How do I keep my cats from getting on the kitchen counters

Question

I have two cats. When I am at work they walk all over the kitchen counters and kitchen table. It really grosses me out and I end up having to clean them daily. When I catch them doing it~ I spray them with a water bottle (trying to teach them) but every day, I come home and their they are again... on the counters....

What can I do?

Answer 1

www.drsfostersmith.com has a wonderful selection of sprays and mats that you can use on your counter for a little while to deter kitty from jumping up on the counter. The animal's sense of smell is SO sensitive that it doesn't take an offensively foul smell like bleach to solve the problem. Bleach may almost mess with them too much. Its worth looking into.

Answer 2

The pet catalogs also offer besides a nasty stinky spray (that I wouldn't put on my counters) electric mats that give a little shock when the cats touch them.  They hate the tiny shock so will stay away from that area.

But really, the best thing to do is if you don't want your cats to climb on your countertops when you're gone is to lock them up in a bedroom with their litter box, food, water and some awesome toys that they only get in their bedroom.  That's it.  Period.  It's all you can do.  Cats will do what they want when they want.

Answer 3

Well, I used to have cats and of course their curiosity will draw them to the counter and I'm not sure about what to do about it while your not home but a suggestion is to wipe your counter down with vinegar before you leave the house. Cat's don't like it. It stinks to us so it will definitely stink to them. Another thing is if they do it while your at home and you catch them; walk over to them, pick them up,put him on the floor and spank him a few times..All the while using high pitched yet harsh voice saying NO...That has always worked for me. Good Luck!!

Answer 4

You could also try setting out some cookie sheets with water in them.  Don't put them right by the edge, or kitty will see them.  When they jump up there, they will get wet and it usually works unless you have a little genius in a cat suit (like mine) who gets on the kitchen chairs first, then the table, then looks at the counter for a good landing spot.  I just sprayed this citrus stuff on the chair and with the cookie sheets, he doesn't do it anymore.  The first time they jump up there though, you will have a water mess to clean up but the shock value works on the cats.  

Answer 5

Peel a few oranges and put the peel where they sit. Cats hate the smell of oranges. I read it in a book once and I've tried it as I got 2 cats. They always used to wee in the plants.

Answer 6

There is a spray you can probably buy at a petstore that cat's hate the smell of. I bought it to keep my neighbours cats off my porch. The smell might make them hate the kitchen area all together though.

Answer 7

If your cats view your table/counter ‘uninteresting’ they will be less likely to want to be on them. Leave as little on the counter or table as possible; never leave food out unattended. It’s best to make them realize there is nothing up there they want to see.

However, there are those cats who are willful and must be trained to not jump on the counters. For those cats, you can use one of those motion activated holiday decorations that make a noise and move around. We had a Jack O Lantern that would jump around and moan and groan with flashing eyes. That would startle Kitty into not wanting to go up there. Your goal is to associate jumping on the counter with something unpleasant.

If you react when the cat jumps on the counter, they will learn to do that to get your attention. Never yell at or spank him; that will only cause other more serious behavior problems. When training a cat, you must remember that they are very curious. By short stepping that curiosity, you can easily train your pet to stay off the counters.

Another method is to put a few pennies in empty soda cans  (with the hole taped up) on the edge of the counters, or wherever you’ve noticed the cat likes to jump up on. Slightly squeezing the cans on both sides to make them wobbly, will also make them fall off the counters more easily. When you cat jumps up, the loud noise will scare her and she will be less likely to want to jump up there.

Answer 8

Keep up with the water bottles, but also try leaving out (in multiple spots) pepper shaken into a saucer...if they get a noseful of that, it could deter them...and won't really hurt them, just annoy them enough to (hopefully) make them stop.

It is very important not to leave out any food, or even the scent of food that they might be attracted to...I rescued a feral kitten who had been living at a dump, and it took weeks to train him not to climb on counters, table, etc.

He used to jump up on the counter and gnaw through the bread bag--no food was off limits as far as he was concerned, and I had to put every scrap of food in an inaccessible place....now I can leave the bread out, but I never leave anything out that might encourage him..;.

Good luck!

Answer 9

put some bleach up there that will teach them darn kittys  

Answer 10

What has worked best for us is Double sided tape.  We lined the edges of our counters and table with it for a week.  Kitties Hate the feel of it on their paws since their  pads are so sensitive.  Since they don't like the feel they will associate being on the counter with an unpleasant feeling and stop using the counter as a play place.  

Good luck!