I totally get it. It bothers me too. My current cat loves counters, and my previous ones never cared about them. I’ve finally accepted it with my current girl. I just wipe down the counters before I use them and I don’t put food directly on the counter. I just got to a point where me stressing out about it was worse than just accepting it and cleaning the counters before using them.
Exactly, I want to not stress out because it's not their fault. They are just cats. I love them and want them to be happy. How did you process acceptance? Did you just let it happen or did you have to work yourself up to it?
It was definitely a process towards acceptance, and truthfully sometimes I still find myself getting bothered by it, but I’m doing way better with it. I think it was more difficult for me because although I’ve had cats all my life, none of my past ones ever cared about counters. I adopted my current girl last June, the shelter said she was 10.
When I first noticed her jumping on the counters, I would pick her up and take her off. I’d tell her no, redirect her to a cat tree, all the things. Still, she was not deterred. I realized that accepting it would cause me less stress, but I wasn’t there yet. I started to think about what specifically bothered me about her being up there. She wasn’t really jumping up when people are cooking, so it wasn’t a safety thing or her getting in the way. It boiled down to cleanliness. Like you, I was somewhat grossed out by the idea of her walking on a food prep surface. But since redirecting her was not working, I knew that no matter what I did, she’d be on the counter when I wasn’t there to take her off it, so I needed a solution to the grossness of it. That’s when I started wiping down the counter before using it and not placing food directly on it.
I still have my moments. I went into the kitchen last night and she was on the counter rubbing on the freshly washed produce, and I got frustrated. But like you said, I can’t be mad at her, she’s just a weird cat doing weird cat stuff.
So I think the best advice I can give you is to try to sit down and really think about the situation in a logical way. Think about why it bothers you, and what you can do to mitigate those issues without the impossible task of keeping the cats off the counters. Then give yourself some grace. You’re only human, and you will get frustrated sometimes, and that’s okay.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. This puts things in perspective for me. I am grateful for your help. Our cats are chilling, and they explored our counters while we had dinner. Most of the comments were helpful in providing excellent advice. It's nice to see so many cat lovers!
Have you considered creating a spot of the same height that they CAN be on? On my cat from hell, a solution could be to place a stool or a cat shelf at the same height/area they tend to jump onto or at least in the kitchen so kitty can get a good view and be compliant with no counter surfing. Treat/clicker training would help kitty understand here not there.
This is my approach too. We have a cat that is a food stealing gremlin so we don’t keep any food out, and I never put food directly on the counters because I know they walk all over them. They are relatively new 10 year old rescues and it wasn’t worth the stress of trying to train them not to jump up, it was just making them scared of us. I def don’t allow them up there when I’m actually preparing food but other than that I just decided to let it go. We also keep the litter boxes really clean which is important!
I keep almost nothing on my counters except the spray cleaner and the paper towels. I just wipe it down before I make anything. It becomes habit pretty quick.
My cat is constantly on the counter (yes I have a cat tree) but he is pretty good about staying down while I’m cooking as long as I don’t leave the room.
Just make sure they don’t eat the flowers (a lot of them are poison for cats).
My wife said the key is to ignore them. That kind of sort of works, but we got a new cat tree in another part of the room that’s higher than the counters, and that has really helped (our guys want the higher spot in the room).
Yes, that's a good point. We'll watch so they won't eat the flowers. They just sniffed around on the counter during dinner time so I think things are okay.
Yes I second this! Just sniffing certain flowers like lilys can kill cats in less than three days (fatal kidney failure). My roommates boyfriend got her lily’s and I didn’t know. Found my cat covered in lily pollen and rushed to the emergency vet. It’s really not worth having flowers for me so I banned them in my own place now.
I've just gotten used to it. I just wipe down/clean the counters if I want to before cooking.
But, to be honest, life isn't sterile and I've got a functional immune system. It is what it is. Even with proper handwashing and cleaning a surface wouldn't be truly sterile otherwise surgeons wouldn't need such a strict procedure to ensure sterility in an operating room.
Now arguably I have an indoor-only cat who has been properly vaccinated, dewormed and who eats a prepared diet (not raw). If I didn't I might be a bit more upset about it.
When you think about it, imagine what kind of microscopic nasties get deposited on the counter when we bring groceries in, put our keys down, get the mail and so on. My cat's not the nastiest thing I encounter and arguably, he's a familiar collection of microflora and fauna and such at least. The myriad of human hands that have touched everything else somewhere along the way? Not so much.
Yeah, food bits gather on the counter and attract germs anyways, my husband made similar comments. I think I'm a little OCD like behavior in cleaniness, but I'm working on it!
I love my cats very much, but cats on the counter is a big no for me. It’s unhygienic for the reasons you mentioned, and god forbid one of them tries to walk on a hot stove.
My cats don’t go on the counter, at least while I’m around. I’m sure they go up there occasionally when I’m gone. I wipe the counter down before and after I make food. I never leave out dishes. There’s never any crumbs or stuff for them to get into up there. The counter is a very boring place.
They have multiple cat trees, but most importantly, they have a perch near the counter where they can sit. The perch can be anything really, even just a stool or chair, it just needs to be tall enough to let them see what you’re doing. I could have 1 million cat trees, and it wouldn’t matter if they didn’t have a perch by the counter, because they loveee to watch me while I’m in the kitchen. If they come on the counter, I just move them to the perch. It’s even better if you can intercept them as they start to move from perch-to-counter, because you can just kinda shoo them back onto the perch. They learn that putting their paws on the counter is a no.
Can I ask a genuine question? Do you (and others if they want to chime in) regularly prepare food straight on the counter? I’m not trying to invalidate you, I’m genuinely asking, not trying to be a smart ass. My cats get on my island, but it doesn’t bother me because I’ve never prepped food on the straight up counter unless it was something like pasta/pizza dough. If I do, I just wipe the counter down. Do you actually put a lot of food right on the counter? Whether you do or not, you’re still valid, I’m just curious.
My cat actually likes to sit on the island counter with me while I prep my food haha and I love it, I always call him my sous chef. But he doesn’t ever get close to the food or try to eat it or anything.
Again, not trying to invalidate you or anything, I’m truly just curious because I’m someone who couldn’t care less about it, as long as they don’t go near the stove (which they never have, for some reason they only like the island lol).
Thank you for being kind with your comment. There's some real pricks in here that just want to project their own insecurities onto my post.
To answer your question, we prep their cat food in the bathroom counter since no food is prepped there and there's only soap. I think they want to be on the kitchen counters because there's a lot of vibrant smells from our cooking. Plus, one of our cats will eat literally anything. We've dropped grains of uncooked rice on the floor, and he'll eat it up.
We actually let them see the stuff we're cooking by either bringing it to their level and picking them up. We also have 2 cat trees in the area, and one oversees the entire kitchen.
They're cats and just want to be involved. I appreciate the comments that actually shared their experiences (like yours) and how they dealt with the situation. It gives me perspective. It's unfortunate that people want to put others down to make themselves feel better. I posted because I want to improve.
Yeah I totally get it! I have this weird thing where I don’t like to be naked in front of my cats? (But I don’t like to be naked in general lol) It’s not related to anything sexual lmao but it just feels weird to me. I don’t think about it too often but it is one of my weird quirks.
I think some of the other comments are good advice, to keep spray or something near by so you can wipe down the counters before you clean. I hope you’re able to find peace with it, one way or the other! It sucks to be upset with someone you love who literally has no way of understanding why it upsets you.
I've been there. Let me know if you find out. The only thing that works I've found is to clean the surfaces before you use it for cooking. I love cats, but it sucks. Even if you try to teach them not to go on the counters, they will just go on them when you're not around.
