Have you ever tried using aluminum foil to keep your cat off the counters, stop them from peeing in a particular location, or otherwise manage their behavior? While it’s a common DIY deterrent, it’s often ineffective and usually causes more problems than it solves. Thankfully, there are more humane and effective ways to discourage unwanted feline behavior.
The Problem With Aluminum Foil
Aluminum foil has a lot of problems besides making you look like you’re a conspiracy theorist and making your home look ugly. Ultimately, it doesn’t solve the underlying problem, but that isn’t the only issue. Some other issues with aluminum foil include:
- Temporary relief: Like many other deterrent based methods, aluminum foil may startle a cat initially, but they quickly adapt to the sensation. It doesn’t address the root cause of the behavior so your cat is just going to go right back to behaving the same way.
- Frustration and stress: The crinkle of aluminum foil, both from the tactile sensation but also from the sound, can cause stress and anxiety in cats. This can lead to behavioral issues like destructive scratching, excessive grooming, or even aggression toward other cats or humans.
- Displacing the behavior: If your cat is deterred from one area, they may simply move their unwanted behavior to another location, such as your favorite chair or other valuables. I see this happen a lot with litter box use cases: the cat just pees on the other end of the couch. Now the problem is worse and you have more cat pee to clean!
- It might not work at all: In many cases, your cat may not care one bit about the foil. If you don’t give them a litter they love or use an awful litter box, they might just pee right on top of the foil.
What To Do Instead
Trying to scare your cat isn’t the solution it’s made out to be and comes with some big risks. Thankfully, there are both much kinder and more effective methods.
Change The Environment
The most effective way to deter unwanted behavior is to address the underlying cause. Your cat needs to be motivated to do a particular behavior so if whatever need they’re trying to meet is met in another way, there won’t be any motivation for them to do something you don’t like.
If your cat is attracted to a particular spot, try removing the source of attraction. For example, if they’re drawn to a sunny windowsill, consider adding a cozy window perch in a more acceptable location or using a warm heated bed to draw them elsewhere.
If you want to protect your home or things, you can do so without using a deterrent while making your life easier. For example, using a machine washable rug will protect your floors from pee while not forcing your cat to find another location to pee. It will be less cat urine to clean in the end!
Provide An Appropriate Outlet
Give your cat plenty of opportunities to engage in their natural behaviors. Ensure they have enough scratching posts, fun toys, and play time. A happy and stimulated cat is less likely to cause trouble.
And yes, this means that even if you don’t want to get a cat tree, your cat does so you need to get at least one. Thankfully, there are tons of modern cat trees available these days so you can easily get one that looks really nice in your home.
Encourage Wanted Behavior
While this won’t necessarily work for litter box usage or spraying problems, rewarding your cat for desired behaviors is more effective than trying to use punishments. When you catch them doing something good, like using their scratching post, offer praise and a special treat. You can also combine both attracting to your cat to a location with positive reinforcement with catnip. This positive reinforcement can help replace the unwanted behaviors with something acceptable.
Save The Foil For The Kitchen
Cats are intelligent creatures with complex needs. Suppressing their behavior is only going to create trouble. Instead of deterrents like aluminum foil, focus on understanding their behavior and trying to figure out what they are trying to communicate. If you need help figuring out what they are trying to communicate, consider picking up a copy of Kitty Language to learn more about their body language. For personalized help, I’m available for consultations.
