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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Cat going on kitchen work surfaces!

40 replies

Minta85 · 21/08/2016 20:15

My lovely eight month old Burmese boy has recently started jumping onto the kitchen work surfaces. I've tried lifting him off, but he just jumps back on again. Clapping my hands and saying 'No!' firmly also has no effect. Does anyone have any tips or ideas they could share for how to get him to stop?

OP posts:
ifcatscouldtalk · 21/08/2016 23:30

Oh and if i am at home and he goes on the work tops as soon as I walk in the kitchen he gives me a ffs your ruining my fun look and jumps down. He knows!!!

villainousbroodmare · 21/08/2016 23:46

We have friends who visited when we had not long adopted our adult cat, who is never allowed on work surfaces and never makes the slightest attempt to access them. Genuinely, not even when we are out - I could and do leave steak to rest, butter in an open dish etc.
The girl cuddled DCat and put her down onto the kitchen table, from which I whisked her in 0.03 seconds!
Almost a year later, the same friends visited again. I went to the French doors to greet them - ie from our kitchen it's very easy to see who's arriving - and as I came back into the room, the cat was on the kitchen table.

Original poster
Minta85 · 22/08/2016 00:53

Sounds like there are lots of strong-willed cats out there, but it's good to hear that at least I'm not the only one with this issue!

Ifcatscouldtalk, that's rather scary that your cat turned the gas on - I'm a bit worried that my boy might work out how to turn the hob on, as my husband told me that he was pressing buttons on the microwave the other day. He's too intelligent for his own good!

OP posts:
PinkSparklyPussyCat · 22/08/2016 06:58

Harry doesn't get up on the work top very often but we just get him down safe in the knowledge he'll do it again when I'm not there! We can't ban him from the kitchen as it would mean he can't get to his cat flap or litter tray so I'm resigned to the fact it's his house and his rules!

ifcatscouldtalk · 22/08/2016 08:13

op he is my 4th rescue cat and does things that none of the others ever attempted! He is gorgeous though!

BorpBorpBorp · 22/08/2016 11:29

We've been strict with where our cats are allowed from the start. A consistent, sharp "OFF" and pushing/hoicking them off the kitchen surface has mostly worked, but we have to be careful about not leaving desirable things (e.g. slices of cucumber) on the surface.

When they fist arrived I used to wipe the surface every night with lemon scented antibac wipes, but I don't bother with that anymore.

anoldiebutagoody · 22/08/2016 17:01

"Not on the work surfaces" is the only rule we have here too. I just tell them no and hook them off, if they come back and do it again I chuck them out of the kitchen like cozie said.
All of ours have been trained successfully, hopefully new kitten will too ( probably jinxed myself now 😀)

hollinhurst84 · 22/08/2016 18:24

Mine has done it twice. I went "OI!" And looked at him and his face was an absolute picture of oh shit she caught me GrinGrin

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 22/08/2016 18:26

Grin at all the people who think they have trained their cats not to do it.

The best that is actually possible is to train your cat to not get caught doing it...

hollinhurst84 · 22/08/2016 18:32

Oh mine wouldn't dare. But he's trained to sit, paw, weigh himself so he's not the most... Normal Hmm

cozietoesie · 22/08/2016 18:48

That's the trick - mainly with Siamese - of giving them the chastisement for the thought, Its. Wink It seems to make them believe that you have this sort of 'floating eye' which knows their innermost mumble.

(But I've never had the open plan issues that some posters have, to be fair.)

cozietoesie · 22/08/2016 18:54

There is, actually, an interesting spin-off - with Siamese at any rate. The No Work Surfaces rule seems to extend in their mind to other surfaces. Not all though - and I've never worked out the common factors.

TheABC · 22/08/2016 19:02

Watching with interest. We managed it with our regular moggies through the use of the water flick, but our maine coon kitten goes on works surfaces to play with water for the tap. Loves foil, sticky tape and being yelled at too, apparently. I just shut him in the hallway now and wipe down the surfaces before cooking.

hollinhurst84 · 22/08/2016 19:13

cozie - definitely. I have an ikea unit and dining table which he has no interest in. The coffee table however is seen as fair game Hmm

WannaBe · 22/08/2016 20:57

I have a mist bottle which I use to spray my parrot (for his enjoyment) which I used to spray at my cats when they jumped up on the work tops. The two older cats used to constantly be bloody up there and it would drive me insane. rescue cat never jumped on the work tops but I caught her sitting in the kitchen window on many an occasion, I just lifted her down and she got the message pretty quickly.

Sadly we are now without any cats .

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