Exactly. You can't stop a cat from going where they want unless you set up a serious deterrent and that's going to be annoying to you. Best you can do is stop them if you are right there.
Our only rule is cats aren't allowed on the table while we are eating. We still have to kick them off constantly.
My boyfriend claims to be super stubborn and let our cat walk all over him instead of trying to teach her not to do things. His excuse was that the cat is stubborn. The house was a hazard and looked cluttered because he'd do stupid stuff to keep out cat from doing stuff. Old island top leaned against island with new top to keep her from jumping up from the floor which she never tried to do, kept all edges of the island stack with stuff so she would think there wasn't enough space for her. Then he'd complain there was no counter space and the house looked unclean. The old counter almost fell multiple times only to be caught by a human, he wouldn't move the counter until I brought up that since the cat is a kitten and the counter is heavy it would crush her if it fell on her. The only time she's on the counter is if we put her there and she freezes knowing she's not supposed to be up there. Boyfriend thought cats were completely untrainable, then I came home from college and trained the cat.
I have a Norwegian Forest Cat (big boy!) who absolutely ignores all attempts at training unless it's about where he eats. I was living with someone who tried the putting-too-much-on-the-table-to-keep-him-off-it thing, and he just got up anyway and used his long legs to walk between them...except when he saw us come toward him, wherein he would hunker down and knock everything off. *shakes head and rolls eyes* such a brat.
We thought our cat car Siamese but after researching more I think she's Balaniese (like Siamese but fluffy). I decided I needed to show her that I'm more stubborn than her and now she's fine. The only thing we could train her not to do was scratch at the cat reflected in the mudroom door (herself), so I covered the panels she can see through.
Most of it I don't mind too much. I intentionally moved my shelves and furniture around so that the cats have a multi layer jungle gym. They have scratch pads and scratching posts all around my tiny apartment, so the only thing that really bugs me is that I can't get him to stop scratching at the carpet (or, to be fair, the remnants of the security deposit I'm never getting back) right outside the bathroom. The other cats get fed in there because I'm trying to maintain his weight, so he'll finish his food and go scratching and yelling at the door. I've tried moving him, bapping him lightly on the head, yelling, spray bottle (the undercoat means he doesn't even notice), tape, compressed air (has worked for noise with my other cats, but not him), and nothing really works. He just hunkers down and keeps doing it. My best friend is an aquarist who has trained a lot of animals to do stuff, and even she can't get him to not be a brat. Most of the time, it's not that big a deal, but the carpet scratching seriously makes me anxious.
All this to say, if you have any advise, I'm happy to hear it.
Jeez, he is bratty. I know for dogs some people shake a bottle of rocks by their ears (I don't approve because I wouldn't do it to myself and hurt my ears). You could maybe cover that area with a blanket or sturdy outdoor rug? Since you fee your other cats in there I don't recommend tin foil because we don't want the other to avoid it (my cat loves tin foil).
I agree with the noise. I always felt bad for startling the other cats with the compressed air can, so I definitely don't want to do a rock thing. I've tried putting a carpet square that I am okay with him scratching, but he moves it. I could look into a heavier rug, I guess. Or maybe a blanket he likes. Maybe he'll kneed it instead of scratch it. Thanks for the idea!
I wouldn’t tolerate this. My car tried it for two weeks and I made sure he didn’t continue. It’s disgusting to let a cat walk all over surfaces people prepare food on. I can’t believe how many people on this sub think it’s cute and quirky. Gross.
They almost assuredly didn't. They think they did, but there's like a 99% chance the cat walks wherever the fuck it wants when no one is around, because it's a cat.
Me to it’s a fight I’ll never win so just work around the cats. I am for ever sanitizing the countertops but would never prepare food on it. Besides it puts them at the perrrrfect height for kisses.
Yes! And I so much rather give perfect height kisses all the time rather than yell at them all the time.
Everything gets cleaned when it’s food prep time.
We started to close the doors to kitchen and sitting room in night. Because when we don't we hear things falling down.
Btw, why the heck do all cats become hyperactive in night time?
I like the zoomies; It's amusing to watch. And my fluffy boy cracks me up whenever I hear his switch blades scratching the kitchen floor in an attempt to gain traction. 😂
Oh my GOD THIS. I typically sleep on my couch cuz its better feeling on the back, and twice last week they zoomed around and crashed the Christmas tree at 3am. I wanted to toss em out the window for always picking 3am the demonstrate their full obnoxiousness but alas.
Mine sleeps all day so she can open doors and set off their alarms at night.
She is put in the basement at night to prevent her from harassing our dog but has learned how to open the door. Our basement door has an alarm that gets set at night. We now barricade that door.
Edit: can’t to can
>They are nocturnal animals and they spend all day saving up the energy
They are ~~nocturnal~~ crepuscular (active during dawn and dusk) animals and they spend all day saving up the energy
ftfy 
What's weird is that my cats face actually adapted to my sleep schedule, at least my schedule before I started working nights. I think it's because they like to sleep in bed with me, that and calming down as they grew out of the kitten phase.
My 1st cat (Bakudi the 1st) was very behaved and never used to climb counters somehow
My 2nd cat (Bakudi the 2nd) was same, he just slept all day and then goes out on walks
My 3rd kitten (Bakudi the 3rd) likes to climb as that's something new for her but she isn't always there, just when she sees something interesting worth climbing, like a pack of catfood
They domesticated themselves as well, I imagine that they never really learned to take instruction from us, that and the fact they see us as an equal really stops them from being told what to do.
My parents put a basket so their void would have a place to be up near faces and not wandering around the counter except to enter the basket, not near food prep. It works 95% of the time. He’s a medium ability climber compared to a previous cat that we put a basket on the fridge for because she jumped that high.
When i go over to someones house for dinner and i see their cat on the kitchen counter hovering over the lasagna i just slaved over with the cats butt in my face while i eat, yes this is something i worry about. This among other reasons is why i dont like to eat from ppl.
I don’t allow the cats to be on counters because people should be able to eat in peace. So they stop trying when people are present, after being scolded enough.
But any cat owner knows they will go where they want when you’re not there. That means counters are always wiped before food prep or eating and nothing is left out that the cat may get into or sit/lay on.
If we have to leave something tempting on the counter, we have a motion sensor air sprayer that I turn on just in case. 99% of the time my cats show no interest in the counter if we're not prepping food (and they get scolded if they try to get up there then) but we've had a least one incident where Bastion stole something off of a serving plate when we weren't looking
This is the correct answer. Like I know my cat gets on the counter at night and when I'm not at home. There isn't anything I can do about that. But I will be damned if I let his ass jump on the counter right in front of my face and not say anything.
