We didn't use to let the cats walk on the dining room table, the kitchen table, or the kitchen counters. We would indignantly shoo them off.

This despite the fact that we'd find cat hair, cat litter, and cat throw-up in all three places, and get up in the night to find them sleeping on the table. We knew they were doing it but pretended we were upholding some principle anyway.

When the four old cats died, a new cat arrived and did whatever she pleased at any time of day. First we let her get away with walking all over the dining room table (since we rarely use it for eating). Then we stopped caring about the kitchen table, since we only use part of it for eating.

I still don't "let" her walk around the kitchen counters. But I knew that was futile on the day I saw her tracking the neighbor's tomcat from our dining room table. When he moved out of sight toward the back yard, she immediately raced into the kitchen and sprang up on the divider between the sinks so she could see out the kitchen window, as if she'd done it a million times.

Sigh. The animals have won before the contest even started! Bless their cute little hearts.

The remaining old kitty finds it very amusing that she, too, is now allowed to walk around on the table with impunity, after years of being shooed off.

Nancy T.