Kittens on worktops

[Teenmam]

Any ideas how to stop this? Tin foil, sticky tape and baking trays haven't worked! Or do I just give up?

No don’t give up. A water spray bottle on mist setting usually does the trick. A bit tedious for a while but they do get the message eventually. Cats on worktops becomes a real nuisance so you will be pleased you persevered later on

Firmly remove and keep at it.
Don’t lose sight of cats paws in litter trays 🤢

We did the spray bottle and some of the other things you mentioned. Now she just gets on the work tops when I'm not around 🤦‍♀️. I hate it but nothing seems to work.

I wipe everything down now before I cook and I'm careful to never leave anything out.

Say no and remove them.

It might have to be they touch a hot hob and get burned.

This is awful. Do not let this happen

I haven’t let this happen but just guessing if they’re kittens who won’t listen.

Our last cat would never go on the worktops unless there was something especially interesting - like a chicken resting on the side - and would hop down at a stern NO. We sadly had to have her PTS in 2024, and then adopted a little boy cat who I naively thought would be the same. Ha. He is king of those counters, and nothing is stopping him.

I opted for a "choose your battles" approach and just go in with Method about a million times a day.

Jesus Christ. Your job as a pet owner is to keep them fucking safe, so maybe no kittens in the kitchen whilst hob is hot, or need at all if you want to prevent them jumping up.

DH is trying to convince me we need cats. I am still on the fence, one of the main reasons is that I do not want anything on my work surfaces.

Where are the pictures of kittens on worktops? The only reason I opened the thread.

My cats and kittens have never been on counters! Because I told them no from the start.

If you get kittens it’s quite easy. Try not to feed in kitchen (obvs prepare their food there). If they do try to jump on counters place down and say no firmly or use spray bottle. I’ve had kittens clawing my legs in the kitchen impatient for food though!

Apart from jumping on kitchen counters, are there any other annoying cat habits I need to be aware of?

I would rather not have them upstairs either, definitely not in bedrooms, but I cant imagine how we would stop them!

Partners old cat jumped on the hot Aga and that was the end of jumping on work tops.

I have a five month old kitten and no matter how many times I take her off the worktop she will immediately jump up again. She is relentless!

You can shut them out of bedrooms but be prepared for them scratching at the door to be let in. One of ours sleeps in our bed most nights.

See! It’s not like you want it to happen but sometimes a shock is only thing that’ll work.

We shut our cat in the kitchen overnight, otherwise he's on our heads at first light looking for breakfast. He has full access to bedrooms otherwise though. He's pretty smart - last night DP went to bed before me and the cat came in from being out and went straight and curled up at his feet, thinking no-one would have the heart to shift him because he was so cute. (I did.)

Hair and clawing at sofas. Shut them downstairs to keep out of bedrooms. Consider litter tray in kitchen or utility room. Be aware they may hunt and bring you presents. I wasn’t aware of the latter that much and shouted at both my cats killing a mouse once, didn’t make the blindest bit of difference!

A cat on a bed is actually very comforting.

Please tell me you haven't got any pets.

Just spray and wipe the worktops before you use them? Why even worry about it?

My cats do ballroom dancing on my worktops when I am at work as the muddy paw prints show. Short of an electric fence or shutting them out of the kitchen I cant stop them.
I just disinfect the surfaces before cooking and chop everything on large glass chopping boards which I keep in a cupboard.

I have! Like I said my cats have never been on hobs!