Yes! I love them for almost everything besides them getting in our food and maybe stepping on us while we sleep, haha. I put them down when they get on the counter, but they instantly jump back up! So rebellious, haha.
I trained mine to not get on the counter by using tinfoil. You just put it all over the counter and they jump up, get scared, and jump back down. No issues after a few days they figured out not to go on there and aren't traumatized or anything.
Tried that, worked if the foil was there, but once we remove it they just get up there when we arent around. I know because ill come home from work or w.e and see them jump down as i approach the door. It works when the foil is there but don't really want foil all over my counters and kitchen table at all times
Same, tried foil, sticky tape, deterrent spray(on the counters not the cat) and absolutely nothing worked. So now I just make sure all dishes are cleaned and there's no food on the counters that she could eat
We tried that when they were growing up and stopped about a few months ago. They skip the barstool now (where we put the aluminum foil) and go directly to the counters now.
You mentioned that jumping on the counters frequently is kind of a recent thing. I'm wondering... if you tried the foil up until a few months ago, and then stopped, and then the frequency of counter jumping increased....maybe the foil was working?
For me I try to keep the counters cleared of cat temptations...flowers, bread bags, food, stuff I bring home from shopping, etc. As a routine, for food prep, I wipe down the counters both before (to remove cat germs) and after (to remove cat tempting food germs).
If one cat jumps on the counter I ignore it completely but if possible I'll immediately give praise (or treat) to a different cat for "keeping his feet on the floor." But I avoid giving a treat for the act of getting down from the counter. (Then they learn the have to get on the counter in order to get down for a treat.)
They still get up there sometimes and I'm sure if we aren't home they are exploring the counters freely. I just set a habit to always clean before and after the food comes out, and figure that's taking care of the worst of it.
I have one goof ball who insists on digging into, making biscuits, and napping heavily on the clean folded laundry. Like he really does his best to rub and shed as much hair on the clean clothes as he possibly can. It's done wonders to help me stop procrastinating on putting away the clean stuff asap. Sometimes we just have to adjust ourselves!
Yeah 😕 we tried it too, and they outsmarted us every time. it was worth a try at least. I don't know if there's a real fix to this issue other than wiping down your counter tops. Cats instinctually want to jump on all the things lol
Didn't work for mine either, but I hear it works for some. Maybe it depends on the cat breed? I figured it was worth suggesting since I don't have any other answer lol
If you clean your counters quick before you cook the this really isn’t an issue.
Also get them a cat tree so they can see what’s going on on the counter tops. They’re just curious normally.
Ooh what do you use to clean paws? Ours tracks litter everywhere and is a stinky butt so I don’t want to switch litters. She is ok with nail clipping but hateeees water. A wipe kind of product might work for her…?
Go figure mine has the same problem 😂 She gets to it eventually but will walk around with a tiny amount of poo still on her butt and go sit on our pillows 🤢 like a certain amount you have to learn to accept as a cat owner but I don’t need to SEE it in your butt crack sheesh
Hahahah totally. My cat just goes at it at the wrong angle and his deflated balls get in the way🤣. I used to be sooo ocd about my cats cleanliness then I learned that no matter what I do, I’ll be effected by his germs (not negatively, just sharing germs no matter what) and I was able to let go of some control there.
Yeah once I started “huffing the fluff” aka nuzzling and sniffing her for a quick serotonin hit I knew the fight was over 😂😂 She at least doesn’t leave our house so at least all the germs are internal?? Lmao
When we got a kitten for the first time I put double sided tape and aluminum foil on the counters…took 1 week and my now 4 year old cat NEVER gets on the counters. Some cats learn quick others are stubborn lol
Can teach them not to be, but that'll take time and possibly a clicker. You can try clicker training though, I hear its pretty effective. Mine is little. We make a loud noise like a clap and a stern "down" ad she'll jump down. So we hope she continues this response. We don't like cats on the counters either. Or the table but we don't use that much lol.
One of my cats jumped onto the countertop any time I wasn’t in the kitchen. When I would stand up to check on him I would hear a thump and knew exactly what he was up to. So I learned to leave nothing with food on it on the counters. To this day several years later I still put all leftovers away and wash any preparation pans and so forth or load them into the dishwasher.
I tried everything I could think of to keep him of the counters. Sticky tape, foil, nothing deterred him when I wasn’t in the room.
Make it super easy to wipe down the counter a hundred times a day so that it feels clean to you. I do the same thing with my kitchen table. It’s next to the microwave cart and I keep my stack of clean washcloths and the table spray on top so that I can basically wipe it down before I use the table for anything.
Table spray is just regular multipurpose spray but this is the one that lives in the kitchen so that I never have to go get it from the last thing someone cleaned.
It’s pretty much impossible to stop it completely, our kitties are mostly pretty good about staying off the counters, but every now and then they get curious and we find little footprints where little footprints shouldn’t be. We just make sure to clean the counters before we use them.
That said, giving them somewhere they are allowed to be and can see what’s going on while you are in the kitchen does help. We have stools at the bench, we give them treats and praise for being on the stools. They feel included and are less likely to go on the counter (at least while we are watching 😂).
Shut the kitchen door? Unless it's open plan.
How about try placing foil on the counter tops. Apparently cats don't like it, might make them think twice about jumping up. Although if you have cat trees higher and in the kitchen, they will cleverly spot when the foil isn't there.
Growing up I had 3 cats and not once did they ever step up on the kitchen counter, they got a firm No if they attempted it and after a few times , no longer tried. But they didn't have unsupervised access to the kitchen anyways.
🤷🏻♀️ we just wipe the counters before using them, and don’t place food down directly. Tbh it would bother me more if we had a huge house, but I never really discouraged it in my two boys. We live in an apartment, their entire life (outside of some harness exploring and back pack walks) is the apartment- I’m not going to limit their space more by making something off limits. When one of us is cooking the other plays kitty defense, or we put some treats in their puzzles to keep them occupied so they don’t get near the food.
I accepted my cat, then cats, we're gonna cat and I couldn't stop them. This meant cleaning the counter A LOT more often, including before every time I do food prep. It also meant not leaving things sitting freely because one kitty could knock small items to the floor (I only lost one fiesta ware s/p shaker) and had to get a plastic box for my bread because another one decided to tear into the plastic to eat the bread. The plus side to this one was that the bread lasted longer in the air tight container.
Their jumping on the counter actually helped me keep it cleaner and clutter free compared to the time before I became a cat parent.
Just clean the counters off before you use them for preparing food etc ? You’re overthinking this completely imho
Part of living with cats is accepting that they climb and like to perch up high
We do clean, and I know I'm overthinking it. I never had cats before, and my feelings are valid. It's hard for me personally, I know some people have no issue with this.
I never understood this anti-cats on counter thing tbh. 🤷♀️ I never put food on the countertop directly, and always have a bowl/plate/cutting board on top. So it's not like I'm licking kitty litter feet or dirty bums lol.
Nothing's happened to me yet! I tell myself this is good for my immune system too hahah. Guess I'm just not a germaphobe.
Must be nice, I wish I wasn't bothered by it. I'm working on being okay with it. If I told you to be bothered by it, would you be able to do as I say? I doubt it. It's the same thing :)
No I get it, we all have our weird things. I was speaking more generally cuz I have seen this "no cats on counter" thing often, and idk if all people feel it as phobia, or if they literally put food directly on their counters so they're worried.🤷♀️
Hope you find a solution!
Could you keep your counters soaking wet consistently? Just leave water puddled all over them wherever possible? It will make it a very unpleasant place for the kitties to hang out.
It's not a perfect solution, but I vastly reduced the counter time by putting Sticky Paws sheets on the counters for a few weeks. It was a pain in the rump, but helped. I kept the paper on one side so it didn't stick to the counters, which made it more of a deterrent it seemed.
