Has anyone managed to train cats to stay off the kitchen counter?

[IDontMindMarmite]

It's a lost cause isn't it?

Yesterday I was cooking and removed one particular cat from the side 7 times. I say "no" but this is completely meaningless to the two yobs.

@Fluffycloudland77

It must be easier to train humans than cats.

The cat sits on command for treats but even chocolate isn't guaranteed to work for dc5 so I'd say that's debatable Fluffy

I think some cats can be trained to do what they want to do. For example, mine will come to their name when I have treats. They are almost getting the hang of giving a paw for treats. I'm not convinced i'll be able to train them to not do something they want to do, hence the kitchen counter problem.

I've used a combination of time out and delayed gratification to get my cat to wait for the end of meals.
If he pesters too much (usually involving claws and chairs), he is taken to the room where his sand box is and locked there until the end of the meal. But then he gets a tiny bit of the protein we were eating. He knows how to wait until we get to the end of the meal now.
The exception tends to be visitors who keep looking at him and then think it's a good idea to give him food. The arses.

A vet suggested to me years ago that a brief squirt from a water spray-not a pistol, which is harsher , does the trick.