Cats on counters HELP

dannyjebb

you have to remember that cats are totally different to dogs, were as a dog will learn from past "bad experiences" such as being squirted with water if he does something wrong, in my experience cats dont make this association only the other day our cat was jumping up on the table whilst i was eating breakfast and i put him back on the floor and must have done this 5 times before i looked him in the front room. The only real way to stop a cat getting on your work surfaces is to keep them in a seperate room. If you keep shouting at him he will most likely come to fear you and wont be all cuddly. And the bit about cats not liking water is way off the mark, our cat loves it he even tries tog et in the bath with you. Its just the hairdryer afterwards he hates.

Kimberley

Just ensure that you never prepare food on the top itself, if possible use a plate etc for bread because cats walk in dirt an all..ooh I just feel sick thinking about it. I guess having cats you have to put up with it. I always cover the dining table etc when no one is about because obviously the cats will be walking over them and especially after they have been in the litter box I use Formula H as a disinfectant which is what veterinary surgeries use and is quite safe for the cats to walk on when wet. It comes in a handy ready to use spray as well for your worktops.

http://www.canineconcepts.co.uk/item--Formula-H-Disinfectant--formula-H---cats

clancy

Yeah i agree it makes me feel sick also to think about them walking over the food surfaces, i always wash the counters down before i make anything and also use a cutting board for most things, the counters are the only place i have a problem with them getting on, at the moment they have to use my window to get in and out of the garden and the window sill gets muddy paw prints on which i wipe off without a second thought, it just feels wrong when i walk in the kitchen and see them walking on the counter, im hoping i can stop it happening and i hope i dont make them nervous with me scolding them, but i dont always shout down i sometimes clap my hands, i find now they tend to jump off when i approch so im not shouting as much as when it first happened.

dmg24

savingmummy wrote: »

Not a very nice thing i know, but my cat used to do this until i left a piece of tin foil on the worktop and a mirror on the sink counter - her 2 favourite spots!!
Cats hate their reflection and dont like the scrunch of tin foil.

My cat is now 10 and don`t do it!

Moo loves his own reflection, he talks to it!

mellymeep

Lily discovered she could finally make it up onto the counter about a month ago now, she's also a kitten who absolutely adores water so everytime I've got the tap on she's straight for it!!! I'm gonna use the suggestion of keeping the chopping board locked away and just using that instead of the surfaces.

Fire_Fox

dannyjebb wrote: »

you have to remember that cats are totally different to dogs, were as a dog will learn from past "bad experiences" such as being squirted with water if he does something wrong, in my experience cats dont make this association only the other day our cat was jumping up on the table whilst i was eating breakfast and i put him back on the floor and must have done this 5 times before i looked him in the front room. The only real way to stop a cat getting on your work surfaces is to keep them in a seperate room. If you keep shouting at him he will most likely come to fear you and wont be all cuddly. And the bit about cats not liking water is way off the mark, our cat loves it he even tries tog et in the bath with you. Its just the hairdryer afterwards he hates.

Of course cats can be taught to associate, cats are at least as intelligent as dogs and can learn clicker training or to come when they hear biscuits shake or a tin open! All animals need consistency if, for example, you don't make them get off the table EVERY time (regardless of if you are relaxing on the sofa or eating at the table) they will not learn. Why not teach your cat a down or off command?

WASHER

Only one of my cats jump onto the worktop, I found she likes to sit on the draining board cause the dishwasher is underneath and the draining board is warm. My mother hates cats, and very rarely visits now especially after seeing Treacle on the draining board, but my husband says he cannot bring himself to put Treacle and Toffee into a cattery for a weekend so my mother can visit! (are you thinking what I'm thinking?)

shelly

I'm sorry but I don't agree that cat's can't be trained and will always do as they please....then again maybe I have just had very obedient cats because I don't have any problem with Lily jumping up on the worktops. Coco only had to be told off once for jumping on worktops and she didn't bother again.
When we took Lily in I think she had definately been used to being on the worktops at her old home because she took a couple of days rather than just the once. Also I stopped her before she even got on the worktops. As soon as I saw her getting into the 'jumping up' position I would shout and clap my hands.
She knows she can be on the worktops in the utility room because that's her space and I don't prepare food in there but when she's in the kitchen she doesn't even try to get onto the worktops.

Edited to add ~ When we were househunting we saw a really awful sight. A house we went to view had approx 30 cats and most of them were on the worktops. You could see where the tenants had had a go at cleaning but the worktops were just covered in smeared/moved around dirt. It really was awful (insert being sick smilie)

Fivefootsix

If it was another surface other than a kitchen worktop, I would suggest putting sellotape down. My cat is always climbing all over my furniture so I stuck loads of sellotape down for a couple of weeks and then he associated the horrible feeling on his paws to him being on top of the furniture so they can learn as he has never done it again.

As it's a kitchen, you could try foil on the edges as they are supposed to hate that too as other people have mentioned or you could try the spraying water tactic but that doesn't bother my cat anymore which is a bit annoying. He knows he shouldn't be climbing on certain places as whenever he sees that I've seen him on there he jumps off.

Anything you do needs to be consistent so if you start spraying him or shouting at him, make sure everyone else in your household does too.

Haven't really been a lot of help but hope you get it sorted, I can imagine how worse it is that it's in your kitchen!

clancy

Thank you everyone for your comments, and there has been some very useful tips.
I do believe also that cats can be trained as my previous cats were allowed on my sofa's until i purchased a leather one, because i was scared there claws would rip it i stopped them climbing on it, i purchased new beds for them and they were fine about it, Im also certain i will be able to stop my cats now jumping up on the work surfaces, and yes i am consistant with them regarding it and so are my children, my daughter tends to hear them jump on the side and goes to tell them to get down, like i said i find they now get off when we approach the room as they know they are not allowed on there, but i also wanted to see what advice i could get from other