Kittens obsessed with human food

[GingerPCatt]

We have two kittens just over 5 months old and they constantly try to eat anything and everything. We've had cats before and they have never been that interested in human food other than a bit of tuna or chicken. With the kittens we can't eat anything without having to constantly be on guard for kittens trying to steal food.
I caught one of them on the counter eating brocoli!!
How can we discourage this behaviour? We're trying to teach them not to go on the counters or table and remember to put all food away as soon as possible. But trying to have a snack on the sofa is impossible without fighting off two determined kittens.

Forgot to add that they have issues with sensitive tummies so the vet has advised to only give them a hypoallergenic dry food. So letting them have any other food isn't an option.

Mine was obsessed with human food when she was a kitten too. She would steal my Thai green chicken and would go crazy over fish and chips days It was honestly a huge pain in the arse when we tried to eat. We learned very quickly not to leave egg pans out for too long - oily kitty paw prints on the induction hob!

She just grew out of it around 7 months. We never have issues now. Except with tuna but it’s not as bad.

what are their sensitive tummy symptoms?

My 5m old kittens are gannets but no tummy issues, thankfully.

I suspect they're very bored on a diet of dry biscuits. Can you add some hypoallergenic wet food as well for some variety?

Mine are all scavengers and always have been - age 6, 5 and 1. The youngest has a tuna allergy but otherwise they'll eat anything. The oldest loves pancakes and the others are huge fans of mayonnaise

They had diarrhea for several weeks when we first got them so the vet recommended just dry hypoallergenic food. They we're still having diarrhea and one wasn't using the litter box, so we went back to the vet's and she gave them a further wormer/anti-parasite paste and some anti-biotics. One kitten now seems to have normal poo, but the other is still a bit loose. Sorry - I'm sure that's way more than you wanted to know.
But the vet has advised us to not give them ANY human food. The one who is still having tummy issue snuck a nibble of DS's toast yesterday and it showed in the litter box.
Once their tummy's have settled, I think we could try some hypoallergenic wet food. Does anyone have any recommendations for kittens?

Constant vigilance and distraction are the only answers. I feel your pain. I have had several cats, and generally they are only interested in meat fish and dairy products. Currently have 2 kittens aged nearly 7 months and they will go for anything. It is very hard preparing a meal as they steal raw cabbage, broccoli, anything really. I have even caught them licking raw potatoes and trying to steal food from the frying pan as it sizzles! Oh, and all house plants are either dead, dying or locked away in a room they have no access to.

We also had tummy issues with one of our kittens and had to stop providing wet food for a couple of months. It was only when we started giving him Royal Canin food for Indoor Long Hair cats that his stool hardened up.

We've found that his stomach can tolerate him sharing a Churu paste stick with his brother or Sheba wet food, but he can't handle wet food from Purina, Whiskas or Royal Canin.

He's also the sort of cat that will try to eat anything available to him (especially leaves), which doesn't help. The more we try and prevent him eating random crap, the more he learns to just wolf things down as quickly as possible rather than evaluate whether it's actually edible or not first!

His older brother is less interested in non-cat food, aside from if we're eating donuts or crisps in which case he becomes a complete seagull trying to steal our food. Not been able to work out how to stop it, we're hoping he grows out of it!