[Maureen]

My Annabelle has recently started getting up on my kitchen countertop as if it is a "hangout" area. I would like to know your opinions on this topic. Do I say a loud "Ah Uh!" and snap and get her down? Or let her be?
What do you do?

 

[Maureen]

She's too cute to yell at! ...My Annabelle.

 

[MowMow]

Mine are allowed up there as long they aren't causing trouble. If they get into something then I just aim aim the squirt bottle and they scatter.

I just make sure to wipe down the counter with a disinfecting wipe before I start cooking or do anything with the counter.

 

[Milky's Mammy]

Milky usually likes to pace around when I'm preparing food, which is not a good time for him to go up. I just tell him no, pick him up and put him somewhere else or occupy him with some toys.

 

[marie73]

I tried. I gave up. Even if you train her to stay off when you're around, the minute you leave the house, she'll be having catnip counter martini parties and inviting all the neighborhood toms.

 

[Carmel]

Since you have a kitty that likes counters you could discourage it, but I don't think it's worth the effort. Some cats are just very into everything and want to be where the action is and/or want to perch up high.

Having said that, I've never had a cat like that. Blacky never jumps on counters (unless the pool table counts but that's where her food is located; she's never even shown interest in entering the kitchen unless she can't get out her cat door, then she figures the kitchen door upstairs is the next best bet to make a run to freedom... weirdo) and Blaze never did jump on counters for the first ~14 years, he's a little more into it now at 16 years of age, oddly enough but only when we're opening his food.

 

[dweamgoil]

I tried. I gave up. Even if you train her to stay off when you're around, the minute you leave the house, she'll be having catnip counter martini parties and inviting all the neighborhood toms.

*nods*

 

[marie73]

The best thing you can do is keep your counters uninteresting. My girls will jump up, look around and jump back down now. If I'm doing dishes, they like to sit on the edge and keep me company, though, which I like. :grin:

 

[Maureen]

Oh I like the idea of her keeping me company when I clean my dishes! Yes, I have a feeling that my being gone during the day and her liking the height, I will not win the countertop war. Thanks for the advice guys!!!

 

[hal1]

I'm sure mine does it because he knows he'll get attention. I cab tell by the way I leave things that I'm pretty sure he doesn't go up there when I'm not home.

 

[Fran]

We've utterly given up - but we do tell Gracie "get down!!!" over and over, and she does, so she gets plenty of exercise jumping up and down from the counters repeatedly while we fix her dinner :roll:. Sometimes she gets shut out of the kitchen completely and she sulks under the dinner table until we slip up and leave a door open by mistake. Unfortunately, she's stolen enough bits of good food that she will never stop. We tend to get distracted easily at our house, and she has scored some major wins as far as food theft goes.

Occasionally she will get punished by getting grabbed and smooched until she pouts...

Fran

 

[catinthemirror]

Yeah I seem to remember when I first moved in with my Dad there was going to be a 'no cats on the table or counters' rule... That didn't last very long! I honestly can't see what the problem is with letting do what they want - we clean the counters, we don't just eat directly from the tabletop, it just doesn't seem like something to make an issue out of. At least for me it doesn't

 

[Lyndzo]

It may not be a popular answer, but yes I do discipline my little one. She gets on the counters and tables, even the stove. My finaceé and I have a water bottle (set to mist mode) and the first couple of times we would spray her when she would do it. It wouldn't be in her face and it was a bit of mist, enough to get her to stop. Now when she does it, or starts to, I point the bottle at her and say "No" and she stops it. Don't even have to spray her.

 

[Dominoes]

None of my cats get in the counter top. The male can't even jump that high (he's very clumsy and well, bad at jumping) and the female does manage but is not very interested in the counter at all.

 

[Ritzpg]

She's on the floor, looking at the countertop, and I say "yeah, you're welcome to jump up but there's nothing interesting...." Sometimes I put junk mail, like newspaper flyers, on the countertops which Ritz loves to smell and sometimes tear apart.
She is also afraid of most plastic bags. About a year ago, she got her paw caught in a plastic bag with a carton of (18) eggs in it. I found the eggs on walls all over the apartment, and the bag still caught on her paw. And a claw she lost on the floor. So if I put a plastic bag with groceries in it on the countertop, she shys away.
Course when I'm preparing her food for the week (raw), then it's whole different story. But the countertop is so crowded that there is no place for her to land. And she can tell by the one of my voice that she can't jump up.
Morale of the story: don't put anything on the countertop you don't want your cat to investigate.

 

[Jannerl]

My Yeti was a big offender too - I don't want him walking around on the kitchen counters (yuck) so I just say "No" firmly and lift him down. I had to do this over and over again (sometimes 4-5 times in a row) and he finally got the idea. Now he waits patiently on the floor while I get his food ready.

 

[MowMow]

My Yeti was a big offender too - I don't want him walking around on the kitchen counters (yuck) so I just say "No" firmly and lift him down. I had to do this over and over again (sometimes 4-5 times in a row) and he finally got the idea. Now he waits patiently on the floor while I get his food ready.

And the minute you walk out the door he's checking out what's so great about the counter. hehe.

 

[RachandNito]

Unfortunately, she's stolen enough bits of good food that she will never stop. We tend to get distracted easily at our house, and she has scored some major wins as far as food theft goes.

THIS! This is the reason mine will never stop getting up on counter tops and tables. They all know the meaning of "GET down" quite well. It's just a matter of judging several factors on their part, whether or not they actually listen
-How close is the scolding human?
-How much did she mean it?
-Is she gonna get up and enforce it?

 

[Dave_ph]

You can't disipline a cat. You can't milk one either Focker.

Mine have no interest in the counter tops but if they did the litter feet would just improve my immune system.

 

[Goldtanker]

What is it with the fascination of higher places for cats?

One of the amazing things that impressed me (no experience with inside cats) was how Midnight, the wild cat, first jumped up on the recycle bin - totally without any knowledge of what was up there. What if there was no top? - he would be trapped forever. Now one of his favorite spots is on top of a storage cabinet in the garage. (Sure I have a pad up there for him now). Is it the height that is the attraction?