to think it's disgusting to let your cat sit on the kitchen counter

[carlajean]

Following the dog licking plates thread, where I found it really interesting how it seemed to be equally divided between strong agreement and disagreement, I'm interested to know what people think of cats walking on kitchen counters. I think it's even more disgusting, even though we love our cat, but we have friend whose cat sits on the breadboard, yuck.

Disgusting.

Yes, my poor children grew up with The Incredible Hissing Mother

I usually hissed at them in public rather than shouting - Hiss - "Will you stop doing that or we will go home right now!

Tis the reason I don't have pets

I like animals but just not living in my home and thinking my bed is their bed and that they eat of the table like me. Mum take bleeding notice, I don't want to find cat hairs when i'm eating off your table or trying to prepare food on your kitchen counters

Oh, and my cats were feral rescued cats so training them from kittens was never really an option. We considered ourselves privileged when they finally emerged from under the sofa about two weeks after we got them

Piglet well I suppose I don't really but I do believe she is clean, I'm v clean too. I'm still alive anyway!

Oh the poster who had flea ridden cats, use Advantage on them. Its a vial that you put on the back of their necks like Frontline. My vet told me that fleas are becoming immune to Frontline as it's been around for quite a while now, the Advantage is very effective.

I don't think one let's them. Some just do - my old cat did and would jump up next to the frying pan if I was cooking fish, or onto the counter if I so much as opened a tin of tuna or packet of fish and no she wasn't allowed.

The present three just don't do it though and never have. I don't know if it is related to feeding them in the kitchen though and putting the bowls on the worktops to fill them and taking food out of a kitchen cupboard. The boys are fed in the utility and all food is kept in there and dished up in there and they DO jump on the worktops in the utility room - in fact have been known to knock over the felix box and claw their way into a sachet if possible. Likewise have clawed into a jumbo bag of Hills if it's ever been left out. Of course they can't do this anymore.

Often though one is asleep on the kitchen table and one on the dining room table. Oh dear.

I've never seen a flea though!

It's disgusting, but with mine it's not a case of letting them. I get up and move them on the floor, they jump back up because it's a great game. I've given up. At least the frying pan's easier to clean once they've both had a good go at it.

you all need one of these

I haven't got one. I just shout, which is cheaper
besides which I have a VERY naughty puppy who gets on my table as soon as I leave the room in order to eat the post / remote control / salt and pepper pots etc.

We also have counters all round the kitchen. One side is used for food prep, the other has a fish tank, pc and the cats bowls. I need them to be out of reach of the dog so its the only place to put them.

Oh dear, I'm committing another mumsnet no no
My ginger fluff ball is curled up asleep on top of the microwave,I have just told him off, he opened one eye, yawned and went back to sleep.

I agree, cats on work surfaces is really horrid, unhygenic, not to be allowed

Unfortunately, the cat thinks otherwise

I've told my cat that MN thinks he's a disgusting,filthy beast.

His look was a bit like 'fuck you'

He's on Catsnet complaining about filthy humans who can't lick their own arses clean.

Two of our cats are currently splayed across the kitchen table. They walk and sleep where ever they please. I go through huge amounts of spray bleach. Not one person in our family has experienced a cat borne disease.
Our litter box though is in our basement. Having it right in the kitchen would be just a bit too much. Cat poo odour is rank and tends to linger a long while.

Usual, my cat just posted AIBU to wake my human up by walking on her face?

Mine haven't got onto the counter since they were kittens. They stopped when one of them ran straight into the full sink when I shouted to get down :)

My cats don't go on the work surface but they do like to sit on the kitchen table. I don't care. That is what kitchen cleaner was invented for. Anyway, all those germs are good for boosting your immune system.

Although it's not the foulest of things in the world, I do agree. The thought of preparing food on a counter where a cats bum has been makes me feel rather queasy. We recently looked after my FIL's Partners cat (when they went on holiday) and although he was a lovely creature, he kept jumping/trying to jump up onto the dining table which was bad enough (the little bugger!). Each time he did that I would haul him off so (hopefully) he would get the message. He was such a sweet lovely mog and apart from that (and the fact he'd crapped behind the sofa and didn't like our guinea pig) we enjoyed looking after him and wouldn't hesitate to look after him.

Yes it's disgusting, as are the four cat shits I removed from my garden last week so my baby and toddler could play out. The shit is now festering in a bag in my wheelie bin. I don't even have a cat!

My cats have their own bit of worktop with their food bowls on as if they are put at ground level the dog would just eat it all. All surfaces are cleaned properly with disinfectant before I prepare any food on them, and would be whether I had cats or not.

My cats also sleep in my bed (well technically one sleeps on my head, snuggled in my hair). The litter trays are kept in the bathroom so that solid waste can be flushed immediately. I get a great deal of pleasure out of my cats and dog and to be honest I don't really care what other people think of what I choose to 'let' them do. I'd certainly never be friends with anyone who was intolerant of something that is a big part of my life.

The trick is to have a cat that can't jump well. Some cats just aren't very good at it. They are even more entertaining than your average cat. They spend a lot of time washing their paws, pretending that actually they intended to miscalculate that failed jump.

Then all you have to worry about is the cat drinking out of your loo and cleaning its arse in your bed.

I wish I could stop them. So I do that magic thing called 'cleaning' before I prepare food.

It's disgusting. My sister lets her many cats do this. And my mother's cat who drinks out of the toilet also jumps up onto her kitchen table.

We have had our present cat since he was a kitten. He did jump up onto the counters and table when we first got him but I just kept spraying him with a water bottle every time he did it and he soon got the message.

However I do understand that older cats can't be trained but if you have them from very young, there is no excuse.

My cats have never been allowed on worksurfaces. It's foul.

Easy to train - aversion therapy. For some reason they hate the sound of rattling tinfoil, so I either do that or use the waterspray.

Job done/