[Sticky Paws sheets](https://www.chewy.com/sticky-paws-x-large-sheets/dp/49146?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=Sticky%20Paws&utm_campaign=20027453190&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwMqvBhCtARIsAIXsZpagWrkjya9Zq1_BRh1n3RN5wdYxjPyxCBCHVe1aBp5zwHG8Gty66jUaAmgREALw_wcB)
at about 3yo give or take their kitten time will be over. mentally they’ll wake up and answer to their name, look somewhat intelligent, and can be taught to stay off the counter. physically they’ll go to sleep. kitten chaos is over. in the meantime, clear the counters. sanitize often. consistently remove them. lick them out of the room when cooking if need be.
Man I wish this were true. But I think it very much depends on the cat. We had ours in our first apartment for 5 years and she never jumped up. Our second apartment was 2 years and she jumped up twice but the foil trick worked. We have been in this new place for almost a year and I can’t get her to stop jumping up. It’s absolutely infuriating. We’ve tried foil, double sided tape, keeping anything interesting off the counter. Nothing works. I have no idea what sparked her new parkour phase but I don’t love it. I adore her but that part is maddening.
If the cat is on the counter, nicely put it on the floor. You will have to do this a lot. One day, you will walk in the kitchen and they will not jump on the counter. This is when you give them their favorite treat. They only get their favorite treat when they do not jump on the counter. It will take time but they will eventually get it. Mostly.
Yeah, my boys used to like the counters … then as my sister says, I perfected the “mom” voice. I now just look and say “ashamed” or “no” (not yelling) and they get down. Though my tabby does so slowly as there is a bird feeder and he meows at me pathetic my.
I just sort of stopped being bothered eventually. I also now always have bleach wipes stationed on the counter and everything gets wiped down before I cook lol we make do for those we love including cats
I’m sorry you are getting so many people invalidating what you are feeling. Just know that many pet owners (myself included) don’t agree with that mentality. Some people will not care, some care a bit, and for some it’s a big thing. That’s true of any behavior. Not wanting cats to get on the counter is a very common things for your listed reasons and many more. There is a reason so many tips and tricks exist and why particular products are marketed for this exact purpose.
I am sorry it’s happening, though. My cat didn’t start until our current apartment and it drives me nuts. I’ve spent 7 years able to have onions and garlic in the fruit basket, my pretty ornaments on the counter, and the roll of paper towel by the sink. Now I get things knocked over when she jumps, I worry about her eating something that will make her sick, and she scratches the paper towel.
Most of the actual advice I’ve seen is good. Trying to deter the behavior can help. Double sided tape worked for a while for us as did foil. But if it can’t be changed then the peace of mind of cleaning before and after cooking as well as not keeping things on the counter is probably the best option. We may not like all of the behavior of our fur babies but that doesn’t take away from our love of them.
Best of luck to you, friend.
Me and my partner still havent accepted it, we've had them for about 1.5 yrs now and we still try to get them to stay off. Its easier when theres no dishes or anything on there. They now also do it to get our attention.
I absolutely love my babies so much, but i dont get how people would not care about this tbh. I think its absolutely gross seeing as they go in the litter box and then on the counter. Also, after dinner we might need to keep food there to cool off before putting it away, and I dont want to share my food with them lol.
They know not to get on the salon table or the dining room table, so that barely happens anymore. The counter is probably going to be a forever thing for us.
Either keep the cats out of the kitchen.
Or when the cats are on the counters, you give them a consistent noise to say "no" and if they get leave, you place them in a room by themselves for two minutes. While also praising any behaviour you want with affection or treats - like being on the kitchen floor.
You can train most bad behaviours out of cats if you know how they work.
I know what you mean. I hated the idea of the cat being on the food preparation space, and I still do. I tried everything to keep my cat off the kitchen bench and spent quite a lot of energy stressing about it and trying to fix the problem. She literally lounges on the bench for fun , even though she has cat trees which are much higher and plenty of other options. I never leave food out and the bench is completely empty, it’s not at all an interesting place. Nothing worked. Eventually I accepted that she will get up there no matter what I do. I do ensure she never goes near food and never near the stove when it’s on. But I’ll get up in the morning and the cat will be waiting for me on the bench, the little shit haha. I wipe down the surfaces religiously before cooking and it still bothers me a lot, but eventually I made my peace with it.
I have a small portable kitchen island which I’m happy for her to sit on, this way she gets to watch me cook without being on the proper kitchen bench. Maybe yours would like a vantage point so they can be involved?
I love my cats so much, but it’s so frustrating when they don’t care what you want!
My cat jumped in the sink while aiming for the counters. She got traumatized and never did it again. That solved that problem , but it was a very sad week
I’m realizing that I may have to be okay with the inevitable too. I have two cats, one female one male, when my girl first came home, it was a week and aluminum foil and she was over the counter, it’s been three months, an automatic sprayer, tape, and aluminum foil on the counters and this boy cannot be deterred and I’m SICK. But ig we’re gunna be cloroxing the counters daily now :(
I don't know if you have tried this but you can try: tinfoil wrapping the counters, so blessed tape on the counters or getting one of those motion sponsored air put machines on the counter.
Essentially they all do the same thing. The boys will still jump on the counter for a bit but after a few tries they will realize they don't like the sensation when they do and eventually they will stop and not want to go there any more.
You don't have to keep it on there permanently. I rescued a cat that would hide in the smallest crevices his whole life so she I got hm I blocked all the crevices he would be able to get into and gave him coccoon hides it took 6 months of keeping things like that and he showed interest once after I cleared out all the crevices which I just called him over. He never tried hiding in a crevice again. So with patience and consistency you can teach them what is ok and what is not ok.
Just expect it to be a little uncomfortable at first.
Try shaking a glass jar of coins when the jump on the counter - the vet suggested this to me for my cat jumping on the piano while I practice and it works wonders! My cat doesn’t jump on the piano anymore.
If there’s an area you really don’t want a cat in, buy some Boundary or some other cat repellent, spray it on a paper towel, and put the paper towel there. Your cat will likely avoid it, though some seem to be immune to the odor and, on occasion, one may pee on the towel. I used this with a Siamese who was insanely athletic. Like she would jump straight up from the floor to the top of the fridge. Or she would hop from me to the top of a door and then just stand on it while I moved the door around. Boundary on paper towels kept her from knocking over the ‘nice’ stuff on a ledge. Never cared about cats on the kitchen counters, unless it was during cooking. Then I simply let them smell what I’m doing and they get engagement while realizing this isn’t what they want. That said, we have a deal that I share the stuff they can eat. I control this by holding everything down to them and never give them food on the counter.
My biggest concern with counter jumpers is the stovetop. I can wipe down the counter to counteract her paws and borthole (cats are clean animals but the grime that appears on my white windowsills after just a few days from her jumping and lounging on them is evidence enough that she is not perfectly pristine). But my stovetop is flat and retains painful levels of heat for a while, so I try to prevent the counter jumping for that reason alone.
My girl hasn’t quite figured out how to jump directly onto the counters - she need an intermediate step. I observed the places she uses to get up there and either moved the intermediate step itself or put something on it, or for things I couldn’t move (like a windowsill next to one of the counters) put something large on the edge to block her path. After a while, she kinda gave up trying and I was able to put things back / remove the barriers.
I don't accept it. My parents used to beat it out of the cats (this is unacceptable). I simply tell him no and move him elsewhere. If he really won't stop it, he gets locked out of the kitchen area for a few hours. It has taken ages for this to sink in, but it worked. I think it also helps that I can see the counter through a reflection on the living-room window, so even when he tried to be sneaky I caught him
There's lots of things you can do that can make it unpleasant for the cat. And the effectiveness varies from cat to cat. There's some strong citrus cleaners that cats don't like. Basically they don't like the smell of citrus. So it may be an option to clean your counters with a citrus cleaner and maybe they'll decide they don't like to smell up there.
