How to train your kitten to stop climbing the curtains

A kitten is naturally adventurous. He has developing skills and strengths that he's anxious to test, and it's actually important for him to be able to do so. It's during kittenhood that he starts to understand how to balance, climb, use his tail as a counter-weight, leap, stop on a dime, and all the other activities that are important in a cat's life. Even though your kitten will be living a protected and safe life in your home, he still is hard-wired to test out his developing survival skills and talents.  That doesn't mean, however, that he needs to test them on your curtains.

A common complaint I'm asked about is how to keep a kitten from climbing the curtains. The answer is to 1) make the curtain unappealing, and 2) create a better option.  Here's how.

• 1) Place strips of Sticky Paws along the bottom of the curtains. Sticky Paws is a double-faced tape made for training cats. Test a small area first, but according to the manufacturer, the product doesn't leave a residue.

Next, place a plastic carpet protector at the base of the curtains, nubby side up. This way, the kitten won't like standing on the area in the first place.

• 2) Since kittens need to be able to climb and develop their emerging skills, it's important to provide acceptable climbing areas. You can do this by providing a multi-perched cat tree. Cat trees serve double-duty if you get the kind with sisal-covered support posts because they can be used as scratching posts.

The more you provide acceptable options for your new kitten, the easier it is to train him away from the areas where you don't want him climbing.

For kitten-training instructions, order my book, Think Like a Cat.