That’s true for every kitten, but especially aboard, where understanding a few words in human language and actually obeying them can potentially save a few of a cat’s nine lives… We use the standard German word “NEIN” to tell him that something’s completely forbidden and taboo, which is handy as it’s not a word we use in any other context (when talking to each other we say “Na” in Austrian dialect or “no” when English-speaking friends are around) to keep it a magic word only used as a last resort against disobedient kittens…
Smurfy’s allowed to climb up shelves, play with everything that looks like a toy, sleep in bed with us, but he’s not allowed to set paws on the kitchen counter or on tables. Of course it’s tempting to dig into his food while I’m still preparing it, but a few dozen strict “NEIN”s (sometimes in combination with a tap on the nose or the pointing paw) have made him understand the meaning of this word very clearly.
We could then use “Nein” to keep him out of the newly installed potted plants in the cockpit (this time it took 2 days to convince him) and hopefully in the future to keep him from risky jumps on deck and e.g. falling overboard…
Smurfy announcing that he’s hungry
Watching greedily as his food is prepared
And finally dinner is served!