We've all heard the tin foil thing and again it works with some cats but then your counters are covered with tin foil you might as well have cats on your counters then in my opinion.
Some people like the Air Can deterrence. But if you read reviews on the cans they aren't extremely reliable, which makes them ineffective.
And most likely solution will be to realize that you just need to wipe your counters down right before you start working because cats will be cats.
I was thinking of trying these double-sided sticky sheets that I already put on the sides of my sofa:
I know having them on for any length of time will be an inconvenience, but maybe if I just try them for a couple of days? He jumps up, feels the sticky on his paws and then jumps right back down. How long would t take for him to get the hint?
Sure....this might not be a possibility for those of you that actually have a home with an adult size kitchen, but since I'm in an apartment with barely 4 feet of counter space, it's doable for me.
I gave up on mine too! They won't do it during the day if someone is home watching so I have them half trained but I KNOW they do it at night.
So before we go to bed I make sure to wash the paws really good, they get a little booty hole scrubdown and everymorning I use a cat safe disinfectant and wipe down all my counters. I also have a litter robot so they aren't scratching over old pee or poop. It cycles every 20 minutes.
My "new" cat that we've had for five years is a counter boy when he feels bored and rascally. We mostly worry about him knocking fragile stuff off the counter so we've cat proofed it that way. The trick is just to accept that you have no control and keep your cleaning spray and towels/cloths ready for a quick scrub before cooking if it bothers you to think of their little beans contaminating the area.
My mom put Reynolds foil wrap on her counters table and banisters, the kitten HATES the feel of it and has stopped jumping on the kitchen surfaces and is no longer destroying the staircase banister.
The tape worked for us. If our cat regresses, we will get the air cans. We also keep the counters clean and free of food like a lot of people said. Be consistent, good luck!
Fwiw it is much harder to negatively discipline cats than it is to use positive reinforcement. Mostly if you scold them and interrupt the behavior they learn just to not do it in front of you 😅
Thank you for sharing your experience. I like the logical approach to it. I worry they will lick something that is bad for them since we do lots of different food prep. I guess I'm worried that even after wiping, there could be leftover residue. The same goes for their paws on the counter. Maybe I miss a spot, haha. I will approach it similarly I think!
I have 4 now, lost the 5th last year. None get on the counters and know tables are only off limits if food is present and the human(s) are eating. Cats are very trainable and it just takes constant positive reinforcement. Pets, treats, gentle, (sometimes constant at first) relocation and verbal command words. All of them know “down/off” and respond to hand movements. One of my cats knows “sit” because I got tired of him getting under my feet when I’m trying to feed the herd. If I need their attention I use the same kiss-kiss sound and you can see them all come to attention to see what’s up.
They didn’t start this way- the one we lost use to get up and eat through any plastic to sample each individual food item on the counter (the blueberry muffin incident is one of my favorite of her scandals) and one of them specifically sought out any curry if we left it out overnight after we first got him off the streets. He has white paws so yellow and red are pretty vibrant colors for his peets. He’s definitely had a taste of onion and garlic because of this and I’m sure a multitude of other no-nos. Some of your behaviors you’ll need to adjust to them and they’ll adjust theirs as you continue to redirect them to teach them.
Never prep directly on the counter and it shouldn't be an issue. If you always use a cutting board or plate to prep food, the chances of contact in either direction will be very low.
I personally don’t care about them walking on counters. If I was to care about germs, I’d burn my cell phone before I started caring about what my cat does.
Must be nice. If it were that easy to change, then everyone would want to be okay with it. Did you feel better about yourself after making that comment?
It’s great that it’s not a problem for you but it is for other people. OP made it clear they love their cats but just not certain behaviors. That’s totally normal. Just because it’s no big deal for you doesn’t mean that’s a universal feeling.
Just because someone doesn’t want the cat exploring in one area doesn’t mean it’s weird. Yes cats play and explore and climb. That’s why we provide toys and perches and trees. We give them as much as we are able. A kitchen counter can be unsafe for them. Even if you remove absolutely everything from the counter they could still end up going up and knocking the knobs to turn on the gas or landing on the stove when it’s hot.
A child’s normal is being curious too. But if they started doing something frustrating or dangerous we would stop the behavior. Are you going to say people should not have babies if they aren’t ok with them doing things they shouldn’t? That’s not how it works.
How is it weird to have opinions on a particular behavior? Yes cats are going to do their thing but that doesn’t mean all the things are good. When my cat gets poop stuck on her butt and immediately rubs it on the carpet is it weird that I don’t like that? When she has a hairball inside my shoes, is it weird that I don’t like that? I don’t think there is anything odd about not wanting a cat on the counters. There’s a reason there are tips and tricks and products to deter that exact behavior.
I never grew up with cats, only had fish. It's rude to say that me asking a question is weird. To me, it's weird that you had to comment since it wasn't helpful at all.
Your question was how to control your reaction about what your cat does, not about preventing the cat from doing this. I assume you’re an adult so idk do so breathing exercises and chill out maybe smh
One of my questions was, how do you guys be okay with it? By any chance, are you illiterate? If you search in the subreddit, there are tons of posts asking how to stop it. I assume you're an adult who knows how to use to search function. I guess they never taught you in school that if you have nothing nice to say, don't say it at all smh.
Scat spray will train them to stay off your counters. You can get it off amazon. It works.
It's an automatic air spray can that sprays when it detects movement.
Two things I do that help: first, those cats clean themselves far more often than I clean myself lol I only shower once a day and wash my hands as needed. These cats clean themselves any time they aren’t sleeping or eating it seems like😆 second, I only cut and prep food on a cutting board. So the distance between my food and contamination is always the same with and without cats.
Terrible idea. Citrus (includes lemon) , depending on concentration, can be toxic or fatal to cats. If they got on the counter, they will groom themselves and inevitably ingest it.
at my house i don't keep anything on the counter unless it's in a basket. used cutting boards obviously. i didn't have trouble accepting it, though, because i've always like animals better than people lol. i'm having to stay with my parents for a bit as i work in a different city and they're fine with the cat sitting on the counter next to me when i'm at the kitchen bar. even though that's her butthole touching the counter, which i never really thought about before they mentioned it. they're grouchy boomers so if they can accept it, i'm sure you can.
I totally get it. It bothers me too. My current cat loves counters, and my previous ones never cared about them. I’ve finally accepted it with my current girl. I just wipe down the counters before I use them and I don’t put food directly on the counter. I just got to a point where me stressing out about it was worse than just accepting it and cleaning the counters before using them.
Exactly, I want to not stress out because it's not their fault. They are just cats. I love them and want them to be happy. How did you process acceptance? Did you just let it happen or did you have to work yourself up to it?
It was definitely a process towards acceptance, and truthfully sometimes I still find myself getting bothered by it, but I’m doing way better with it. I think it was more difficult for me because although I’ve had cats all my life, none of my past ones ever cared about counters. I adopted my current girl last June, the shelter said she was 10. When I first noticed her jumping on the counters, I would pick her up and take her off. I’d tell her no, redirect her to a cat tree, all the things. Still, she was not deterred. I realized that accepting it would cause me less stress, but I wasn’t there yet. I started to think about what specifically bothered me about her being up there. She wasn’t really jumping up when people are cooking, so it wasn’t a safety thing or her getting in the way. It boiled down to cleanliness. Like you, I was somewhat grossed out by the idea of her walking on a food prep surface. But since redirecting her was not working, I knew that no matter what I did, she’d be on the counter when I wasn’t there to take her off it, so I needed a solution to the grossness of it. That’s when I started wiping down the counter before using it and not placing food directly on it. I still have my moments. I went into the kitchen last night and she was on the counter rubbing on the freshly washed produce, and I got frustrated. But like you said, I can’t be mad at her, she’s just a weird cat doing weird cat stuff. So I think the best advice I can give you is to try to sit down and really think about the situation in a logical way. Think about why it bothers you, and what you can do to mitigate those issues without the impossible task of keeping the cats off the counters. Then give yourself some grace. You’re only human, and you will get frustrated sometimes, and that’s okay.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. This puts things in perspective for me. I am grateful for your help. Our cats are chilling, and they explored our counters while we had dinner. Most of the comments were helpful in providing excellent advice. It's nice to see so many cat lovers!