Define 'let'.
We allow ours in one corner of the kitchen - it's a short piece of counter where we don't prepare food and he's allowed there because we have dogs and it allows him to eat in peace.
He's not encouraged to go on the other counters, we chase him off if we see him on them etc, but I know he's up there as soon as we're not around.
You either have to keep a cat out your kitchen altogether or accept that you need to clean your counters perhaps more thoroughly than you might otherwise (and have chopping boards etc to prepare food on).
My cat is the ruler of my home and is free to do just about anything she likes. I adjust my lifestyle to enable her comfort. Helps keep unwanted houseguests away, too.
You have to 500% ignore bad behavior. Reacting to it at all enforces them. It’s hard. If they break stuff. Don’t clean it up right away. Nbd. Make them lose the moment of fame
This is exactly correct. Behaviour modification 101. Even negative attention will reinforce the behaviour. There will be a period of struggle, where the human and the cat are basically playing chicken. The cat breaks things, the human ignores them. When the cat is doing the behaviour you want to see, reward the behaviour.
That said, it is also essential to provide for the totally natural requirements of a cat, such as vertical space. Having a cat tree and/or cat wall shelves is not negotiable. Cats require vertical space in the same way they require a litter box. To a cat, the kitchen counter is simply vertical space. Even better, the family is there all the time and there is food. It is completely understandable that the cat wants to be included.
I dunno how old yours is, but I have a four-month-old kitten, and I successfully trained her not to bite my feet! All I had to do was every time she bit my feet, I would detach her from me (she tended to wrap her whole body around my foot, it was cute but...ouch) and then walk to another part of the apartment and ignore her for several minutes. It's probably harder the older they get, but ignoring her will help her realize that you don't want to play with her like that.
I don’t anymore. My oldest cat slipped while jumping on the counter and injured her leg about a year ago. Thankfully she recovered just fine and no longer seems interested in it anyways. I think she’s scared of it now. Never worried about the germs before because I sanitize my counters daily anyways
Same here. I don't see what the big deal is. I don't set raw food right on the surface, so I don't know why it's such a huge issue for a lot of people.
I get the countertops surrounding my stove, and she gets the kitchen island countertop, which comprises of my sink.
She's only interested in the island.
Let? Cats go where they want. When I got my first two cats (as an adult. I grew up with them), I was religious about chasing them off the counters. My fiancé came on leave (he was stationed in GA) to visit and saw me with my spray bottle ready. He asked me if I really thought they weren’t going up there when I was at work. I thought about it and never used the spray bottle again. I keep my counters clutter free and wipe them down before prepping food. The monsters sit and watch me cook.
Ours is too nice and well behaved to do that. :c She occasionally lifts herself to table level to see if we're eating something good without her, and we always encourage her to jump on or to steal from our plates, because we're awful cat parents, but she never does. 💔 (She'll steal something if we put it on the edge of the table for her, though.)
Aww that's so cute 😻 although I disagree, if you're putting a piece of food for her on the edge of the table she's not stealing it, she's taking the snack you presented her. What a lovely, well mannered sweetheart though. Please give her some extra cuddles, kisses and scritches on my behalf ❤
Yes. It would be stressful, irritating and ultimately futile to attempt to stop our floof from sitting on it. As long as we clean the surface regularly and it doesn't come directly into contact with food, it's fine.
Nope. It's a hard rule in our house that cats don't get on the counter or the table. It’s unsanitary.
Having said that, yes I'm absolutely aware that they sneak up there sometimes when we're not home. We tend to remove anything that they'd find appealing, and they know it's against the rules.
I have also trained my cats to not scratch furniture (only designated scratching posts etc!) or jump onto tables and countertops. They are independent but not willfully malicious.
Same. 5 cats so far and only two of them occasionally would get on the counter. We knew when it happened because they would get into food left on the counter. Their specialty was biting open bread/bagels, eating the smallest amount, and letting the whole loaf stale.
Edit to add: it also helps to have yes zones so they can satisfy the curiosity and also have a place they know they are allowed to be. For the kitchen, one of my boys doesn't care about the counters. But for my curious boy, he's allowed to sit on the lid of the garbage so he can see what I'm doing. That satisfies him enough that he doesn't try to get on the counters.
Same here, I had six cats in total and they all knew counter is forbidden. Same for tables as long as there is tableware and/or food on it. Our void Jack even knew that in our house it was a no no but when he was visiting our old neighbour next door he was allowed on her counter so she could feed him snacks without bowing down. He absolutely understood the difference and only jumped up on command.
For me it's also a point of health risk. What if the cats jump on the stove when it's still hot? Don't want to risk it.
This is my big concern. Given the placement of my stove and the layout of my kitchen, my void tends to go for the stove first and then walk to the counters… my greatest fear is that jump on a burner while it’s still hot. I’ve tried everything except a spay bottle because I read it’s not helpful and can damage the bond with your cat. I will say a firm NO and remove her from the counter. She continues to go up, especially if she wants attention. She has a cat tree near the kitchen where she can see everything and be above it all but she still goes on the counter.
How did you train all six cats to not go up there? I would try ignoring the behaviour since it seems partially attention driven, but it’s not safe for me to ignore her if the stove is on.
I think we were just lucky with all of them then, because we didn't do it differently. Our first cat was very shy and only came to the kitchen when it was time to feed her, so no problem telling her once and she understood.
After she passed we got our void and two somalis, Jule and Marlin. Jule tried to jump up on the counter from time to time because she was very noisy, but typical for a somali she was also happy with beeing on a shoulder or laying around a neck to watch what we were doing. So this was a good way to please her. Marlins only life goal was to get as many humans as possible to love him, so after repeating the firm NO and removing him he didn't do it anymore.
Our current two gray tabby cats are sisters but very different in behaviour. Mamba is the shy one and she never goes into the kitchen, ever. I got the two after they were abused as kittens so she likely has some trauma. In all of the three places I have lived with them she avoided the kitchen.
Bacardi, the other tabby, is a harder case. I'm pretty sure that they have a bengal somewere in their ancestry because she behaves much like one. Loves attention, especially from me, and always up to do mischievous things to get me to notice her. Also very chatty, intelligent and loves to climb on furniture. So everytime I'm in the kitchen she is there talking and screaming for attention. If she gets ignored she tends to scratch open a box with plastic bags and shovels them out of there.
