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?

Really? Cats in beds and on pillows are the best bits of having cats 🥰

But how did you teach them the word "no"? Cats aren't born understanding it - and even those who understand it don't necessarily care.

Admittedly I have never had a kitten or cat who goes on the work surfaces. But I don't credit myself with any super cat whispering skills - they just haven't fancied it. Luck of the draw.

Knowing cats, the best thing to do would be to repeatedly place them on the work surface, and praise them for being there. Then they'd never go near it again.

They are a bit like teenagers in this regard.....

I attach a pic of my very naughty kitten up to mischief on the worktop!

Cats can definitely learn where they are allowed to go.

We managed to train ours as a kitten by distracting her with a loud “no” when she was planning to jump on the dining table/work surface.
We would then call her over to her feeding mat and give her a treat. Eventually when we said “no” she would stop what she was doing immediately and race to the mat by herself.

But you have to watch like a hawk and time it just right so you don’t start rewarding them jumping onto the table. You have to interrupt right at the beginning of the little crouch, once they’ve locked in to the crouch they’ll probably jump anyway, though you can block it with your hand.

I keep the kitchen shut when nobody’s in it - the cat knows that jumping on the surfaces is not allowed when people are present, but obviously doesn’t give a stuff about those rules when there’s no witnesses!

This a hundred times over. A burn from a hob isn't going to be mildly painful for a few days- it could kill them.

@Teenmam persistence is key.
Distraction when you see them looking to get up there; pick them up and put them down; clap your hands and 'shout' (raise your voice) - even spray with a water bottle.

Spraying with a water bottle is frowned up on mumsnet but there's a safety issue from the hob and a little water on their whiskers is infinitely preferable to serious burns.

My ex stray has a habit of every now and then thinking the kitchen counter is the best place in the world and then the urge goes a week later. He is alot older though and sometimes wants to sleep on my head and then we have to have words. Never feed them on the surfaces, that just reinforces good things happening when they are up there.

With my other ex ferals and semi ferals, I teach them to jump up when I tell them onto places I want them to go, but also teach them 'No' and if they get told off for jumping on a kitchen surface they will learn pretty quickly not to do it.

I told one off last week for trying to claw his sofa, he has his own sofa yes, and he stopped, and the next day he went to do it again and stopped himself whilst looking at me. Clawing of the carpet or sofa in this house results in being put outside immediately so they soon learn that as soon as they start it, I walk to the back door and they trot straight out.

They really are bloody amazing animals though, such funny little ways and great company.

Shedding fur and fluff. Cat-hairs get everywhere. And scratching. Our last two shredded a brand new hall carpet down to the grippers trying to dig their way past closed doors. We have one sofa they didn't touch and another that is ripped to ribbons. Yes they enjoyed scratching posts and scratch boards but they liked furniture as well.

One of ours used to crap on the sofa now and again. Bringing mice and frogs indoors to play with on the hall carpet. Licking strawberries. That was also only one of them but I couldn't leave a bowl of fruit salad uncovered on the table.

I remind myself about this every time I think I might need cats again. Sigh!

This is what we do. Food never actually touches the work tops anyway - we always use a chopping board and dish up straight to plates.

I’ve had 4 cats in my lifetime and no way were they allowed on kitchen worktops or upstairs. A firm no and promptly put back on the floor and they learnt very quickly.
I loved them all but the thought of them walking on my worktops was 🤢🤢

Wtf? You're advocating animal abuse? I sincerely hope you do not have any animals.

They have no reason to. I don’t leave food out. Never once caught them jumping off when we come in.

I do and they’ve never done this. It was maybe a silly comment.

There's a meme on Instagram with a photo of a cat sitting on a worktop with the caption:

'Always believe in yourself. Imagine if I had given up the first time they told me to get off the counter.'

I have just about managed to train my 2 tabby girls to sit in an area that is not used for food prep., just admin stuff but they do sometimes push their luck.

My cats weren't just about food. They liked being up high. Top of the kitchen cupboards was best but worktops and tables would do.

If you really want a cat you cant afford to be precious about anything. Cats will destroy your furniture, set up base on your work surfaces and bring live mice in.
Id sooner have my cats than my furniture and belongings so you need to approach cat ownershp like that.
And of course you will never "own" them.

I’ve had cats in the past who could be trained not to. But two current cats I cannot stop doing it. Even the flames on the gas hob do not deter the thick one (has to be shut out of the kitchen when cooking sometimes).

Partly a breed thing as they are known for their climbing skills and they also perch on top of doors. Also the kitchen counters are the only way to access prime bird viewing skylight spot above fridge so I’ve lost the battle and given up.

I accept that we always need to wipe before preparing anything and be diligent about chopping boards. And do you know what? We get sick less than anyone else I know so it’s clearly fine (cats also in beds, on pillows, cats everywhere!)

Well yes exactly. Lots of posts about not wanting cats on worktops but nobody is explaining what exactly is so terrible about cats on worktops. What do you think is going to happen? Quick squirt of disinfectant before you prepare food. Much easier to train the humans than the cats 🤣

My boy cat likes to watch me cook - he's allowed on the bar chairs, but not on the work tops under any circumstance.

He takes that to mean he's not allowed up there unless he really, really wants to be (very rarely luckily) - but I have to enforce that by whenever he does, I immediately yell at him and chuck him off. If I didn't make my displeasure clear then he'd be up there all the time.

Doesn’t sound like a cat would be the best pet for you in that case..!

My parents cats used to sit on top of the fridge next to the bread bin and beg for meat from the oven. Another of my cats don’t know why but he was always scared of the kitchen and would keep out of it. I got him at 5 months though.

how are the kittens getting up there?

my cat never goes on the worktops but he's not very good at jumping & our worktops aren't inviting (cold & not a good landing surface), on the odd occasion he jumped on a chair then the worktop we just told him to get down & shoved him off. Persistence is the key here with the no & get down's

Honestly I don't think they are! I like my outdoor bunnies, and I would never, every have a dog. But we didn't have many pets growing up so it could just be I am not used to them and would grow into a more relaxed view🤔

We noticed that they stopped when we had the kitchen redone and changed from wood to quartz worktops. Before that the worktops were mainly a staging point to get to the top of the high cupboards for a better view.

All cats like being up high. You have to be dedicated and work at it from day one with no exceptions. We have bar stools on the centre island and that’s where they sit.

Try a cucumber. For some reason cucumbers scare cats...

Needless to say, after reading the posts on here. I am put off ever owning a cat and my 6 YO son loves them and they love him!