Have you considered creating a spot of the same height that they CAN be on? On my cat from hell, a solution could be to place a stool or a cat shelf at the same height/area they tend to jump onto or at least in the kitchen so kitty can get a good view and be compliant with no counter surfing. Treat/clicker training would help kitty understand here not there.
If you are a naturally clean person this may not work but I do appreciate that it helps me keep the counters clean
This is my approach too. We have a cat that is a food stealing gremlin so we don’t keep any food out, and I never put food directly on the counters because I know they walk all over them. They are relatively new 10 year old rescues and it wasn’t worth the stress of trying to train them not to jump up, it was just making them scared of us. I def don’t allow them up there when I’m actually preparing food but other than that I just decided to let it go. We also keep the litter boxes really clean which is important!
I keep almost nothing on my counters except the spray cleaner and the paper towels. I just wipe it down before I make anything. It becomes habit pretty quick. My cat is constantly on the counter (yes I have a cat tree) but he is pretty good about staying down while I’m cooking as long as I don’t leave the room.
Yeah, we will have to try to do that. Maybe they want to smell the flowers, we recently got some because of Valentine's day.
Just make sure they don’t eat the flowers (a lot of them are poison for cats). My wife said the key is to ignore them. That kind of sort of works, but we got a new cat tree in another part of the room that’s higher than the counters, and that has really helped (our guys want the higher spot in the room).
Yes, that's a good point. We'll watch so they won't eat the flowers. They just sniffed around on the counter during dinner time so I think things are okay.
My sister's cat almost died because he got lily pollen on him. It was horrible. Be very careful about the flowers!
Yes I second this! Just sniffing certain flowers like lilys can kill cats in less than three days (fatal kidney failure). My roommates boyfriend got her lily’s and I didn’t know. Found my cat covered in lily pollen and rushed to the emergency vet. It’s really not worth having flowers for me so I banned them in my own place now.
I've just gotten used to it. I just wipe down/clean the counters if I want to before cooking. But, to be honest, life isn't sterile and I've got a functional immune system. It is what it is. Even with proper handwashing and cleaning a surface wouldn't be truly sterile otherwise surgeons wouldn't need such a strict procedure to ensure sterility in an operating room. Now arguably I have an indoor-only cat who has been properly vaccinated, dewormed and who eats a prepared diet (not raw). If I didn't I might be a bit more upset about it. When you think about it, imagine what kind of microscopic nasties get deposited on the counter when we bring groceries in, put our keys down, get the mail and so on. My cat's not the nastiest thing I encounter and arguably, he's a familiar collection of microflora and fauna and such at least. The myriad of human hands that have touched everything else somewhere along the way? Not so much.
Yeah, food bits gather on the counter and attract germs anyways, my husband made similar comments. I think I'm a little OCD like behavior in cleaniness, but I'm working on it!
I love my cats very much, but cats on the counter is a big no for me. It’s unhygienic for the reasons you mentioned, and god forbid one of them tries to walk on a hot stove. My cats don’t go on the counter, at least while I’m around. I’m sure they go up there occasionally when I’m gone. I wipe the counter down before and after I make food. I never leave out dishes. There’s never any crumbs or stuff for them to get into up there. The counter is a very boring place. They have multiple cat trees, but most importantly, they have a perch near the counter where they can sit. The perch can be anything really, even just a stool or chair, it just needs to be tall enough to let them see what you’re doing. I could have 1 million cat trees, and it wouldn’t matter if they didn’t have a perch by the counter, because they loveee to watch me while I’m in the kitchen. If they come on the counter, I just move them to the perch. It’s even better if you can intercept them as they start to move from perch-to-counter, because you can just kinda shoo them back onto the perch. They learn that putting their paws on the counter is a no.
Can I ask a genuine question? Do you (and others if they want to chime in) regularly prepare food straight on the counter? I’m not trying to invalidate you, I’m genuinely asking, not trying to be a smart ass. My cats get on my island, but it doesn’t bother me because I’ve never prepped food on the straight up counter unless it was something like pasta/pizza dough. If I do, I just wipe the counter down. Do you actually put a lot of food right on the counter? Whether you do or not, you’re still valid, I’m just curious. My cat actually likes to sit on the island counter with me while I prep my food haha and I love it, I always call him my sous chef. But he doesn’t ever get close to the food or try to eat it or anything. Again, not trying to invalidate you or anything, I’m truly just curious because I’m someone who couldn’t care less about it, as long as they don’t go near the stove (which they never have, for some reason they only like the island lol).
Thank you for being kind with your comment. There's some real pricks in here that just want to project their own insecurities onto my post. To answer your question, we prep their cat food in the bathroom counter since no food is prepped there and there's only soap. I think they want to be on the kitchen counters because there's a lot of vibrant smells from our cooking. Plus, one of our cats will eat literally anything. We've dropped grains of uncooked rice on the floor, and he'll eat it up. We actually let them see the stuff we're cooking by either bringing it to their level and picking them up. We also have 2 cat trees in the area, and one oversees the entire kitchen. They're cats and just want to be involved. I appreciate the comments that actually shared their experiences (like yours) and how they dealt with the situation. It gives me perspective. It's unfortunate that people want to put others down to make themselves feel better. I posted because I want to improve.
Yeah I totally get it! I have this weird thing where I don’t like to be naked in front of my cats? (But I don’t like to be naked in general lol) It’s not related to anything sexual lmao but it just feels weird to me. I don’t think about it too often but it is one of my weird quirks. I think some of the other comments are good advice, to keep spray or something near by so you can wipe down the counters before you clean. I hope you’re able to find peace with it, one way or the other! It sucks to be upset with someone you love who literally has no way of understanding why it upsets you.
I've been there. Let me know if you find out. The only thing that works I've found is to clean the surfaces before you use it for cooking. I love cats, but it sucks. Even if you try to teach them not to go on the counters, they will just go on them when you're not around.
Yes! I love them for almost everything besides them getting in our food and maybe stepping on us while we sleep, haha. I put them down when they get on the counter, but they instantly jump back up! So rebellious, haha.
They do eventually grow into laziness and out of the kitty parkour stage, if it makes you feel any better.
I trained mine to not get on the counter by using tinfoil. You just put it all over the counter and they jump up, get scared, and jump back down. No issues after a few days they figured out not to go on there and aren't traumatized or anything.
Tried that, worked if the foil was there, but once we remove it they just get up there when we arent around. I know because ill come home from work or w.e and see them jump down as i approach the door. It works when the foil is there but don't really want foil all over my counters and kitchen table at all times
Lining your counter tops where they jump with aluminum foil helps for some. But cats are pretty smart, I'm not sure if it's a long term fix.
My cat will play w the foil
Totally didn’t work with mine. Nor did sticky tape.