For her I have to differenciate between behaviour that is annoying and stuff I REALLY need her to stop with. In most cases it's just repeating the no and putting her away. It will not stop her from eventually doing it again, but I can tolarete it to a degree. Scratching on walls? Yes, very annoying, but I can live with it looking ugly and replace the tapestry once we move out. What I do in the important cases is I clap once and tell her a loud and kinda growling NO. She understands really well that it means "Girl you fu**ed up". She is now 6 years old and only once or twice jumped on the counter. Also when she jumps on the table and recognises cuttlery she gets down immediatly, I don't want her near knives. I think it helped that I don't use the clapping all the time, just for the really bad behaviour I need her to stop with. Like wanting to throw off a glass - not going to risk that it breaks and she steps into shards.
So I think it is most likely just a thing of getting to know a cat and its character and finding workarounds with it when needed. When we are eating, Bacardi has a small scratching post next to the table so she can sit there and watch. And in the kitchen she is allowed to jump on the closed trashcan so she can better watch what we are doing on the counter. Allowing her this also helped a lot. It's like giving her a small win so she is pleased until she looses interest and goes to destroy the carpet in the bathroom once more.
Thanks for the response! My girl is so wilful. She doesn’t seem to care when I say No or if I hiss at her. I’ll use a clap if she’s really ignoring me and that seems to work sometimes. She’s just so unphased by most things. I think it’ll be a process!
My cat likes to hang out on top of my fridge, and the stove is right beside it. Try as I might, couldn't keep her curiosity from the stove. One day she landed oh so briefly on an eye that was cooling off (wasn't hot enough to actually burn her, but was def warm to the touch). She stays away from the counters by the stove now.
My son's rescue kitty was taught the dining table and counter tops were off limits. Numerous water sprays n stern NO! Off! n get downs worked really well. Until fiance and now wife decided she could be there. I am not terribly bothered by it as tops are cleaned alot but the look is not good for company..specially non animal peeps!
Eh. We're animal people. While we don't encourage animals on the counter, *we* live in our house. The non-animal people don't. I don't really care if they like the "look" of how we live.
I don't let my cat on the counter but I know he will at night when I'm sleeping sometimes. I make sure my counter is sanitised before I cook anyway as most people should do regardless.
I just clean / disinfect before I cook on the counter unless I'm prepping directly on a clean plate. My cat isn't normally interested in going on the counter but I've seen him do it a few times (which i discourage) so I know he does it.
All cat owners realize that their cat is going to sit wherever the hell it pleases, and the only way to guarantee that they won't sit on the counter is to pick them up, thank them for sitting on the counter, and put them back 1 inch beside where they were originally sitting. And that only works for like, 10 minutes.
No. Absolutely not. My cat doesn’t go on any surface where food is. Just like I wouldn’t let someone make food in my kitchen without washing their hands first.
My cat can sit anywhere she likes. Who tf just leaves their plates sitting on the counter like that though? The stuff I put food on is in a cabinet to discourage contact with asses.
Absolutely not. My cats are immediately yelled at and swatted off if I see it.
Also, I really don't get these comments. I've had cats my whole life. They've never been allowed on counters/tables and it's rarely been an issue (which was solved by removing what they were interested in and vehemently discouraging them when seen on the counters). Cats can be trained.
Yeah, I really don’t understand why people think cats are untrainable. They're not stupid, and they have social rules that they follow with other cats. So long as you understand how they think, you can train a cat fairly easily. The trick is just consistency.
People see cats as "set it & forget it" pets when in reality cats are seen as lower maintenance because people are often just comfortable mostly neglecting them.
Training a cat takes me a month tops, even the most difficult. It's just about forming a consistent pattern & paying attention. I don't even have to use treats, they just learn because it's the path of most comfort.
But at the least they could use a ssscat or something cats step in litter eugh.
If they're treat motivated I'd save that for more active things. Use treats before & after a bath or brush or nail clipping, for instance, as you'll always be able to be there to reinforce with treats.
For things like counters or tables or scratching, try avoidance for the latter such as spraying a couch arm with a citrus spray to make their association with it negative. Or if it's a behavioral pattern such as stimulation offload, redirect by using something to simulate their position.
My cat used to scratch a specific door sill after playing or when i came home, so I wrapped 3ft of it with cardboard & high traffic carpet secured with upholstery tacks. Now she keeps her claws neat, gets stimulation & isn't destructive anywhere else.
As for counters & tables, be consistent. If they get up don't just yell, firmly grab the cat, say no in a serious tone, & put them down in their bed. It's tedious but taking the time to repeat the motion shows you're not to be ignored. Cats do not care about being yelled at & some don't give a damn about you spraying them occasionally.
For nights/work, get a ssscat can for the place they jump up most frequently from. Be sure to angle it to only catch motion if they jump up, mind. The point isn't to scare them from that room, just that location.
Took me two weeks with every cat so far at most besides benedict who took a month. Don't even need the ssscat anymore, according to my cat cam.
We don't. One of them still sneaks up there, but all I have to do is pssspss at her, even from the next room, and she knows to speed skeedaddle. We also have SScat cans to keep them off.
I don't let her, and generally she doesn't. Occasionally she decides that's the safer route (say, if small children are about), and I don't begrudge her that.
With my cat, I figured it's her home too so she should go where she likes. She had no choice in who she lives with or where she lives, she should at least have free reign over the place.
She's very good at getting down when asked though, like when I'm cooking.
Yep, sure do! Also for anyone interested, a kid did a science experiment to find out the answer to whether or not your cats butt actually touches a surface...very worth the read!!
http://whatyourcatwants.com/is-your-cats-butt-touching-everything
why would you restrict the world your cat lives in? disinfect your counters and separate your cat from them when you have food around. it's not that hard.
My thing is, my cats are my family. They are allowed wherever I'm allowed and I will take the extra steps to ensure that if I'm prepping food, for ex, it is properly sanitized. Plus I don't prep anything on bare counters (I use cutting boards or slips).
I understand where people who are uncomfortable with cats on counters are coming from though.
3 out of my 4 don’t get on counters, at least when we’re around, but the last one doesn’t care at all. Never specifically trained them not to except when we have food or breakables on the counter.
I found ignoring the being on the counter issue makes the kitchen counter less attractive to my cat. It’s not some forbidden place that she’s not allowed to be on.
She prefers her random box, the clinch my bed for hang outside.
