Counters?

[MJM]

Hi everyone,

My wife and I recently welcomed a roughly 5-month old F5 into our house.

One thing we'd love to get some tips on is if anyone has had any success deterring their cats from jumping onto the counter tops? I appreciate that she has a natural predisposition towards getting higher up, and we're trying some more natural methods to try to curb the behaviour. So far we've leaned heavily on putting fresh lemon juice on the counter tops, but I'd say it has had minimal success so far. Although she definitely does not enjoy stepping into the juice when it dries a bit and is sticky, it isn't really deterring her.

Any helpful tips?

 

[WitchyWoman]

You can try SSSSt air cans, scat mats, sticky tape, reward her with treats when she obeys a "get down" command, try putting a high stool near the counters so she can be a part of and see what's going on and reward her with treats when she sits and stays on the stool. Even if those things work when you're around, there's no guarantee she won't be on the counters when you're not there. So mix up a bottle of vinegar and peroxide and be prepared to clean those counters before every use. It's a lot easier than training a cat to stay on the floor.

 

[Carykd7kau]

Mine are on the counters all the time, and with just a minimal amount of counter cleaning..( I am a man living alone...) I have not gotten sick or had a cat diseases. ( No, it is not gross to have a cat on the counter. )

 

[MJM]

You can try SSSSt air cans, scat mats, sticky tape, reward her with treats when she obeys a "get down" command, try putting a high stool near the counters so she can be a part of and see what's going on and reward her with treats when she sits and stays on the stool. Even if those things work when you're around, there's no guarantee she won't be on the counters when you're not there. So mix up a bottle of vinegar and peroxide and be prepared to clean those counters before every use. It's a lot easier than training a cat to stay on the floor.

Very helpful. We may give the air cannister approach a try. We're attempting to set some early boundaries with her early, but we'll see how it goes. It's worth the attempt now because it'll be too late soon!

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

My cats know they are not allowed on the counters when I am in the kitchen, but as WitchyWoman correctly points out, when I am not there I am very sure they ARE on the counters. So clean the counters before use..

While i am in the kitchen, then it was firm and patient training. An "off" with a picking up of kitty and putting on the floor. After three sequential off's and they get up again I will just push them off wordlessly. They are smart though and I've not really had to do that too much...

Another tip that REALLY helps in my kitchen is putting a cat tree at the end of the island bench. This is their place to perch and watch as mostly the reason they want to be on the counter is to supervise. By giving them an allowable perch they aren't as desperate to be on the counter.

 

[MJM]

My cats know they are not allowed on the counters when I am in the kitchen, but as WitchyWoman correctly points out, when I am not there I am very sure they ARE on the counters. So clean the counters before use..

While i am in the kitchen, then it was firm and patient training. An "off" with a picking up of kitty and putting on the floor. After three sequential off's and they get up again I will just push them off wordlessly. They are smart though and I've not really had to do that too much...

Another tip that REALLY helps in my kitchen is putting a cat tree at the end of the island bench. This is their place to perch and watch as mostly the reason they want to be on the counter is to supervise. By giving them an allowable perch they aren't as desperate to be on the counter.
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Handy. We actually have several stools and another counter-height chair in the vicinity, so being able to keep an eye on what's happening isn't a problem for her. It's just a matter of if we can convince her to stay off the counters themselves over time.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

Try consistently taking her off the counter and putting on one of those chairs. And praising her when she chooses to jump on the counter height chair instead of the counter...

 

[Patti]

I used to have a cat tree that was just a bit higher than the counters that the cats liked to sit on, and it really helped keeping them off the counters, especially because I would feed them treats on it occasionally.