Keeping cat off kitchen worktops

[Meerkat78]

We keep our cat in the kitchen at night, with access to the cat flap and a nice comfy bed. Unfortunately she's recently started sleeping/sitting on the kitchen counters instead, and I come downstairs every morning to cat hair and dirt all over the worktops...she tends to get into habits like this which become difficult to break, and I'm at a loss as to how to stop her going up onto the worktop as she only does it when we're not there.

Has anyone had any luck with stopping this kind of thing or do I need to just suck it up?!

My cat used to do this when he was a kitten. Every time I saw him do it I'd shout at him and he'd run off. He only done it twice and has never done it since.

The dog barks at the cat if she jumps up and she will get down immediately.

Ha ha, good luck with stopping that. Maybe put a box on the worktop so at least she's contained a bit?

Ah if only we had a dog! She's sneaky- she knows she's not allowed up there do only goes up when we're not there!

The cardboard box is a great idea though - at least the fluff would be contained!

I don’t allow my cat to roam the house at night. He has a bedroom of his own and he’s shut in til we wake up. With food, toys, bed. Litter tray etc.

This is a tip for dogs jumping up but if you put a baking tray right on the edge of the worktop, when she jumps up she will knock it onto the floor. The baking tray will make a lot of noise when it falls which will frighten her out of doing it again.

Ooh thank you, baking trays are a great idea!

Quick splash with water. My dcats never get up, though do camp on the table if dc are having veg!!
Anyone else's dcats eat their 5 a day?

You might try putting several little jars containing citrus oil across the worktops. Normally, cat really dislike the smell of citrus.

When our cat first came to live with us, he was always jumping on the counter. I think he was allowed to do this at his previous home. I tried telling him off, putting him down on the floor etc. but he wasn't deterred. So I put a couple of pennies in an empty drink can and rattled it whenever I saw him jumping up. He didn't like the noise and stopped going on the counters after a couple of days.
He's also kept in the kitchen at night as that is where his cat flap and bed are, but I can't see any evidence that he goes on the surfaces.

Line the worktop with tinfoil, they hate it and will scare them when they jump up. You won't need to do it for many nights.

Cats like to sleep in high places, getting her a cat tree with a high sleeper element will help.

Tinfoil, after a single jump onto it the cat has never been back on the surface again.

Let her sleep in your bed with you as is right and proper for her feline overlord status

Either give her the run or the house or get her a cat tree for the kitchen. Let her rule over you the way she’s supposed too!

I agree with the PPs who said cats like to be high up - they feel more secure and it gives them a good vantage point. Give her something high - a cat tree, an old table, whatever - and move her onto it whenever she goes on the worktop.
I did this with mine and she never goes on the worktops now. She often perches on “her” table to watch me cooking.

Upon revisiting the thread, I am wondering why you lock her away at night. I have five cats and the have the run of the house with no problems whatsoever. Why do you do this?

Agree with the tinfoil idea, I just have to take the tinfoil box out the cupboard and DCat runs off.

Thanks everyone.

We don't lock our cat up at night. She has free run of the kitchen (which is huge, and the rest of the house, as well as access to outside through the cat flap. We just close the living room and bedroom doors, because she scratches soft furnishings if she's left unsupervised.

Some great ideas here which I will try. We just can't tell her off/move her off the worktops, because she never goes on them when we're there (she knows she's not allowed!)

Why would you confine a cat. They roam its what they do.