How the heck do I keep a kitten off the table/counters?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only way, is to provide an alternative. The kitten likes to be high up, and is curious about the things its family does up there.

Give it a high up highway like a counter, and put things of yours on it.

Other than that, there is no way. Spray bottles don't work, imho. They forget and will come back 2 minutes later.

Yeah, this is the answer. The only way to get a cat to do what you want is to make that thing more appealing to the cat than the alternatives.

We had a centrally located counter in our apartment when my cats were kittens, there was no feasible way to make an appealing alternative for the cats that didn't look terrible, and we tried EVERYTHING - lemon, double sided tape, aluminum foil, plastic, spray bottle (that one worked the best, but they eventually decided they'd just rather be up there and occasionally get wet). Even if you do get a cat to stay off the counters, that will only be the case when you are standing right there. As soon as you leave, they're on the counters.

I have toddlers. I have cats. I've had dogs. Dogs are by far the easiest to train. Toddlers are next. Cats are about 1000 times harder to train than toddlers. They have absolutely no desire or motivation to please you at all in anyway. I love them immensely, but that's the bottom line.

Thank you for this! Gave me a good giggle as you have described my experiences to a T!

[Anonymous]

This is what stops me from getting a cat. Putting food up high is the only way to keep it away from my tall dog. If I get a cat, there’s nowhere left that’s safe. The idea of a cat jumping onto a hot stove freaks me out. My dog has short fur, doesn’t even shed much, and can’t get up onto the counters, but I still occasionally find fur on the countertop. I can’t even imagine how much cleaning would be required to keep fur out of our food if we had a cat. It’s sad because I would love to have a cat if it would stay off countertops.

[Anonymous]

The first cat I adopted was perfect (purr-fect?) in so many ways, but most especially that she had short legs and couldn’t jump up high enough to reach the countertop.

[Anonymous]

We also gave up. The cat does not need to our instructions, ever.

[Anonymous]

You don’t train cats, cats train you.

But in all seriousness, making the counters unappealing (negative feedback, fool, no way to get anywhere really high like the fridge, etc) and something nearby (cat tree, toy basket, etc) very appealing is your best bet. If it helps I have occasional counter wanderers (I’m off the given up school especially since they don’t often do it) and they have never every stepped or jumped onto a hot stove although a worried so much about it when they were adventurous kittens. I think Iin this very narrow respect cats have good self preservation instincts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what stops me from getting a cat. Putting food up high is the only way to keep it away from my tall dog. If I get a cat, there’s nowhere left that’s safe. The idea of a cat jumping onto a hot stove freaks me out. My dog has short fur, doesn’t even shed much, and can’t get up onto the counters, but I still occasionally find fur on the countertop. I can’t even imagine how much cleaning would be required to keep fur out of our food if we had a cat. It’s sad because I would love to have a cat if it would stay off countertops.

Unlike dogs, cats don't go on counters for food. Some might, but the vast majority just want to be up high, where their people are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here, and thank you for the tips. I don't want to simply resign myself, tho I understand I may be kidding myself a bit. The kitten will get particularly aggressive about jumping up during mealtimes and will find bits of people food to eat. She will also jump near the stove while we're cooking, which is what really freaked me out.

We'll continue the repeated NO and try some other tips.

I’ve learned that my cats usually respond better to praise for the right thing and alternatives vs “no!”. It feels better to me, too.

Lightly sprinkling cayenne pepper on the counter was recommended to me. I’ll admit I tried it out of desperation, but my cats and the problem dog just completely steered clear of the kitchen whenever I did and came back when it was not there. And what an annoying mess!

If the cat is jumping up while you’re preparing or eating, then they may need to be behind a closed door during those times. Maybe consider a routine of feeding them super tasty food in a bedroom during your meal times.

These days, our elderly cat and senior dog eat when we do. Our cat sometimes still asks for her crunchy treats on the kitchen floor while we cook and eats her wet food on the floor next to my chair. I give our dog his nightly greenie at the same time.

Or maybe a cat tree in your kitchen. There are modern alternatives to the old carpet covered things. Whenever you see them up there, praise happily and treat. Hide various treats there throughout the day so that’s where they’ll “hunt” for food. You can even give their meals up there. We did this for one feral kitten and she loved it. Our older cats took advantage of it, too.