How can I get my cats to stop getting up on the counters?

Question

Well my male cat that I've had for a few years now and is about 2 yrs old or so, he always jumps up on the kitchen counter to drink out of the sink. Now I have a younger cat a female whos close to a year old or so, she jumps up there everytime i go in there to prepare food. she gets right up in ur plates and stuff! And when no one is even in the kitchen she gets up there and walks around and sniffs around and if u have left food out shes got it! i swat at her and spray her but she does it again and again. now shes got my older male cat doing it and he knows better. now he gets up there and gets into food and the other morning i found a new loaf of bread with a hole in the package and a couple pieces of bread eaten. when i picked it up both cats started acting guilty. I get on to them both time and time again. but they dont stop. how can i get them to stop? my older cat knows better though but hes following what the younger cat does. so how can i stop them?

Answer 1

First try and keep the counter free of food for a week or two. This will remove the temptation. Next.....and you have to be home and careful when you do this. You can purchase very small mice traps at the grocery. Cats are very curious creatures by nature, so the temptation you are leaving is the main attraction. Set the mice trap (do not put food in/on it), HOWEVER you need to set the trap upside down. In-other-words the "trap" is facing the counter surface. This can be a challenge to accomplish, but once the trap is set and it is UPSIDE DOWN place just 2-3 along your counter top.
What happens; the cat jumps up and the slightest movement will set off the trap, sending it high into the air and it really scares them. I have used this technique for dog counter surfers and garbage pickers and it works well. PLEASE make sure the traps are very small AND placed with the trap side DOWN. Only the noise of the trap will effect the cat, DO NOT USE THE TRAP FOR ITS INTENDED USE... you could harm your cat.
Spray water bottles help but you do have to be home to enforce it. Cats really don't like a water shower or a loud bang!

Answer 2

I have the same problem with my 10 month kitten. She has that obsession for the sink and I have even caught her on the stove and she was sleeping on top of the fridge. I havent been able to prevent much, i have recently put a collar and a harrness with a bell on her but that didnt stop her either. There is a product called scccattt, its suppose to detect a cat if they are on the counter and spray them, i really dont know if it works or not, because cats are smart. Then theres this other product of the same name and its a mat that goes on the counter and when the cat steps on it, it will give them a static shock. I think i will be trying that because so far my cat isnt scared of water. I hope someone finds a solution. I will post whether the mat will work or not.

Answer 3

I always feel that this is the best place for the use of the spray bottle and that doesn't seem to be working for you.

When my son got old enough to cruise around and touch things on the coffee table I had the choice to remove those things I didn't want him to touch or to say "No!" fifty times a day. I'll bet you can guess what I did.

Every since I have had cats and kittens I keep my counters cleaned off of any foodstuffs. Sometimes it is more effective to "go around" a problem rather than meeting it head on (re the martial arts).

Also: what you put energy into INCREASES so letting go a little and not seeing it as a "problem" should result in a decrease in the unwanted behavior.

Answer 4

Hi Ally, don't you just love it.! Cats are great. They are the best companions you can get..Through the years i have had a bunch of Pu++y cats( you have to be careful what you print, damned Yahoo)and they were always very compliant. The best thing I found was a spray bottle with water. They don't take very long to figure out that when they were scratching furniture or trotting on tables, etc.,they would get a squirt. Not to fond of being sprayed. I would come home and seldom find a cat on anything. I must admit that they were able to go outside by themselves so they were not bored. Occasionally they would bring home a friend. Oh well, plenty food to go around..Get a spray bottle, good training device and it won't hurt the cats.........Buzz

Answer 5

The best solution I have found for this is the adhesive things that you buy to catch mice. Cut them in half or into 4s and put them around on your counters (You can also use a really good sticky tape looped). When the cat jumps up there. it will stick to their paws. Cats hate this. They will freak out of a few minutes. Keep an eye on them and make sure they don't hurt themselves, and then carefully remove it from their paws. It wont hurt them as long as you don't rip it off. But after a few times, they will not get back on the counter.

Answer 6

Hi,there,this may sound a little silly,but i had the same problem ,my cat would jump up on my stove,then to my fridge and onto the top of my cupboards.He would sit up there and lick and clean himself and id find his hair all over my countertops and the front of my cupboard doors,drove me crazy.A family member told me to try somethng and it worked.Apparently cats don't like the sound of tinfoil or pie plates,why i dont know,but i put a empty pie plate on top of my stove and everytime he jumped up there he would hit it and get right back down again.After about 2 or 3 days of this he just stopped getting up there all together.I was able to remove the pie plate and he dont bother even tryin anymore.This really worked for me,maybe it will work for you too,no harm in trying it out.Try to pinpoint the spot where the cats jump up the most and set it there,goodluck!!

Answer 7

Orange spray. Cats hate the smell of citrus. There are spray bottles you can buy. You can spray around the trash can, but not too much, or spray in the trash can. (If he does jump into the trash can, he will hit a wave of citrus and jump out.) You can get one of those air fresheners, not the plug in types but the ones that have that thick gel, and place it next to the trash can. The orange citrus is strong. My mom used it during Christmas one year, and the house smelled like pine and orange. Not the greatest smell in the world, and she always used too much for one cat. Although orange citrus in the trash can may not be as bad.

Answer 8

I just "psssssst" at them and shoo them away... So they don't jump up when I'm there. At night, however, they walk on counters (we have a webcam in the kitchen, so we know), and there isn't a damn thing I can do about that!

Answer 9

You can't.With cats being so agile and frisky...They need exersise to stay healthy(i dont think u want a fat cat...or do u?) and with the stealing food i think catnip will satisfy their cravings.
You can get it at petco (where the pets go[tm]) also try some jogging in the park with them..

Answer 10

Place several loops of scotch tape on your countertop, sit back and watch the fun.