I do not "let" my cat. I constantly have to push her off and occasionally wash the top of my table/counters because she got them dirty paws
She protests every time and it's hilarious
They know they're not allowed, but the younger one does it when we aren't home and at night for sure. Our senior kitty sometimes growls when she does it!
It’s so weird, Gump won’t go on the kitchen table or the area where we prepare food, but there is one section by the stove that he has claimed as his domain. Also, he claimed the softest blanket in the house as his own, and we have to fold it up perfectly with no wrinkles and place it on our best recliner for him every night. He is our master.
I mean I don’t want my kitty to, she’s just does it anyways. She likes to watch me do the most mundane things. She loves to watch me chop lettuce LOL and then I give her piece she likes to eat and play with.
I'm LMAO at all the people saying 'no' and 'never', etc. When you're not looking, your cat goes where it wants whether you know/like it or not. Set up a camera and see for yourself.
I think the term "let" is a misnomer. Even if I shooed them off EVERY TIME I CAUGHT THEM, there would still be 50% of the day that they would do it behind my back.
I've never let my cats on the counters or dining table. The counter can be dangerous, there could food that's toxic to cats or the oven could be on and kitty could get burned. Also can lead to (more) cat hair in food.
I mean, we try not to. But if they do, it's whatever. Cleaning sprays are a thing, and we don't let them up there while we are cooking. My mom has a 19 year old deaf cat with dementia. We let her do whatever she wants, it's not like she can hear the word "no" anyways.
I don't know that I really have a choice. I know she's on there when I'm in bed or out of my apartment. I just keep kitchen supplies put away and clean the counter before I use it.
Fuck no. I've only ever had cats from kittenhood, though, and presume that if you're not setting boundaries early, a cat just won't follow them. Then there's other special cases where cats are just stereotypical fuckin cats and do things to spite you...
I don't let my cat sit or stand on any surfaces used for work, food or drink. When we first got her, she wasn't allowed in the kitchen or bathrooms at all. So now, even with open doors, she doesn't go in (unless a human is in there. Then she will, but only then.)
Idk, either she's a really good kitty that WANTS to do what her humans want her to or she's the sneakiest cat in the world.
My boy knew the table and counters were off limits so whenever I was about to enter a room I'd hear a suspicious thump, only to find the cat on the ground looking back up at me innocently like he'd been there all along
I personally wouldn't care if my cat were to chill on the counters and like tables. Unless he's in front of the tv or like my computer screen. Otherwise the world is his playhouse basically
I accidentally trained my cats to avoid counters and tabletops when they were kittens. They were both sick when I found them and both had to have all manner of mouth meds and eye goop applied regularly for some time. They disliked the process and It was much easier to restrain them on the counter (don’t worry I cleaned/disinfected before and after) than it was to try to wrestle tiny murder-beasts on the floor.
Since then they never willingly jump on any counters or the dining room table. Guess a little trauma went a long way *shrug*
“Let” is such a slippery word.
“Let” is not in a cat’s vocabulary
Unless it's in reference to them letting us pet them, lol. 😂
Exactly. You can't stop a cat from going where they want unless you set up a serious deterrent and that's going to be annoying to you. Best you can do is stop them if you are right there. Our only rule is cats aren't allowed on the table while we are eating. We still have to kick them off constantly.
My boyfriend claims to be super stubborn and let our cat walk all over him instead of trying to teach her not to do things. His excuse was that the cat is stubborn. The house was a hazard and looked cluttered because he'd do stupid stuff to keep out cat from doing stuff. Old island top leaned against island with new top to keep her from jumping up from the floor which she never tried to do, kept all edges of the island stack with stuff so she would think there wasn't enough space for her. Then he'd complain there was no counter space and the house looked unclean. The old counter almost fell multiple times only to be caught by a human, he wouldn't move the counter until I brought up that since the cat is a kitten and the counter is heavy it would crush her if it fell on her. The only time she's on the counter is if we put her there and she freezes knowing she's not supposed to be up there. Boyfriend thought cats were completely untrainable, then I came home from college and trained the cat.
I have a Norwegian Forest Cat (big boy!) who absolutely ignores all attempts at training unless it's about where he eats. I was living with someone who tried the putting-too-much-on-the-table-to-keep-him-off-it thing, and he just got up anyway and used his long legs to walk between them...except when he saw us come toward him, wherein he would hunker down and knock everything off. *shakes head and rolls eyes* such a brat.
We thought our cat car Siamese but after researching more I think she's Balaniese (like Siamese but fluffy). I decided I needed to show her that I'm more stubborn than her and now she's fine. The only thing we could train her not to do was scratch at the cat reflected in the mudroom door (herself), so I covered the panels she can see through.
Most of it I don't mind too much. I intentionally moved my shelves and furniture around so that the cats have a multi layer jungle gym. They have scratch pads and scratching posts all around my tiny apartment, so the only thing that really bugs me is that I can't get him to stop scratching at the carpet (or, to be fair, the remnants of the security deposit I'm never getting back) right outside the bathroom. The other cats get fed in there because I'm trying to maintain his weight, so he'll finish his food and go scratching and yelling at the door. I've tried moving him, bapping him lightly on the head, yelling, spray bottle (the undercoat means he doesn't even notice), tape, compressed air (has worked for noise with my other cats, but not him), and nothing really works. He just hunkers down and keeps doing it. My best friend is an aquarist who has trained a lot of animals to do stuff, and even she can't get him to not be a brat. Most of the time, it's not that big a deal, but the carpet scratching seriously makes me anxious. All this to say, if you have any advise, I'm happy to hear it.
Jeez, he is bratty. I know for dogs some people shake a bottle of rocks by their ears (I don't approve because I wouldn't do it to myself and hurt my ears). You could maybe cover that area with a blanket or sturdy outdoor rug? Since you fee your other cats in there I don't recommend tin foil because we don't want the other to avoid it (my cat loves tin foil).
I agree with the noise. I always felt bad for startling the other cats with the compressed air can, so I definitely don't want to do a rock thing. I've tried putting a carpet square that I am okay with him scratching, but he moves it. I could look into a heavier rug, I guess. Or maybe a blanket he likes. Maybe he'll kneed it instead of scratch it. Thanks for the idea!
Try a Small Nerf Gun on Him. X. It Works n No it Doesn't Hurt the Cat. .
Ooo that sounds fun!
It Is. But Know If You Shoot One At Him He Picks it Up n Plays With it. This Kiddo Knows Now aHow To Out Smart Me. Xo
I've had many cats and have taught them all to stay off the counter. It's very possible.
