Kitten jumping up when we eat!

[norfolkjmummy788]

Got a 5 month old kitten this week. All ok but when we eat anything she runs over and jumps up. Also jumps on dining table to sniff food as well as kitchen counters. What is the best way to nip this in the bud? I appreciate it's a cat and curious and instinctively likes to jump!

You'll get loads of advice here, some of which may even work.

But we gave up years ago and just leave the cats to it.
Photo of your kitten please (cat tax).

Put cat in separate room whilst you eat, and don’t ever let it eat from your plate, even if you have finished. Our cats are banned from the dinning room, mainly because we have black fabric chairs that get covered in hair!

We got a pair of kittens recently. If they jump up to table they are put in the cat box for the duration of the meal. Interestingly one cat has learned and sits at feet purring away whilst brother is routinely banished.

We've got issues with our elderly cat jumping on the bench. We tried putting tin foil down to discourage him. Our younger void cat jumped up and had a nap on the tin foil. It's a battle of wills with the dear wee souls.

we gave up years ago and routinely eat with 3 furry vultures sitting around our plates staring at us. When I go out for a meal I feel something is missing!

it is a bit embarrassing when we have guests over for a meal and a cat jumps into their plate….

Cat prison https://www.diy.com/departments/pawhut-fabric-dog-play-pen-puppy-pet-cat-rabbit-pig-guinea-playpen-run-indoor-outdoor-dia-90-x-41h-cm-pink/5060265999667_BQ.prd

My cats never jumped on work surfaces or tables or cupboards. My db has a young cat and he’s taught it the same.

I hate to say it, but I regularly look after a 20 year old cat that still jumps up on tables and counters on a daily basis

Unless you shut them out of the room it's just part of having a cat.

We just kept putting ours on the floor. He still goes on counters but not on table when we eat. Sometimes he might watch from the counter (table is in kitchen) but doesn't come over. We also have a tall washing basket he likes to sit on so if he's been a pain we put that where he can see us and he stays on it

We had one of these and had to lock him in the living room whilst we ate. We could see his desperate face through the glass door waiting for it to be opened. Once we finished he would jump up on the table. He was a nightmare, face in everything.

He's now a 4 year old chonk who sits on the windowsill whilst we eat but as soon as my partner touches something on his plate with his fingers Haribo is on high alert as he knows that bit of meat or fish is for him. I don't indulge him, it's my food and I'm going to eat it. He doesn't mug me for titbits. To be honest I blame my partner for adult Haribo's bad manners.

To add Haribo is the only cat I've had that blatantly walks on the work surfaces and counters when I'm in the same room or house even. Other cats I've had never jumped up when I was there.

We don't allow the cats on the kitchen table.
Only trouble is that the cats don't care.

My cats never jumped on work surfaces or tables or cupboards. My db has a young cat and he’s taught it the same.

I know a lot of people who say this - until they start to hear a telltale "thump" whenever they approach the kitchen

Yes, that ‘thud’! My previous cat cured himself of jumping on kitchen counters the day he landed on the edge of a tray with a teapot on it and flipped the whole lot on to the floor. I rushed into the kitchen and there was my feline overlord, sitting with his back to the mess of broken crockery, ignoring it.

Cheddar has to investigate all human food.

I have Persians and they have never ever jumped on the work tops. Until Penelope came along. Now nowhere is safe!

That's hilarious 😂

Mine once misjudged his landing and fell into a sink of dirty dishes - he was most unimpressed and took himself off in a very embarrassed huff!

Mine has never jumped onto the counters but has been known to jump on the table. She gets chucked off. I love cats but I won’t tolerate them where food is as they are not the most hygienic.

Same here

My last cat used to stretch up on hind legs from the floor in the kitchen, and bash me with her paw until she got some tasty morsel. Only did it if she could smell meat, though.

I appreciate this may be a bit off putting for you but a pickled onion on the plate discouraged my old lady would-be food thief.

Apparently cats are trainable but good luck with that! We got this little guy last Summer and consistently tell him the dining table is not for cats..

Hissing at them (like a mum cat does when she tells them off) worked to stop my kittens, hiss and then put them in the floor.

Try screaming 'get down you little bastard!' and waving your arms around, that's what I do.

Fgs! It is no longer your dining table! It is the kitten's higher level lounging ground.

It's the only thing my kitten takes any notice of. He jumps on work surfaces and has to be removed from the room during meals. He has no concept of his food and my food and he's like a little bottomless pit. The only human foods he's repulsed by are cauliflower and banana. I don't have the same trouble with my older cat.