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Well following my mother's advise, when we got Piglet, I bought a spray bottle....
After instructing my husband what it was for and how to use it, I made the mistake of leaving it in his hands.........
I left for the day...but the time I got back, I had a wet kitty that now plays with the spray bottle.
According to the hubby (I do doubt part of this story, trust me) Piglet was getting up on the table, he "gently" sprayed her and she thought that was just great fun. The rest of the day was her spending most of her time doing stuff she knew she shouldn't do and getting daddy to spray her. It turned into a game of chase. Now when she wants to play she'll come up and nudge the spray bottle and run.
Word to the wise...do NOT leave the spray bottle training in the hands of an ornery man.
next time....use the spray bottle on your husband!!
We used spray bottles and NO NO NOs with combinations of timeouts in the small closets which they did not like. However, right after discipline, we picked them up and loved on them for a good couple of minutes. So, they understood their "all is forgiven" time. It actually worked... then, but we started at 8 weeks old.
And we did the raising by the book. start in a small bathroom, moved them into a bedroom of the their own, and when they started learning their was a world outside their door allowed them access to the second floor and evenutally the whole house. So, moral of my story, they knew who was boss from the beginning. Not everyone's that lucky. Some call them dog cats because we taught them fetch, come, their names, and I'm currently trying to break the meowing for treats right now.
Mommy made the mistake of giving tuna from the kitchen. Bad Mommy, where's that spray bottle???
Personally I do not believe you should think of cats as animals to be trained in the same manner you would train a dog. Cats appear to be "trained" when they learn how to use the litter box... "select" cans of food to eat or other such tricks like ringing doorbells. I believe these are things the cat learns how to do on its own because it meets a need of its own - not the needs of the owner. A dog wants to please its owner by doing the "right" thing. A cat wants to please itself. They are very small animals. I would hope you won't consider punishment when the cats do not do what you are trying to train them to do. I think a better alternative would be practicing preventative measures on your own to ensure your kitties do not get into things they shouldn't.
I would try double sided tape on the areas where he likes to climb. Of course in the short term this would be annoying to have up but I can tell you from personal experience, you haven't seen anything funnier then your cat going up to something they are planning on sinking their claws into and instead of what they expect, finding double sided tape. Its hysterical and doesn't hurt them either.
I have a friend who has scat mats, they have a small electrical buzz that frightens them away from whatever area. I have also used the water bottle.
Personally I do not believe you should think of cats as animals to be trained in the same manner you would train a dog. Cats appear to be "trained" when they learn how to use the litter box... "select" cans of food to eat or other such tricks like ringing doorbells. I believe these are things the cat learns how to do on its own because it meets a need of its own - not the needs of the owner. A dog wants to please its owner by doing the "right" thing. A cat wants to please itself. They are very small animals. I would hope you won't consider punishment when the cats do not do what you are trying to train them to do. I think a better alternative would be practicing preventative measures on your own to ensure your kitties do not get into things they shouldn't.
I comepletely agree with preventative measures! We "cat proofed" our house, but sometimes we needed to make sure they understood we the rulers of the house. Most animals can be trained to a point.
Our cat is rather disciplined. He hardly does anything he shouldn't. He knows the most important words like NO, COME, DOWN and others, along with his name. We always praise him when he follows a command, I think he likes that. He also knows "Do you want some cottage cheese and cream?" - that always makes him run to me.
There are very few things he really isn't allowed to do, like going onto the dining table or the kitchen counters. He never destroys anything, he only scratches on his scratching posts, and he doesn't climb the drapes because we don't have any. But he's an indoor-outdoor cat, so he probably does all the nasty things outside.
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Most animals can be trained to a point.
. You can discipline a cat?! I wish someone would have told me that 15 years ago (15 yr old Siamese)! 