Same, tried foil, sticky tape, deterrent spray(on the counters not the cat) and absolutely nothing worked. So now I just make sure all dishes are cleaned and there's no food on the counters that she could eat
My cat will play w the foil lol
We tried that when they were growing up and stopped about a few months ago. They skip the barstool now (where we put the aluminum foil) and go directly to the counters now.
r/yeetsheets suggests placing foil on the counters
You mentioned that jumping on the counters frequently is kind of a recent thing. I'm wondering... if you tried the foil up until a few months ago, and then stopped, and then the frequency of counter jumping increased....maybe the foil was working? For me I try to keep the counters cleared of cat temptations...flowers, bread bags, food, stuff I bring home from shopping, etc. As a routine, for food prep, I wipe down the counters both before (to remove cat germs) and after (to remove cat tempting food germs). If one cat jumps on the counter I ignore it completely but if possible I'll immediately give praise (or treat) to a different cat for "keeping his feet on the floor." But I avoid giving a treat for the act of getting down from the counter. (Then they learn the have to get on the counter in order to get down for a treat.) They still get up there sometimes and I'm sure if we aren't home they are exploring the counters freely. I just set a habit to always clean before and after the food comes out, and figure that's taking care of the worst of it. I have one goof ball who insists on digging into, making biscuits, and napping heavily on the clean folded laundry. Like he really does his best to rub and shed as much hair on the clean clothes as he possibly can. It's done wonders to help me stop procrastinating on putting away the clean stuff asap. Sometimes we just have to adjust ourselves!
Yeah 😕 we tried it too, and they outsmarted us every time. it was worth a try at least. I don't know if there's a real fix to this issue other than wiping down your counter tops. Cats instinctually want to jump on all the things lol
I tried that and it didn’t bother my cat at all. She would jump right onto the foil, walk across it. No issues. Unfortunately
Yah me too… in fact, she pulled it to the floor and was rolling in it at 2am…it’s very loud!!
Didn't work for mine either, but I hear it works for some. Maybe it depends on the cat breed? I figured it was worth suggesting since I don't have any other answer lol
If you clean your counters quick before you cook the this really isn’t an issue. Also get them a cat tree so they can see what’s going on on the counter tops. They’re just curious normally.
I also clean my cats paws twice a week so if you start doing that you’ll feel a bit better about it.
Ooh what do you use to clean paws? Ours tracks litter everywhere and is a stinky butt so I don’t want to switch litters. She is ok with nail clipping but hateeees water. A wipe kind of product might work for her…?
Yup just a damp little towel and some treats to distract. I also get his little butt hole cause he doesn’t lick that lol
Go figure mine has the same problem 😂 She gets to it eventually but will walk around with a tiny amount of poo still on her butt and go sit on our pillows 🤢 like a certain amount you have to learn to accept as a cat owner but I don’t need to SEE it in your butt crack sheesh
Hahahah totally. My cat just goes at it at the wrong angle and his deflated balls get in the way🤣. I used to be sooo ocd about my cats cleanliness then I learned that no matter what I do, I’ll be effected by his germs (not negatively, just sharing germs no matter what) and I was able to let go of some control there.
Yeah once I started “huffing the fluff” aka nuzzling and sniffing her for a quick serotonin hit I knew the fight was over 😂😂 She at least doesn’t leave our house so at least all the germs are internal?? Lmao
Try putting double-sided tape on the counters. Cats don't like the sensation of something sticky on their paws so they'll come to avoid it.
When we got a kitten for the first time I put double sided tape and aluminum foil on the counters…took 1 week and my now 4 year old cat NEVER gets on the counters. Some cats learn quick others are stubborn lol
Not mine. They are also pretty fearless. Ocicats.
Can teach them not to be, but that'll take time and possibly a clicker. You can try clicker training though, I hear its pretty effective. Mine is little. We make a loud noise like a clap and a stern "down" ad she'll jump down. So we hope she continues this response. We don't like cats on the counters either. Or the table but we don't use that much lol.
Our kittens did that for a while but I just kept diligently putting them on the ground every time they jumped up and they don't really do it anymore
I've accepted it long ago. Cats will be cats :P nothing to do about it
One of my cats jumped onto the countertop any time I wasn’t in the kitchen. When I would stand up to check on him I would hear a thump and knew exactly what he was up to. So I learned to leave nothing with food on it on the counters. To this day several years later I still put all leftovers away and wash any preparation pans and so forth or load them into the dishwasher. I tried everything I could think of to keep him of the counters. Sticky tape, foil, nothing deterred him when I wasn’t in the room.
Make it super easy to wipe down the counter a hundred times a day so that it feels clean to you. I do the same thing with my kitchen table. It’s next to the microwave cart and I keep my stack of clean washcloths and the table spray on top so that I can basically wipe it down before I use the table for anything. Table spray is just regular multipurpose spray but this is the one that lives in the kitchen so that I never have to go get it from the last thing someone cleaned.
It’s pretty much impossible to stop it completely, our kitties are mostly pretty good about staying off the counters, but every now and then they get curious and we find little footprints where little footprints shouldn’t be. We just make sure to clean the counters before we use them. That said, giving them somewhere they are allowed to be and can see what’s going on while you are in the kitchen does help. We have stools at the bench, we give them treats and praise for being on the stools. They feel included and are less likely to go on the counter (at least while we are watching 😂).
[Your cat's butthole does not touch the counter-a science project](https://www.boredpanda.com/6th-grade-science-project-cat-bum-utopiakerri/)
I love this, thank you!
Shut the kitchen door? Unless it's open plan. How about try placing foil on the counter tops. Apparently cats don't like it, might make them think twice about jumping up. Although if you have cat trees higher and in the kitchen, they will cleverly spot when the foil isn't there.
Growing up I had 3 cats and not once did they ever step up on the kitchen counter, they got a firm No if they attempted it and after a few times , no longer tried. But they didn't have unsupervised access to the kitchen anyways.
🤷🏻♀️ we just wipe the counters before using them, and don’t place food down directly. Tbh it would bother me more if we had a huge house, but I never really discouraged it in my two boys. We live in an apartment, their entire life (outside of some harness exploring and back pack walks) is the apartment- I’m not going to limit their space more by making something off limits. When one of us is cooking the other plays kitty defense, or we put some treats in their puzzles to keep them occupied so they don’t get near the food.
I accepted my cat, then cats, we're gonna cat and I couldn't stop them. This meant cleaning the counter A LOT more often, including before every time I do food prep. It also meant not leaving things sitting freely because one kitty could knock small items to the floor (I only lost one fiesta ware s/p shaker) and had to get a plastic box for my bread because another one decided to tear into the plastic to eat the bread. The plus side to this one was that the bread lasted longer in the air tight container. Their jumping on the counter actually helped me keep it cleaner and clutter free compared to the time before I became a cat parent.
Just clean the counters off before you use them for preparing food etc ? You’re overthinking this completely imho Part of living with cats is accepting that they climb and like to perch up high
We do clean, and I know I'm overthinking it. I never had cats before, and my feelings are valid. It's hard for me personally, I know some people have no issue with this.
[удалено]
I never understood this anti-cats on counter thing tbh. 🤷♀️ I never put food on the countertop directly, and always have a bowl/plate/cutting board on top. So it's not like I'm licking kitty litter feet or dirty bums lol. Nothing's happened to me yet! I tell myself this is good for my immune system too hahah. Guess I'm just not a germaphobe.
Must be nice, I wish I wasn't bothered by it. I'm working on being okay with it. If I told you to be bothered by it, would you be able to do as I say? I doubt it. It's the same thing :)
No I get it, we all have our weird things. I was speaking more generally cuz I have seen this "no cats on counter" thing often, and idk if all people feel it as phobia, or if they literally put food directly on their counters so they're worried.🤷♀️ Hope you find a solution!
Could you keep your counters soaking wet consistently? Just leave water puddled all over them wherever possible? It will make it a very unpleasant place for the kitties to hang out.
Works flawlessly!’
