Cat Behaviour Problem

Hey all, I have two cats. The female is about 14 and the mother to the male, who is 13. About 2 weeks ago, the female started laying on my stove (with the covers on it, of course), and not leaving it except to eat and use the litter box. I thought it might be because of her medication (she's hyperthyroid). I took her to the vet, and she is fine.

OK, now a couple of days ago the male starts to lay on the stove and kitchen counter and only getting off for food and litter box as well. He's displaced his mom and she is now staying on the bathroom sink or on top of the back of the toilet. I cannot get either one of them to stop the behaviour. I have tried simply picking them up and moving them whenever I am home and not asleep, but during the day and late at night, I don't have any way to keep them off there.

Plus, this is just very wierd behaviour for them. I do have a dog, but they all have been getting along fine for the most part. Any suggestions as to why they are doing this and how to stop it? Thanks!

Cats like to laze in warm areas...perhaps this is the culprit. I'm not a vet or animal psychologist, though.

Our cats frequently look for cool places to lay down. Just a thought.

I can see where the stove would be a problem, but, do you allow them to stay on the marble/porcelain-type surfaces? It's very cool and our cats love it there.

Good luck.

The stove and the sink are cool to them?

and that if you lay a piece of foil on something they will stay off it. No idea if it's true.

he fetches little foil balls and hoards them.

He likes chewing on it and on plastic. Has been doing it ever since he was a kitten.

sometimes tiny cat fleas get into the carpet and the animals start sleeping in strange places to get away from them (of course the vet should have checked this too). There is good medicine available to get rid of fleas.

If these are indoor cats they can still get cat fleas, from the dog so have him looked at too.

I live in Florida and my entire house is tiled. They don't have fleas, because if they did, it would be very noticeable on my one cat, who is highly allergic to them. I run the A/C all the time, so I don't think it's too warm for them. Nothing has changed within the past 2 weeks to make them act this way. Should I use the 'spray them with water' method to just make them stay off those areas, and force them back to their normal spots? Normally they would be on the floor, on the sofa, or on an empty bookcase near the sofa, or in a windowsill.

that will probably discourage them from being up there. Mark Twain said that a cat only jumps on a hot stove once, or something to that effect.

put orange peels on the stove

whenever the cats are up there, gently pick them up and put them on the floor.

if they still do it after 2 weeks, then spray them with a little bit of water.

The bathroom sink and the back of the toilet sound like cooler locations. I'm guessing your stove is electric, or if it's gas it has electric lighting rather than a pilot light. The metal construction and holes for the griddles make for good, cool airflow.

Make sure they have plenty of water. That's always important, but especially if they are showing signs they are trying to keep cool.