Any ideas here, we are ready to pull our hair out?

Question

We have a now a little over 1 year old female ragdoll mix cat. We got her when she was a kitten at the humane society. She is a great cat, except for that she is CONSTANTLY on the countertops, kitchen table, decorative tables, etc. We say "get down!" and she runs and gets down immediately when we say that only to jump right back up a few minutes later. We have tried the tin foil thing, and it didn't work. She just walked right on it. Is this just the way it will be with this cat? We have had other cats in the past who NEVER went on a counter or the kitchen table, EVER. Does anyone have any ideas whatsoever, or had a cat like this that eventually changed? Thanks.

Answer 1

try to fill up the counter space. fill it up with items that the cat cant lay on.

also you could lock the cat in one room for a day or two. the cat will probobly become interested in parts of that room and find new places to sit. once u let it out, it will have grown used to that room and she will want to go back in there because of how used to it she is. this helped with my cat.

Answer 2

My kitten ususally goes on our kitchen table when there's food ontop and she keeps l*****g it and i always yell at her to get down and give her a treat.  but i never give her a treat if i have to pick her up and put her down myself.  you should try giving her a treat if she jumps off and if she gets back on again, spray her paws with water.  i know it might sound mean but that's usually how cats learn whats bad and whats not.  some kittens are just fiesty and always decide to do things that they know are wrong.  also sometimes cats do that to get attention so maybe you should try playing with her more. hope that helps.  

Answer 3

I put tape on the counters. That only worked briefly. cats dont like to take the straight path from the living room to the food bowl. Theyre climbers. Up over & through is much better than a straight line. The tape was more ammusing than effective. Now I just make sure I wiupe down all my counters before I use the kitchen, cause how will you know she wasnt on the counter when you were out or sleeping ?:)

Answer 4

You have to make the counters and tables less attractive to the cat. Make sure that no open foods are left there to attract the cat. And also make available other places that the cat is allowed to relax, like chairs, couches and window sills. We have had 3 cats over the years and all of them did not get in the habit of going there, except for the kitchen counter, because there is a nice big window that they loved to sit in and watch the outside, but they were allowed there. Only once did we have food stolen. I was marinating steaks to cook on the grill and left them on the counter to go out and start the grill. When I came back in, the steaks were on the floor and kitty was chewing on one of them. So much of it is just being aware that the cats will do things like that. If your cat does have a habit of getting up on counters, be very careful that stove burners are not left unattended. I have heard of cases where cats jumped up and burned their paws.

Answer 5

Put vinegar in a bottle and keep it on the counter. When she gets up there or is where she shouldn't be spray her in the face with it(not her eyes) and she will run away. Be consistent and she will get it.

Answer 6

I've had cats that do that too.  Try spraying them with a spray bottle of water.  You can even try putting a little bit of vinegar in it.  I use to sit back and when they jumped on the counter, spray them.  They don't know where it comes from and they got down right away.  As for changing that behavior, I'm not sure.  Hope this helps.

Answer 7

waterbottle works---squirt whenever she does this.  Otherwise...is it really a big deal?  Our cats do that too, and I like it!