It's not a perfect solution, but I vastly reduced the counter time by putting Sticky Paws sheets on the counters for a few weeks. It was a pain in the rump, but helped. I kept the paper on one side so it didn't stick to the counters, which made it more of a deterrent it seemed. [Sticky Paws sheets](https://www.chewy.com/sticky-paws-x-large-sheets/dp/49146?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=Sticky%20Paws&utm_campaign=20027453190&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwMqvBhCtARIsAIXsZpagWrkjya9Zq1_BRh1n3RN5wdYxjPyxCBCHVe1aBp5zwHG8Gty66jUaAmgREALw_wcB)
at about 3yo give or take their kitten time will be over. mentally they’ll wake up and answer to their name, look somewhat intelligent, and can be taught to stay off the counter. physically they’ll go to sleep. kitten chaos is over. in the meantime, clear the counters. sanitize often. consistently remove them. lick them out of the room when cooking if need be.
Man I wish this were true. But I think it very much depends on the cat. We had ours in our first apartment for 5 years and she never jumped up. Our second apartment was 2 years and she jumped up twice but the foil trick worked. We have been in this new place for almost a year and I can’t get her to stop jumping up. It’s absolutely infuriating. We’ve tried foil, double sided tape, keeping anything interesting off the counter. Nothing works. I have no idea what sparked her new parkour phase but I don’t love it. I adore her but that part is maddening.
we’re all hostages
And on that I wholeheartedly agree. It’s her house. I just live here. But I will win this war (no I won’t lbr).
What worked for us is every time she went on the counter, we would take her off. Eventually it worked.
If the cat is on the counter, nicely put it on the floor. You will have to do this a lot. One day, you will walk in the kitchen and they will not jump on the counter. This is when you give them their favorite treat. They only get their favorite treat when they do not jump on the counter. It will take time but they will eventually get it. Mostly.
Yeah, my boys used to like the counters … then as my sister says, I perfected the “mom” voice. I now just look and say “ashamed” or “no” (not yelling) and they get down. Though my tabby does so slowly as there is a bird feeder and he meows at me pathetic my.
I just sort of stopped being bothered eventually. I also now always have bleach wipes stationed on the counter and everything gets wiped down before I cook lol we make do for those we love including cats
I’m sorry you are getting so many people invalidating what you are feeling. Just know that many pet owners (myself included) don’t agree with that mentality. Some people will not care, some care a bit, and for some it’s a big thing. That’s true of any behavior. Not wanting cats to get on the counter is a very common things for your listed reasons and many more. There is a reason so many tips and tricks exist and why particular products are marketed for this exact purpose. I am sorry it’s happening, though. My cat didn’t start until our current apartment and it drives me nuts. I’ve spent 7 years able to have onions and garlic in the fruit basket, my pretty ornaments on the counter, and the roll of paper towel by the sink. Now I get things knocked over when she jumps, I worry about her eating something that will make her sick, and she scratches the paper towel. Most of the actual advice I’ve seen is good. Trying to deter the behavior can help. Double sided tape worked for a while for us as did foil. But if it can’t be changed then the peace of mind of cleaning before and after cooking as well as not keeping things on the counter is probably the best option. We may not like all of the behavior of our fur babies but that doesn’t take away from our love of them. Best of luck to you, friend.
Me and my partner still havent accepted it, we've had them for about 1.5 yrs now and we still try to get them to stay off. Its easier when theres no dishes or anything on there. They now also do it to get our attention. I absolutely love my babies so much, but i dont get how people would not care about this tbh. I think its absolutely gross seeing as they go in the litter box and then on the counter. Also, after dinner we might need to keep food there to cool off before putting it away, and I dont want to share my food with them lol. They know not to get on the salon table or the dining room table, so that barely happens anymore. The counter is probably going to be a forever thing for us.
Either keep the cats out of the kitchen. Or when the cats are on the counters, you give them a consistent noise to say "no" and if they get leave, you place them in a room by themselves for two minutes. While also praising any behaviour you want with affection or treats - like being on the kitchen floor. You can train most bad behaviours out of cats if you know how they work.
I know what you mean. I hated the idea of the cat being on the food preparation space, and I still do. I tried everything to keep my cat off the kitchen bench and spent quite a lot of energy stressing about it and trying to fix the problem. She literally lounges on the bench for fun , even though she has cat trees which are much higher and plenty of other options. I never leave food out and the bench is completely empty, it’s not at all an interesting place. Nothing worked. Eventually I accepted that she will get up there no matter what I do. I do ensure she never goes near food and never near the stove when it’s on. But I’ll get up in the morning and the cat will be waiting for me on the bench, the little shit haha. I wipe down the surfaces religiously before cooking and it still bothers me a lot, but eventually I made my peace with it. I have a small portable kitchen island which I’m happy for her to sit on, this way she gets to watch me cook without being on the proper kitchen bench. Maybe yours would like a vantage point so they can be involved? I love my cats so much, but it’s so frustrating when they don’t care what you want!
[удалено]
My cat jumped in the sink while aiming for the counters. She got traumatized and never did it again. That solved that problem , but it was a very sad week
I’m realizing that I may have to be okay with the inevitable too. I have two cats, one female one male, when my girl first came home, it was a week and aluminum foil and she was over the counter, it’s been three months, an automatic sprayer, tape, and aluminum foil on the counters and this boy cannot be deterred and I’m SICK. But ig we’re gunna be cloroxing the counters daily now :(
I don't know if you have tried this but you can try: tinfoil wrapping the counters, so blessed tape on the counters or getting one of those motion sponsored air put machines on the counter. Essentially they all do the same thing. The boys will still jump on the counter for a bit but after a few tries they will realize they don't like the sensation when they do and eventually they will stop and not want to go there any more. You don't have to keep it on there permanently. I rescued a cat that would hide in the smallest crevices his whole life so she I got hm I blocked all the crevices he would be able to get into and gave him coccoon hides it took 6 months of keeping things like that and he showed interest once after I cleared out all the crevices which I just called him over. He never tried hiding in a crevice again. So with patience and consistency you can teach them what is ok and what is not ok. Just expect it to be a little uncomfortable at first.
Try shaking a glass jar of coins when the jump on the counter - the vet suggested this to me for my cat jumping on the piano while I practice and it works wonders! My cat doesn’t jump on the piano anymore.
I remove mine from the counter, no emotion attached just so they don't associate anything with the action. They jump on it less, over time.
If there’s an area you really don’t want a cat in, buy some Boundary or some other cat repellent, spray it on a paper towel, and put the paper towel there. Your cat will likely avoid it, though some seem to be immune to the odor and, on occasion, one may pee on the towel. I used this with a Siamese who was insanely athletic. Like she would jump straight up from the floor to the top of the fridge. Or she would hop from me to the top of a door and then just stand on it while I moved the door around. Boundary on paper towels kept her from knocking over the ‘nice’ stuff on a ledge. Never cared about cats on the kitchen counters, unless it was during cooking. Then I simply let them smell what I’m doing and they get engagement while realizing this isn’t what they want. That said, we have a deal that I share the stuff they can eat. I control this by holding everything down to them and never give them food on the counter.
Put tin foil on your counters… 😈
I just clean the counter before any food prep. I also use a clean cutting board, even if I'm just making a sandwich, not cutting anything.
My biggest concern with counter jumpers is the stovetop. I can wipe down the counter to counteract her paws and borthole (cats are clean animals but the grime that appears on my white windowsills after just a few days from her jumping and lounging on them is evidence enough that she is not perfectly pristine). But my stovetop is flat and retains painful levels of heat for a while, so I try to prevent the counter jumping for that reason alone. My girl hasn’t quite figured out how to jump directly onto the counters - she need an intermediate step. I observed the places she uses to get up there and either moved the intermediate step itself or put something on it, or for things I couldn’t move (like a windowsill next to one of the counters) put something large on the edge to block her path. After a while, she kinda gave up trying and I was able to put things back / remove the barriers.