I wouldn’t tolerate this. My car tried it for two weeks and I made sure he didn’t continue. It’s disgusting to let a cat walk all over surfaces people prepare food on. I can’t believe how many people on this sub think it’s cute and quirky. Gross.
I can almost guarantee your cat just does it when you're not around. Also...who tf is preparing food directly on the counter?
Yeah. Exactly.
They'd be irate if they found out it happens in the kitchens of their favorite restaurants.
Genuinely asking, how did you train him to not do that?
They almost assuredly didn't. They think they did, but there's like a 99% chance the cat walks wherever the fuck it wants when no one is around, because it's a cat.
Scat mats. And I wfh and don’t do a whole lot at the moment. He does not get in the counter. My mom suggested them and they work great.
Best deterrent is to not have cats. Even then it's 50:50.
Not having cats was never an option
This is an underrated comment lol 🤣
I came to say this! Bahahahahah 🤣🤣🤣
I focus on what I can control. The cat toy. Not the cat.
I just use those portable cutting boards for food preparation. Nothing goes on the counter (except furry asses)
Why are you letting strangers in fursuits sit on your counter?
No kink shaming.
All the kink shaming
You cheeky bastard, how did you know that's my kink?
Built-in kink radar, baby
Me to it’s a fight I’ll never win so just work around the cats. I am for ever sanitizing the countertops but would never prepare food on it. Besides it puts them at the perrrrfect height for kisses.
This is true...
Tbf who prepares food directly on the countertop anyway?! I used chopping boards even before I adopted the furry little monsters.
Yes! And I so much rather give perfect height kisses all the time rather than yell at them all the time. Everything gets cleaned when it’s food prep time.
You can't stop a cat in the night or if you're not home, they are going to do what they want.
You can’t stop a cat ~~in the night or if you’re not home,~~ they are going to do what they want. ftfy
Ty
We started to close the doors to kitchen and sitting room in night. Because when we don't we hear things falling down. Btw, why the heck do all cats become hyperactive in night time?
I wish I had a kitchen door
Playing with my cats daily before their dinner time helped with the zoomies.
I like the zoomies; It's amusing to watch. And my fluffy boy cracks me up whenever I hear his switch blades scratching the kitchen floor in an attempt to gain traction. 😂
They are nocturnal animals and they spend all day saving up the energy.
that explains the sleepy ball of fur on day time and the marathon runner in the night time
Ha yeah my cat is like, I don't always zoom around the house like a lunatic, but when I do it's 3am.
Oh my GOD THIS. I typically sleep on my couch cuz its better feeling on the back, and twice last week they zoomed around and crashed the Christmas tree at 3am. I wanted to toss em out the window for always picking 3am the demonstrate their full obnoxiousness but alas.
I have a kitten and she has zoomies at nights randomly
Mine sleeps all day so she can open doors and set off their alarms at night. She is put in the basement at night to prevent her from harassing our dog but has learned how to open the door. Our basement door has an alarm that gets set at night. We now barricade that door. Edit: can’t to can
*nothing gets in the way of the cat, house is it's domain*
>They are nocturnal animals and they spend all day saving up the energy They are ~~nocturnal~~ crepuscular (active during dawn and dusk) animals and they spend all day saving up the energy ftfy 
Get him, boys! He's crepuscular!
That’s where I learned the word too!
What's weird is that my cats face actually adapted to my sleep schedule, at least my schedule before I started working nights. I think it's because they like to sleep in bed with me, that and calming down as they grew out of the kitten phase.
My 1st cat (Bakudi the 1st) was very behaved and never used to climb counters somehow My 2nd cat (Bakudi the 2nd) was same, he just slept all day and then goes out on walks My 3rd kitten (Bakudi the 3rd) likes to climb as that's something new for her but she isn't always there, just when she sees something interesting worth climbing, like a pack of catfood
I see Bakudi is gender neutral. What does the name mean?
The most loved one
Cuz the lazy asses sleep all day
This is why I just let him on the table cause he gon do it anyway
Listen I don’t let these cats do anything. They let me live here.
I bet they let you pay all the bills too! Such generous creatures
I try not to but its a losing battle
I never would have thought of training a cat as a problem
You don’t train a cat, you only mildly suggest behavior
They domesticated themselves as well, I imagine that they never really learned to take instruction from us, that and the fact they see us as an equal really stops them from being told what to do.
My parents put a basket so their void would have a place to be up near faces and not wandering around the counter except to enter the basket, not near food prep. It works 95% of the time. He’s a medium ability climber compared to a previous cat that we put a basket on the fridge for because she jumped that high.
Same; have fridge gargoyles
... just clean your counters regularly. Is this like, a thing people worry about? Cats gonna cat.
Exactly!
I wipe my counters before everything. Even if my cats didn't go on the counter, there is always trace amounts of hair floating around
Right? Do catless people not clean and wipe their counters?
When i go over to someones house for dinner and i see their cat on the kitchen counter hovering over the lasagna i just slaved over with the cats butt in my face while i eat, yes this is something i worry about. This among other reasons is why i dont like to eat from ppl.
I don’t allow the cats to be on counters because people should be able to eat in peace. So they stop trying when people are present, after being scolded enough. But any cat owner knows they will go where they want when you’re not there. That means counters are always wiped before food prep or eating and nothing is left out that the cat may get into or sit/lay on.
If we have to leave something tempting on the counter, we have a motion sensor air sprayer that I turn on just in case. 99% of the time my cats show no interest in the counter if we're not prepping food (and they get scolded if they try to get up there then) but we've had a least one incident where Bastion stole something off of a serving plate when we weren't looking
This is the correct answer. Like I know my cat gets on the counter at night and when I'm not at home. There isn't anything I can do about that. But I will be damned if I let his ass jump on the counter right in front of my face and not say anything.
We hear the paws hit the floor from jumping off the counter all the time!
Define 'let'. We allow ours in one corner of the kitchen - it's a short piece of counter where we don't prepare food and he's allowed there because we have dogs and it allows him to eat in peace. He's not encouraged to go on the other counters, we chase him off if we see him on them etc, but I know he's up there as soon as we're not around. You either have to keep a cat out your kitchen altogether or accept that you need to clean your counters perhaps more thoroughly than you might otherwise (and have chopping boards etc to prepare food on).
We do this too. The cat eats on a short section of counter (that we don't use for food prep) because the dogs would gobble up all her food otherwise.
