Training a work-companion cat

Given the lockdown, I now work from home; my desk is in the bedroom. Our cat Pippin often joins me up there, spending time on the desk, walking in between me and the computer, etc. I discourage him from sitting on the keyboard or the trackball and over time I seem to be successfully training him to favor the less inconvenient places to sit or nap.

Firm pushes are generally my way to direct him. For example, yesterday he was lying beside the keyboard on one side, then tried to roll over on his back onto the keyboard; I shoved him away from the keyboard over the course of his maneuver so he rotated in-place instead. Unfortunately, he is a large cat and there is other stuff on the desk: as I push him away from input devices, there is a fair chance that the other end of him may push something off the edge of the desk, or at least that he will later do so in stretching his limbs.

I think we are making progress, that Pippin is learning which positions and orientations get him pushed less. My colleagues are probably now quite used to seeing him wander past during a Zoom call; once he settles, I can pet him while I listen to the discussion.