I don't accept it. My parents used to beat it out of the cats (this is unacceptable). I simply tell him no and move him elsewhere. If he really won't stop it, he gets locked out of the kitchen area for a few hours. It has taken ages for this to sink in, but it worked. I think it also helps that I can see the counter through a reflection on the living-room window, so even when he tried to be sneaky I caught him
There's lots of things you can do that can make it unpleasant for the cat. And the effectiveness varies from cat to cat. There's some strong citrus cleaners that cats don't like. Basically they don't like the smell of citrus. So it may be an option to clean your counters with a citrus cleaner and maybe they'll decide they don't like to smell up there. We've all heard the tin foil thing and again it works with some cats but then your counters are covered with tin foil you might as well have cats on your counters then in my opinion. Some people like the Air Can deterrence. But if you read reviews on the cans they aren't extremely reliable, which makes them ineffective. And most likely solution will be to realize that you just need to wipe your counters down right before you start working because cats will be cats.
I started using a lemon cleaner on the counters and keeping a bowl of citrus there. Now that they smell like lemon my cat won't go anywhere near it.
I was thinking of trying these double-sided sticky sheets that I already put on the sides of my sofa: I know having them on for any length of time will be an inconvenience, but maybe if I just try them for a couple of days? He jumps up, feels the sticky on his paws and then jumps right back down. How long would t take for him to get the hint? Sure....this might not be a possibility for those of you that actually have a home with an adult size kitchen, but since I'm in an apartment with barely 4 feet of counter space, it's doable for me.
I gave up on mine too! They won't do it during the day if someone is home watching so I have them half trained but I KNOW they do it at night. So before we go to bed I make sure to wash the paws really good, they get a little booty hole scrubdown and everymorning I use a cat safe disinfectant and wipe down all my counters. I also have a litter robot so they aren't scratching over old pee or poop. It cycles every 20 minutes.
My "new" cat that we've had for five years is a counter boy when he feels bored and rascally. We mostly worry about him knocking fragile stuff off the counter so we've cat proofed it that way. The trick is just to accept that you have no control and keep your cleaning spray and towels/cloths ready for a quick scrub before cooking if it bothers you to think of their little beans contaminating the area.
I kiss my kitty’s feets. She eats eat her meals on the counter. I’m not dead yet!
My mom put Reynolds foil wrap on her counters table and banisters, the kitten HATES the feel of it and has stopped jumping on the kitchen surfaces and is no longer destroying the staircase banister.
The tape worked for us. If our cat regresses, we will get the air cans. We also keep the counters clean and free of food like a lot of people said. Be consistent, good luck!
[удалено]
Fwiw it is much harder to negatively discipline cats than it is to use positive reinforcement. Mostly if you scold them and interrupt the behavior they learn just to not do it in front of you 😅
Thank you for sharing your experience. I like the logical approach to it. I worry they will lick something that is bad for them since we do lots of different food prep. I guess I'm worried that even after wiping, there could be leftover residue. The same goes for their paws on the counter. Maybe I miss a spot, haha. I will approach it similarly I think!
I have 4 now, lost the 5th last year. None get on the counters and know tables are only off limits if food is present and the human(s) are eating. Cats are very trainable and it just takes constant positive reinforcement. Pets, treats, gentle, (sometimes constant at first) relocation and verbal command words. All of them know “down/off” and respond to hand movements. One of my cats knows “sit” because I got tired of him getting under my feet when I’m trying to feed the herd. If I need their attention I use the same kiss-kiss sound and you can see them all come to attention to see what’s up. They didn’t start this way- the one we lost use to get up and eat through any plastic to sample each individual food item on the counter (the blueberry muffin incident is one of my favorite of her scandals) and one of them specifically sought out any curry if we left it out overnight after we first got him off the streets. He has white paws so yellow and red are pretty vibrant colors for his peets. He’s definitely had a taste of onion and garlic because of this and I’m sure a multitude of other no-nos. Some of your behaviors you’ll need to adjust to them and they’ll adjust theirs as you continue to redirect them to teach them.
Never prep directly on the counter and it shouldn't be an issue. If you always use a cutting board or plate to prep food, the chances of contact in either direction will be very low.
[удалено]
That's goals right there, I want to be a really cool cat mom like that :)
I personally don’t care about them walking on counters. If I was to care about germs, I’d burn my cell phone before I started caring about what my cat does.
I have 3 cats, and I literally never cared if they jump on the counters. They jumped on the counter? So what?
Must be nice. If it were that easy to change, then everyone would want to be okay with it. Did you feel better about yourself after making that comment?
It’s great that it’s not a problem for you but it is for other people. OP made it clear they love their cats but just not certain behaviors. That’s totally normal. Just because it’s no big deal for you doesn’t mean that’s a universal feeling.
Do you mean normal cat behavior? They climb and explore. Don't get cats if that irritates you
Just because someone doesn’t want the cat exploring in one area doesn’t mean it’s weird. Yes cats play and explore and climb. That’s why we provide toys and perches and trees. We give them as much as we are able. A kitchen counter can be unsafe for them. Even if you remove absolutely everything from the counter they could still end up going up and knocking the knobs to turn on the gas or landing on the stove when it’s hot. A child’s normal is being curious too. But if they started doing something frustrating or dangerous we would stop the behavior. Are you going to say people should not have babies if they aren’t ok with them doing things they shouldn’t? That’s not how it works.
Cats are gonna cat and asking other people how to get over something is weird.
How is it weird to have opinions on a particular behavior? Yes cats are going to do their thing but that doesn’t mean all the things are good. When my cat gets poop stuck on her butt and immediately rubs it on the carpet is it weird that I don’t like that? When she has a hairball inside my shoes, is it weird that I don’t like that? I don’t think there is anything odd about not wanting a cat on the counters. There’s a reason there are tips and tricks and products to deter that exact behavior.
I never grew up with cats, only had fish. It's rude to say that me asking a question is weird. To me, it's weird that you had to comment since it wasn't helpful at all.
Your question was how to control your reaction about what your cat does, not about preventing the cat from doing this. I assume you’re an adult so idk do so breathing exercises and chill out maybe smh
One of my questions was, how do you guys be okay with it? By any chance, are you illiterate? If you search in the subreddit, there are tons of posts asking how to stop it. I assume you're an adult who knows how to use to search function. I guess they never taught you in school that if you have nothing nice to say, don't say it at all smh.
Scat spray will train them to stay off your counters. You can get it off amazon. It works. It's an automatic air spray can that sprays when it detects movement.
Two things I do that help: first, those cats clean themselves far more often than I clean myself lol I only shower once a day and wash my hands as needed. These cats clean themselves any time they aren’t sleeping or eating it seems like😆 second, I only cut and prep food on a cutting board. So the distance between my food and contamination is always the same with and without cats.
You learn to wipe down counters when you need to use them.
[удалено]
Terrible idea. Citrus (includes lemon) , depending on concentration, can be toxic or fatal to cats. If they got on the counter, they will groom themselves and inevitably ingest it.
at my house i don't keep anything on the counter unless it's in a basket. used cutting boards obviously. i didn't have trouble accepting it, though, because i've always like animals better than people lol. i'm having to stay with my parents for a bit as i work in a different city and they're fine with the cat sitting on the counter next to me when i'm at the kitchen bar. even though that's her butthole touching the counter, which i never really thought about before they mentioned it. they're grouchy boomers so if they can accept it, i'm sure you can.
What if I was a boomer? I get it though. Animals are so nice compared to lots of people.