What I DID do however was I sliced some lemons and put them in a bowl. I called Cody into the kitchen letting him think he was going to get something to eat. Even if we can't find Cody whenever he senses there is food to be consumed he appears from the depths of wherever it is that is his current "haunt". Cody came into the room, saw the bowl on the floor and probably thought it would be a feeding free-for-all....he walked over....sniffed the bowl a few times and promptly walked away. Believe me if it had been something he would readily eat he would have tried.....a nice bowl of plastic bags would have suited him just fine. Sooo I believe that behavior modification tool would work but I seriously doubt I will implement it.
The article also suggested using double sided tape (which my friend Linda suggested first) and flexible rubber spikes which they say are harmless and are made specifically for this use. The theory is cats don't like getting their paws stuck or pricked so they will avoid the areas where these objects are.
Tonight I will implement "Operation Bedroom Pillows" again and hope that this comfy and secure solution will solve the problem, if not, tomorrow I am heading straight to the hardware store and will make a bee-line down the tape aisle!!
congrats, excellent strategy!! ms. z.
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