Kitten on kitchen worktop

[Pob13]

My 5 month old kittens have just worked out they can jump onto the kitchen worktops. Apart from being unhygienic I am terrified that they are going to go on the hob when its still hot. Everytime we catch them we lift them off and say "down".
Does anyone use anything on their hob for this reason?
Or does anyone have any tips for dealing with this?
(Unfortunately we cant shut them out the kitchen, it doesnt have a door).

When I was growing up, we always had cats, and my mum was always very strict about taking them off immediately and saying 'down' if they jumped onto anything they weren't meant to. They did learn. I don't remember them ever going on the worktops as adults.

They are probably mostly exploring and testing their new skills, so climbing on the worktops is exciting for them right now because it is new. But the worktop is also fairly dull- it's not like a snuggly sofa they want to keep sneaking back onto for a nap. If you are consistent about putting them down, and you give other options of fun things they are allowed to jump and climb on, I reckon there's a good chance they'll lose interest.

My experience of these threads is that your cats will either always go on the worktops or will never show an interest in the worktops - and that if you have the former, you'll never get them to be the latter 😂

I wouldn't let "bad hygiene" cause you any stress - just wipe the sides down before use every single time.

In terms of the hob, our current oven came with a glass lid type thing that goes over the hob to prevent burnt paws, but our old one didn't and they seemed to know not to jump up there when it was hot - presumably they could feel the heat or something!

Cat Sscat will sort this in 2 puffs.

It delivers a puff of air when they jump in front of it, cats don't like it and jump off.

Sorted ours in 2 puffs - first time and then a second just to see if the nasty thing had gone away.

Cat never jumped on a work surface again- prior to this they had just learned to do it when we weren't looking.

The problem with aversive techniques like this is that some cats are so scared that you can cause other issues in the process.

I've seen a few episodes of Jackson Galaxy where the owners have used things like this and the cat has started peeing out of fear, or has associated the noise with something else (like another cat) and started fighting with them instead.

They obviously can work with some cats in some circumstances but I really wouldn't recommend them.

I find that mine hate tin foil, so I put it where I don't want them to go

I would shout at mine, they got the message and definitely knew they shouldn't be up there. Some were more sneaky than others, but you could see in their faces they knew they were being naughty if they were caught!

Thing is .. cat's have their own rules and go where they want.
Unless you keep the kitchen door shut at all times there isn't really much you can do to stop them. The minute your back is turned they will be up there. You might think they don't jump on your worktop but they do. What happens when you go to bed or work or shopping?

We just assume they do and keep wiping, although I haven't seen them do it for ages. I put them on there to give them tablets as it's exactly the right height so they know it's not completely off limits. Don't leave food out or if you have to, cover it.

Mine have always got an "ahem" and lifted down. Last cat learned not to go on the worktops when we were home. Current cat is a spoilt brat and mostly does as she pleases.

I put a box or bowl up there and they would climb in. They like the height and it technically gets them off the counter 😂 Please don’t shout at them. There’s no need for that.

If I’d used the hob I used to put a saucepan of cold water on the ring(s) until the temperature was cool enough to not burn.

This is one of the reasons I opted for an induction hob- I was advised it is safer for cat owners. But in fact, my cat rarely jumps on the worktop- I did tell her off for it as a kitten ( with a clear 'no') and remove her straightaway though.
And she has a cat tower as she likes being up high. Maybe that helps?

We had 3 Burmese cats, and we pretty much trained them not to get up on the worktops. But one of them would jump up onto the worktop edge, then launch himself onto a shelf above. Then he'd wail to be lifted down, as he wouldn't be naughty enough to jump down onto the worktop, would he?

I had cats all my life and they were never allowed on worktops. Even cats we adopted when they were older learned that they weren't allowed. Every time they jump up onto a worktop, remove them with a loud no. Every single time.

I keep my induction hob switched off at the wall and covered when I’m not using it. Just in case.

The Ssscat was a lot less aversive than our previous method of shouting.

Of course another method is to massively drop your standards. Current boy cat made it clear he'd go where he likes whatever we did so we just caved and let him.

Our guy treats the countertop as his personal space. He knows damn well. Sometimes he pretends he was only jumping up to look out the window. He’s beyond training, I fear. We love him dearly but he’s a terrible little bugger at times.

we upgraded to an induction hob too. It was so much safer I can put my hand on it and not burn.

Current cat can get up there but is too lady like to jump that high.

Until recently I was fostering, and it was completely unrealistic to expect every single foster cat not to jump on the worktop! Covering the hob and doing all food prep on boards which were cleaned & put away after use got round the issue.

If your cat does burn it’s paw put it outside on the cold ground. I did that when the Bengal walked over a hot plate on the ceramic job when I was making fatballs.

Finlay jumped on cooling hob when he was a kitten - frightened himself and me but no lasting damage
Now we just put an empty pan or oven tray until it cools and he’s not bothered since - his only interest in getting on worktop is so that he can get to the sink as he does like playing with a dripping tap, or he uses the worktop as a launch pad to get on top of the gas boiler!

Thank you all, some great tips.