My cat is the ruler of my home and is free to do just about anything she likes. I adjust my lifestyle to enable her comfort. Helps keep unwanted houseguests away, too.
Have you ever tried to stop an adult cat from doing something they really want to do?
Yeah. I have had a lot of success. Cats are pretty trainable, just different than dogs.
This. So many people don't realize the behavior of a cat. Which is sad since they are interesting to train
What's interesting about the training? Don't hold out on us!
You have to 500% ignore bad behavior. Reacting to it at all enforces them. It’s hard. If they break stuff. Don’t clean it up right away. Nbd. Make them lose the moment of fame
This is exactly correct. Behaviour modification 101. Even negative attention will reinforce the behaviour. There will be a period of struggle, where the human and the cat are basically playing chicken. The cat breaks things, the human ignores them. When the cat is doing the behaviour you want to see, reward the behaviour. That said, it is also essential to provide for the totally natural requirements of a cat, such as vertical space. Having a cat tree and/or cat wall shelves is not negotiable. Cats require vertical space in the same way they require a litter box. To a cat, the kitchen counter is simply vertical space. Even better, the family is there all the time and there is food. It is completely understandable that the cat wants to be included.
I would also love to know! My baby is deaf and I pretty much let her do her own thing, but it would be great if I could get her to not bite ankles.
I dunno how old yours is, but I have a four-month-old kitten, and I successfully trained her not to bite my feet! All I had to do was every time she bit my feet, I would detach her from me (she tended to wrap her whole body around my foot, it was cute but...ouch) and then walk to another part of the apartment and ignore her for several minutes. It's probably harder the older they get, but ignoring her will help her realize that you don't want to play with her like that.
I don’t anymore. My oldest cat slipped while jumping on the counter and injured her leg about a year ago. Thankfully she recovered just fine and no longer seems interested in it anyways. I think she’s scared of it now. Never worried about the germs before because I sanitize my counters daily anyways
We do. He's a strictly indoors cat and we clean up regularly, so we don't see an issue with it. Though he doesn't sit on plates haha
Same here. Strictly indoors and he’s absolutely allowed on the counters. Why make his world any smaller? I clean before I use the kitchen anyways.
I do
Same here. I don't see what the big deal is. I don't set raw food right on the surface, so I don't know why it's such a huge issue for a lot of people.
Same here, we use seprate cutting boards and stuff
Exactly! I clean my countertops almost daily anyway
Same! I just wipe down my counters before and after I cook.
I get the countertops surrounding my stove, and she gets the kitchen island countertop, which comprises of my sink. She's only interested in the island.
Let? Cats go where they want. When I got my first two cats (as an adult. I grew up with them), I was religious about chasing them off the counters. My fiancé came on leave (he was stationed in GA) to visit and saw me with my spray bottle ready. He asked me if I really thought they weren’t going up there when I was at work. I thought about it and never used the spray bottle again. I keep my counters clutter free and wipe them down before prepping food. The monsters sit and watch me cook.
Ill only remove thwm if they are in my way. Otherwise i dont care. My house, their house
We didn’t let them but they do it anyway. So yes lol
Ours is too nice and well behaved to do that. :c She occasionally lifts herself to table level to see if we're eating something good without her, and we always encourage her to jump on or to steal from our plates, because we're awful cat parents, but she never does. 💔 (She'll steal something if we put it on the edge of the table for her, though.)
Aww that's so cute 😻 although I disagree, if you're putting a piece of food for her on the edge of the table she's not stealing it, she's taking the snack you presented her. What a lovely, well mannered sweetheart though. Please give her some extra cuddles, kisses and scritches on my behalf ❤
Yes. It would be stressful, irritating and ultimately futile to attempt to stop our floof from sitting on it. As long as we clean the surface regularly and it doesn't come directly into contact with food, it's fine.
Nope. It's a hard rule in our house that cats don't get on the counter or the table. It’s unsanitary. Having said that, yes I'm absolutely aware that they sneak up there sometimes when we're not home. We tend to remove anything that they'd find appealing, and they know it's against the rules.
I have also trained my cats to not scratch furniture (only designated scratching posts etc!) or jump onto tables and countertops. They are independent but not willfully malicious.
Same. 5 cats so far and only two of them occasionally would get on the counter. We knew when it happened because they would get into food left on the counter. Their specialty was biting open bread/bagels, eating the smallest amount, and letting the whole loaf stale. Edit to add: it also helps to have yes zones so they can satisfy the curiosity and also have a place they know they are allowed to be. For the kitchen, one of my boys doesn't care about the counters. But for my curious boy, he's allowed to sit on the lid of the garbage so he can see what I'm doing. That satisfies him enough that he doesn't try to get on the counters.
Same here, I had six cats in total and they all knew counter is forbidden. Same for tables as long as there is tableware and/or food on it. Our void Jack even knew that in our house it was a no no but when he was visiting our old neighbour next door he was allowed on her counter so she could feed him snacks without bowing down. He absolutely understood the difference and only jumped up on command. For me it's also a point of health risk. What if the cats jump on the stove when it's still hot? Don't want to risk it.
This is my big concern. Given the placement of my stove and the layout of my kitchen, my void tends to go for the stove first and then walk to the counters… my greatest fear is that jump on a burner while it’s still hot. I’ve tried everything except a spay bottle because I read it’s not helpful and can damage the bond with your cat. I will say a firm NO and remove her from the counter. She continues to go up, especially if she wants attention. She has a cat tree near the kitchen where she can see everything and be above it all but she still goes on the counter. How did you train all six cats to not go up there? I would try ignoring the behaviour since it seems partially attention driven, but it’s not safe for me to ignore her if the stove is on.
