Do you allow your pets to go on kitchen tops?

[BloodyDisgrace]

Hello everyone. Do you have some strict rules re: kitchen tops/surfaces?

I'm afraid our 2 indoor cats go there, I wipe it (no detergent though). If we had kids I'd be more germ-aware and the cats won't be allowed, but we are probably some "slum people" :))

DH has an allergy to the younger cat, so both of them aren't allowed to the bedroom (he took some antihistamins at the beginning), but he lets them in when he gets up for work so they can sleep next to me for the next couple of hours. I de-fluff the bed and change the linen every 2 weeks.

But, all in all, the puss pretty much runs (and reigns in) the household. Here are the buggers:

No I don't allow it. It's very unhygienic. Cats paw at dirty cat litter and of course don't wash their paws!
I also don't allow her into our bedroom whether DH is there or not because he is allergic and until the cats are paying the rent and own the beds, it's DH's space.

Ewww. gross. And I'm in no way a clean freak.

Oh and my cat free bed gets changed AT LEAST weekly. It's a bed! They're not something that stays clean longer than clothes. They should be changed regularly because of the humans being in there, never mind cats.

Interesting thing about how often one changes the bed ... Weekly seems very excessive and unnecessary to me. Might it have something to do with how often people have showers? I was quite surprised to read somewhere that most British people don't have 2 showers a day, or even don't necessarily wash every day. I shower twice a day, husband - once, and, if we didn't have cats camping i the bed, I'd be changing bed linen much less often than current "every 2 weeks"

I don't like it but I can't always stop my cat doing it. Mostly during the night. I just wipe round with Milton spray every morning. That's the main reason why when we moved in and got our new cooker, we paid a lot more to get one with a glass lid.

Your cats are beautiful! I wouldn't accept a dinner invitation any time soon

Nope as he is a snake and can harbour salmonella we never used to let our cats either

No. I wouldn't allow it. They lick each other's bums and then their entire body.. they dig in he kitchen when covering their poop..
no I don't let them on the work tops.

I know when they've been up there. The fur is everywhere. If I didn't have an open plan kitchen I would keep them out of the kitchen as much as possible

Current view:
Stripy eating something off a plate by the sink, B&w using the table as a salon
Third stripy has joined B&w during the course of me typing this.

We have Matt black counter tops so I can actually see their paw prints in the morning where they’ve been disco dancing all over the place. Absolutely zero possibility of any of them listening to me. I lived in blissful naivety in our old house because clearly they were on there all the time, we just couldn’t see the evidence?

Plus, old stripy is a diva and will only drink out of one particular China cup on the worktop, will not use it on the floor, and would actually rather dehydrate himself rather than slum it drinking from the communal trough.

I love how people think they have a choice in deciding if their cat gets up on a worktop or not 😂😂 cats do what they want, if they don't do it in your presence they deffo do it when your out

Ps @BloodyDisgrace I have an exotic shorthair too 😍

Oh god no. I'm servant to 2 house cats and I never let them on my work surface.

They pop on litter then chuck the same litter around with their paws. I don't want Cat poo on my food preparation spaces, yuk!

And bedding once a fortnight when you let your cats sleep on your bed? Double yuk!

DwangelaForever - what a lovely puss! And people haven't flattened you to the ground at the sight of a cat in a baby pram? Miracles :)

thenewaveragebear1983 - ha, they seem to be sitting nicely!
And I know about fussy pusses; our grey one can be rather pissy about her tuna and will eat it from the bowl on the counter, not next to the other cat on the floor. She gets some grief form him so I keep her privileges.

Both mine are banned from the worktops and kids beds. It's disgusting.

Ones sat by the sink and the others on the kids bed snuggled up and smug looking.

Dirty buggers don't listen.

NO because they don't wipe there arses then sit on your worktops grim

Ours spend the day on the beds and the nights rubbing their shitty little paws all over the kitchen. Grim. And somehow in the journey from upstairs to downstairs each day they manage to shed 7 tonnes of cat dander all over the floors.

They must have done something absolutely amazing in their previous lives.

Not allowed and don’t try to get on worktops but they do get on the kitchen and dining tables, obvs gets a good wipe before food and have mats under plates too. Never in the bed though, occasionally on top on a Sunday morning as they enjoy the Archers Omnibus too 😻

I o my change my sheets fortnightly. They get hoovered inbetween with the dyson. However with madam shorthair now shedding everywhere it may well have to be done more frequently.

I used to have cats and wouldn't allow them on the side when i was in there. I'm under no illusions they may well have jumped up if I was out (their food and water was in the kitchen) so if wipe the sides down each time I was in.

I have two who do go on the damn sides, they have never been allowed. And one slug who barely moves or goes outside. This is why I always make food on plates or at a push kitchen roll. Personally I've never had cats do this before but these are my sons cats so I think they know the rules are different for them.

I do not permit them to sleep in my room. My son lets them in his room. I don't care.

My cat is not allowed on worktops, however I know full well she goes up there the minute my back is turned - I see footprints on the sink. I'm forever wiping it down and if anyone knows how to stop her I would love to know. When the kids were little I had one of their water pistols on standby and whenever she looked poised to jump up I'd shoot. It did actually work but I had to stop because one day I missed and fired at the ceiling by mistake and the lightbulb exploded in a million pieces

notangelinajolie - whoaa, we are taking warfare! It gets interesting now. Yes, one has to be careful where water goes, i.e. not near the wires or bulbs ... I used a water pistol to fire at ... black birds in the garden when they flew from everywhere else as soon as my cat would go outside, and they'd scare her with their angry chirping. She'd dash back in, poor thing.

I use a fine spray on a younger cat (it works) when he is annoying the big madam. So yes, in theory, I could use it to repel them off the tops ...

Rrright. What transpires is that fight human vs. cat is a forever losing battle for the human. You might have your rules, you might stick them up your own (much cleaner) arse - but a cat will be a cat. And sit wherever the fuck it wants.

So, if I had a "no sitting on the tops" rule, it wouldn't make a slightest difference to the cleanness of the house. But it might make me feel a more dignified, cleaner and altogether conscientious person. Would that be worth it? I don't know.

When my Mum visits, she gently discourages them from the kitchen tops, but she never said anything critical to me, and I don't mind her chasing the cats off. We are all tactful like that :)

In my previous home, when I looked after 2 local friend's cats, I didn't let them go there, and once found one of them stretched luxuriously in the sun on ... a chopping board. Which I started to store upwards after that. And I brushed them and removed all the dry shit - burrs, thistles etc- they brought in their fluff from outdoors. They are excellent pussies, I miss them. One sadly died a while go.