Kitchen worktops and cats

[Julianne65]

Our little rescue cat is pretty good. Uses her tray (well except for 2 instances where she peed on our bed so she is now banned from that room), uses a scratching post. But she likes to jump up on the kitchen worktops. It's almost an obsession.

I don't particularly mind as we are very clean. We don't keep food around and everything is put in the outside bins quickly. However DH does mind and is getting pretty annoyed at her. We have tried tin foil, grapefruit spray on the surfaces, picking her up, clapping, saying NO loudly. She doesn't care!

Do we just have to accept that she wants to sit on these surfaces all the time? Has anyone found a magical solution?

She has a cat tree she uses all the time and is allowed on the sofas and chairs.

Also, she goes out. She has full use of the conservatory where she can see out onto the garden and our downstairs is open plan so we can't shut the kitchen door.

If you keep up the clapping/hissing and moving her down she will probably lose interest. That’s worked for me with all but one cat, but he was obsessed with drinking from the tap 😔

Erm, you seem to think it is your house, your rules, and your kitchen and your worktops.
My cats would like to remind you that it is the cats house and you are only allowed permission to live in the cats house due to your position as chosen cat slave. This position is awarded solely on the basis that you have opposable thumbs aiding your ability to open cat food tins/pouches and being able to pay for said food. Know thy place! (I do, which is why two humans live in a house with 17, yes 17 chairs for the cats).

edit to add we only have 5 cats. But alllll the chairs.

I've really struggled to train our cats.

I thought I'd cracked it, but they just waited until we were out. Only found out as they'd left footprints.

It's not pleasant, as my cats are usually outdoor cats. But I just accept that before I do anything in the kitchen, I need to clean down the worktops thoroughly.

Have to agree with this. There’s nothing you can do OP - as far as the cat is concerned, they own the place!

Spraying ours with water and clapping at him worked for us. He'll occasionally jump in the sink still but not the worktops. It also stopped him scratching the furniture.

We did recently discover though that he has burrowed a hole in the underside of our couch and has been sleeping in there, so I guess that's his revenge....

It's her kitchen now love.

In a previous house we got this

www.diy.com/departments/pestbye-twinpack-battery-powered-cat-repellent-ultrasonic-repeller-deterrent-cat-scarer-with-ground-stake/5056228314721_BQ.prd

And put it on the worktop.

It sort of worked.

Ours is 17 years on worktops despite all the clapping etc and still going strong. We did give up. In the end I thought. Why not... A bit of detol sorts the germs. My toddlers hands are dirtier probably to be fair.

All mine go on the countertops. Life’s too short to stress about trying to stop it, imo. I clean them and spray them (the countertops, lol), and don’t lose sleep over it - works for me (and my furry overlords!)

Yeah.. no way!

I wear gloves to empty their tray throughout the day, there is no way that I could prepare food on work surfaces that they’ve been walking on 🤮, however I am lucky that I have a small kitchen with a door!

I think spraying with water or making a loud noise as PP suggested is probably the best option.

Exactly this! 🤣 I have Persians, who have never jumped. Coming home to find Penelope on the kitchen windowsill was quite a shock. 🤣

Clapping and saying “Get down” or “No” does work, but only when you are in the room. I allow the cats to sit on the microwave to watch food preparation and they like that. I still turn around to see stuff like this:

He'll give up eventually (DH, not the cat).
I successfully trained the cats to jump off when I clapped, by repeatedly putting them off and clapping to make the association. But it has never stopped them going up in the first place.
Can't say it bothers me really, I'm not preparing food directly on the bench but would always use a chopping board from a drawer.
It is embarrassing when guests are round though so I would shut cats away altogether if I know the guests are very anti cat.

Ha. Our two knew perfectly well that they weren’t allowed on the kitchen worktops. We knew this because of the expression of guilt on their faces as they jumped hastily down if we went into the kitchen and caught them at it. They never jumped up when we were watching, though.

Smug boast. Current cat never jumps up on kitchen work surfaces. And never tries to eat human food.

Sad truth. He is the only cat we have ever had who I can say this about.

Be fair, clearly his front paws were feeling a little chilly and he needed to warm them up.

Lol.🤣 did you not do research before getting a cat?.They love being high up.. it's their nature and normal.
You can't train a cat like a dog.. you should never punish your cat for 'misbehaving' as it will never help - but may stress your cat more.

But this emits a high pitch sound so wouldn’t just put them off the worktop, it would put them off being in the house.

Thank you for all your comments. It seems we have to invest in more surface cleaner lol. I did try and put lots of things all over the worktops last night and she didn't care. She slinked through them or moved them with her paw. I think she thought it was a game.

You can't.

Some people might have oddly compliant cats but in general they love to jump and explore and it's normal for them to want to do that in their homes.

It has never once occurred to me that I get a say in how my cats choose to live. They go where they want

I have two like this. I can literally leave a whole roast chicken on the kitchen table and they’re not interested. Weirdos. They won’t even eat tuna.

OP just leave her to it and give it a spray before you prepare food. As a previous poster said, they’re no longer your work surfaces.

Arthur knows not to jump up when we are around, he does however jump up overnight, the footprints being the evidence. Also butter. Never, never, leave butter out. Lick marks in the butter are annoying!

Yes our cat decided he was a lurpak cat after dh left to top off the butter he’d never bothered dh for butter before but after that dh got pestered. He’d refuse other butters.