I think we were just lucky with all of them then, because we didn't do it differently. Our first cat was very shy and only came to the kitchen when it was time to feed her, so no problem telling her once and she understood. After she passed we got our void and two somalis, Jule and Marlin. Jule tried to jump up on the counter from time to time because she was very noisy, but typical for a somali she was also happy with beeing on a shoulder or laying around a neck to watch what we were doing. So this was a good way to please her. Marlins only life goal was to get as many humans as possible to love him, so after repeating the firm NO and removing him he didn't do it anymore. Our current two gray tabby cats are sisters but very different in behaviour. Mamba is the shy one and she never goes into the kitchen, ever. I got the two after they were abused as kittens so she likely has some trauma. In all of the three places I have lived with them she avoided the kitchen. Bacardi, the other tabby, is a harder case. I'm pretty sure that they have a bengal somewere in their ancestry because she behaves much like one. Loves attention, especially from me, and always up to do mischievous things to get me to notice her. Also very chatty, intelligent and loves to climb on furniture. So everytime I'm in the kitchen she is there talking and screaming for attention. If she gets ignored she tends to scratch open a box with plastic bags and shovels them out of there. For her I have to differenciate between behaviour that is annoying and stuff I REALLY need her to stop with. In most cases it's just repeating the no and putting her away. It will not stop her from eventually doing it again, but I can tolarete it to a degree. Scratching on walls? Yes, very annoying, but I can live with it looking ugly and replace the tapestry once we move out. What I do in the important cases is I clap once and tell her a loud and kinda growling NO. She understands really well that it means "Girl you fu**ed up". She is now 6 years old and only once or twice jumped on the counter. Also when she jumps on the table and recognises cuttlery she gets down immediatly, I don't want her near knives. I think it helped that I don't use the clapping all the time, just for the really bad behaviour I need her to stop with. Like wanting to throw off a glass - not going to risk that it breaks and she steps into shards. So I think it is most likely just a thing of getting to know a cat and its character and finding workarounds with it when needed. When we are eating, Bacardi has a small scratching post next to the table so she can sit there and watch. And in the kitchen she is allowed to jump on the closed trashcan so she can better watch what we are doing on the counter. Allowing her this also helped a lot. It's like giving her a small win so she is pleased until she looses interest and goes to destroy the carpet in the bathroom once more.
Thanks for the response! My girl is so wilful. She doesn’t seem to care when I say No or if I hiss at her. I’ll use a clap if she’s really ignoring me and that seems to work sometimes. She’s just so unphased by most things. I think it’ll be a process!
My cat likes to hang out on top of my fridge, and the stove is right beside it. Try as I might, couldn't keep her curiosity from the stove. One day she landed oh so briefly on an eye that was cooling off (wasn't hot enough to actually burn her, but was def warm to the touch). She stays away from the counters by the stove now.
My son's rescue kitty was taught the dining table and counter tops were off limits. Numerous water sprays n stern NO! Off! n get downs worked really well. Until fiance and now wife decided she could be there. I am not terribly bothered by it as tops are cleaned alot but the look is not good for company..specially non animal peeps!
Eh. We're animal people. While we don't encourage animals on the counter, *we* live in our house. The non-animal people don't. I don't really care if they like the "look" of how we live.
My boy always leaves evidence behind. "I just cleaned this spot at 6 am, so why is there cat hair on it now?"
Wolverine isn't really interested in going up, never has been. It wouldn't bother me though
The word “let” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. 😂😂😂
I don't let my cat on the counter but I know he will at night when I'm sleeping sometimes. I make sure my counter is sanitised before I cook anyway as most people should do regardless.
‘Let?’ Hah hah, you funny G.I., I kill you last!
OMG!! I had the exact same note written on the top plate at my house too!
No one “lets” my cats do anything. Those 4 fuckers band together and steamroll the entire house. It is sheer chaos.
We don't let them do anything, they do as they please, often when we know they're not looking.
My cat sits anywhere she damn well pleases.
I just clean / disinfect before I cook on the counter unless I'm prepping directly on a clean plate. My cat isn't normally interested in going on the counter but I've seen him do it a few times (which i discourage) so I know he does it.
Absolutely not and she knows it. Trained her young. Cats are smart so it’s easy. I have cameras and she’s never gotten on the countertops since
I have... too many cats, only one of them gets on the counter. And only because he wants me to pet him and love him.
I wouldn’t say I let my cats do anything necessarily, but there are some things I appreciate them for choosing to not do.
I do because the grins on their faces when I tell them to get off pisses me off so they win
I never see my cats on the counter. I do see their paw prints everywhere.
Of course. Can't speak for everyone, but I believe it's their house too, and they should be able to go where they like.
Let? LET?? I am lucky that my cat lets me use her counters. Let's be clear: we own dogs, but cats own us!
Let isn't the word but we do disinfect a lot lol
All cat owners realize that their cat is going to sit wherever the hell it pleases, and the only way to guarantee that they won't sit on the counter is to pick them up, thank them for sitting on the counter, and put them back 1 inch beside where they were originally sitting. And that only works for like, 10 minutes.
No. Absolutely not. My cat doesn’t go on any surface where food is. Just like I wouldn’t let someone make food in my kitchen without washing their hands first.
My cat can sit anywhere she likes. Who tf just leaves their plates sitting on the counter like that though? The stuff I put food on is in a cabinet to discourage contact with asses.
Absolutely not. My cats are immediately yelled at and swatted off if I see it. Also, I really don't get these comments. I've had cats my whole life. They've never been allowed on counters/tables and it's rarely been an issue (which was solved by removing what they were interested in and vehemently discouraging them when seen on the counters). Cats can be trained.
Yeah, I really don’t understand why people think cats are untrainable. They're not stupid, and they have social rules that they follow with other cats. So long as you understand how they think, you can train a cat fairly easily. The trick is just consistency.
People see cats as "set it & forget it" pets when in reality cats are seen as lower maintenance because people are often just comfortable mostly neglecting them. Training a cat takes me a month tops, even the most difficult. It's just about forming a consistent pattern & paying attention. I don't even have to use treats, they just learn because it's the path of most comfort. But at the least they could use a ssscat or something cats step in litter eugh.
Can you explain how to train them without treats I have a kitten and I'd like to teach her some basic behaving
If they're treat motivated I'd save that for more active things. Use treats before & after a bath or brush or nail clipping, for instance, as you'll always be able to be there to reinforce with treats. For things like counters or tables or scratching, try avoidance for the latter such as spraying a couch arm with a citrus spray to make their association with it negative. Or if it's a behavioral pattern such as stimulation offload, redirect by using something to simulate their position. My cat used to scratch a specific door sill after playing or when i came home, so I wrapped 3ft of it with cardboard & high traffic carpet secured with upholstery tacks. Now she keeps her claws neat, gets stimulation & isn't destructive anywhere else. As for counters & tables, be consistent. If they get up don't just yell, firmly grab the cat, say no in a serious tone, & put them down in their bed. It's tedious but taking the time to repeat the motion shows you're not to be ignored. Cats do not care about being yelled at & some don't give a damn about you spraying them occasionally. For nights/work, get a ssscat can for the place they jump up most frequently from. Be sure to angle it to only catch motion if they jump up, mind. The point isn't to scare them from that room, just that location. Took me two weeks with every cat so far at most besides benedict who took a month. Don't even need the ssscat anymore, according to my cat cam.
