People who decided to have a cat and did it for the first time can face an unexpected and sometimes rather unpleasant picture: going into the kitchen, they will see there a pet sitting on a table or window sill and enthusiastically eating the sausage just brought from the store. Alas, they are most likely to blame for it themselves, because from a tiny, affectionate kitten a mustachioed pet in a couple of years grows into a real predator, spending a lot of time and energy on walks, games, exploring the surrounding areas, and therefore naturally expecting that upon returning home he will be fed.

However, for various reasons, this often does not happen: a grown-up cat needs a little more food than a small one, the same emotion as before, he does not call, and, waiting for another portion of food, looks at the owners not submissively and gratefully, but rather expectantly and exacting. And if being hungry, he does not get such a coveted meal, he will start looking for it in the apartment himself.

The instinct of self-preservation will sooner or later prevail over the prohibitions, and it will be difficult to reproach the pet for this thing. After spending several hours in fruitless expectation of receiving at least some food, the cat will perfectly understand that the owners began to treat him disdainfully and perceive him no longer as a pet, but rather as an adult sponger, in large quantities devouring expensive products.

Naturally, the most reliable and best way to wean a cat to jump on forbidden for him kitchen surfaces will be to prevent such a temptation. That is why the cat should be fed on a regular basis, so he will not look for food in the kitchen, but sleep sweetly somewhere in the corner, not even reacting to attempts to play with him.

There are, however, cases when an extremely curious by nature pet can try to look at the contents of plates simply for the sake of interest or because of a mouthwatering smell emanating from them, that is why it would be necessary to give him several lessons teaching not to do it.

Being very intelligent and obviously undervalued from this point of view by the official zoology, the cat will instantly understand what the owner wants from him, and if he is not a notorious child, always looking for adventure and leading the hidden struggle with the owners, most likely forever or for a very long time he will refuse from the idea "to see what is there on the table".

To explain to the pet that it is forbidden to invade the owner`s food space, it will be enough noticing the cat sitting already on the kitchen stool and trying, with his head held high, to see what is up there, to carefully remove him and put down on the floor. Even a young playful cat will take this action as a symbol of prohibition, and the grown-up pet who has accumulated some life experience all the more will learn that it is definitely unacceptable to conquer this height and to check the plates, at the same time trying to profit.

In this case, more impressive learning activities like a demonstration to a cat slippers, towels or brooms are unlikely to be necessary. This surprisingly intelligent predator may even take offense by discovering that the owners consider him to be a notorious hooligan and fool, unable to understand that some plans will have to be abandoned decisively.

In this sense, the cat, although he is considered less susceptible to domestication, than the dog, much more quickly assimilates the norms of morality established in the house. Perhaps the instincts of the night hunter help him, as living in the wild nature a cat has to creep up to the prey slowly and imperceptibly, not giving out his presence and at the same time restraining his wish to rush into the attack before it can bring success.

Such a way of life naturally taught cats to subordinate their behavior not to emotions but to reason, to expect the consequences of rash acts and prudently refuse to commit them.

Dogs in such cases are much more likely to give freedom to their predatory nature, especially if they see in a person not a leader, but an equal member of the pack, companion and friend, which allows sharing with him not only shelter but also food lying at the table. In this regard, the book of Konrad Lorenz "Man Meets Dog" is recalled, where he is in the chapter "The Animal with a conscience" tells how difficult it was to teach the Wolf I, his Chow Chow with a mixture of German shepherds, not to slaughter domesticated birds.

After he killed one peacock and strangled seven bantam hens, Lorenz "called the Wolf to baskets with pheasants, poked his nose in them and slapped him lightly several times, uttering menacing words." The author recalls that this educational session finished with complete success since the Chow Chow did not touch any of these birds.

Another simple and ingenious way to avoid the appearance of a cat on the kitchen table or windowsill is a more responsible attitude to the storage of products of interest to him. The sausage should be immediately put in the fridge, the fish should be cleaned and fried right after purchase, but not kept in the sink for hours, where the whiskered pet will also easily reach.

Do not leave on the table all sorts of cold cuts, open canned fish, pieces of chicken carcasses as well - the cat will immediately learn about their appearance, and inside him will begin the eternal struggle between good and evil, the winner in which will determine the fact how much did the animal get hungry.