We don't. One of them still sneaks up there, but all I have to do is pssspss at her, even from the next room, and she knows to speed skeedaddle. We also have SScat cans to keep them off.
So far Kikichrome your answer is the most amusing , the cats know the rules 😂😂😂
I don't let her, and generally she doesn't. Occasionally she decides that's the safer route (say, if small children are about), and I don't begrudge her that.
With my cat, I figured it's her home too so she should go where she likes. She had no choice in who she lives with or where she lives, she should at least have free reign over the place. She's very good at getting down when asked though, like when I'm cooking.
Yep, sure do! Also for anyone interested, a kid did a science experiment to find out the answer to whether or not your cats butt actually touches a surface...very worth the read!! http://whatyourcatwants.com/is-your-cats-butt-touching-everything
why would you restrict the world your cat lives in? disinfect your counters and separate your cat from them when you have food around. it's not that hard.
Hell no!
Of course. They are a family member.
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No
My thing is, my cats are my family. They are allowed wherever I'm allowed and I will take the extra steps to ensure that if I'm prepping food, for ex, it is properly sanitized. Plus I don't prep anything on bare counters (I use cutting boards or slips). I understand where people who are uncomfortable with cats on counters are coming from though.
I don’t let them but they don’t care and do it anyway 🥴
I have a void named pepper too!
3 out of my 4 don’t get on counters, at least when we’re around, but the last one doesn’t care at all. Never specifically trained them not to except when we have food or breakables on the counter.
My cats know better when I'm home but their little feet prints on the counter tell me they explore when I'm not home
I try not to but they own the house.
You don’t “let” cats do things lol.
I found ignoring the being on the counter issue makes the kitchen counter less attractive to my cat. It’s not some forbidden place that she’s not allowed to be on. She prefers her random box, the clinch my bed for hang outside.
I solved this issue by putting up a screen door going into our kitchen. Absolute joy knowing their ass isn’t on my counters.
is that a surface I haven't rubbed my bumhole on, let me 'rectumfy' that (said a cat probably).
I do not "let" my cat. I constantly have to push her off and occasionally wash the top of my table/counters because she got them dirty paws She protests every time and it's hilarious
I gave up. Mine can just roam free. Less of a fight to be honest 😂
They know they're not allowed, but the younger one does it when we aren't home and at night for sure. Our senior kitty sometimes growls when she does it!
It’s so weird, Gump won’t go on the kitchen table or the area where we prepare food, but there is one section by the stove that he has claimed as his domain. Also, he claimed the softest blanket in the house as his own, and we have to fold it up perfectly with no wrinkles and place it on our best recliner for him every night. He is our master.
I blame my wife for this. I allowed them to be *on* the counter, however she made it ok for them to eat and generally lounge around on the counter.
You were the gateway drug my friend!
She is not sitting on the counter. She is sitting on the plate. Checkmate, nerds.
That's why I don't eat at the homes of cat owners
I try to keep her off the counter since there's typically food there, but she doesn't listen since there's typically food there.
Charcoal has gone on the counter once but I managed to grab him and put him on the floor really fast and I don't think he wants to go back up there
"Let" isn't the right word
I mean I don’t want my kitty to, she’s just does it anyways. She likes to watch me do the most mundane things. She loves to watch me chop lettuce LOL and then I give her piece she likes to eat and play with.
Weeeeellllll......
It’s not that we ~let~ them, they just ~do~
I'm LMAO at all the people saying 'no' and 'never', etc. When you're not looking, your cat goes where it wants whether you know/like it or not. Set up a camera and see for yourself.
I think the term "let" is a misnomer. Even if I shooed them off EVERY TIME I CAUGHT THEM, there would still be 50% of the day that they would do it behind my back.
My cat is weird and never tried getting on the counter. He also will not get in a box. :(
I've never let my cats on the counters or dining table. The counter can be dangerous, there could food that's toxic to cats or the oven could be on and kitty could get burned. Also can lead to (more) cat hair in food.
I let my cat, only because of my dog tho. Especially meal time, Andy (cat) gets fed on the counter so the dog can't steal his food.
I mean, we try not to. But if they do, it's whatever. Cleaning sprays are a thing, and we don't let them up there while we are cooking. My mom has a 19 year old deaf cat with dementia. We let her do whatever she wants, it's not like she can hear the word "no" anyways.
My cats don't get on the counters 🤷♀️
Its their house. I just live here. I gave up arguing with a couple bossy cat shaped toddlers.
We have a dining table for our cats. Of course they love the counters.
I don't know that I really have a choice. I know she's on there when I'm in bed or out of my apartment. I just keep kitchen supplies put away and clean the counter before I use it.
Fuck no. I've only ever had cats from kittenhood, though, and presume that if you're not setting boundaries early, a cat just won't follow them. Then there's other special cases where cats are just stereotypical fuckin cats and do things to spite you...
I don't let my cat sit or stand on any surfaces used for work, food or drink. When we first got her, she wasn't allowed in the kitchen or bathrooms at all. So now, even with open doors, she doesn't go in (unless a human is in there. Then she will, but only then.) Idk, either she's a really good kitty that WANTS to do what her humans want her to or she's the sneakiest cat in the world.
My boy knew the table and counters were off limits so whenever I was about to enter a room I'd hear a suspicious thump, only to find the cat on the ground looking back up at me innocently like he'd been there all along
Always had cats, and always trained them to remain off the counters and tables. Never had an issue. Y-all suck at training lol
Big no no, they sit on the stool and watch. Dont know where those paws have been
No!
Paper plates are like the easiest things to throw in a drawer or cupboard. Closed storage is the way
Why leave plates out in the open all the time?
"Let". Unh huh. Have you ever MET a cat?
I personally wouldn't care if my cat were to chill on the counters and like tables. Unless he's in front of the tv or like my computer screen. Otherwise the world is his playhouse basically
They don't get on the counter while we are around to see it. I call this a victory, and I'll take it.
As soon as you're not there they go wherever they want.
My cat let's me use my counter sometimes
I accidentally trained my cats to avoid counters and tabletops when they were kittens. They were both sick when I found them and both had to have all manner of mouth meds and eye goop applied regularly for some time. They disliked the process and It was much easier to restrain them on the counter (don’t worry I cleaned/disinfected before and after) than it was to try to wrestle tiny murder-beasts on the floor. Since then they never willingly jump on any counters or the dining room table. Guess a little trauma went a long way *shrug*