Cats on the Kitchen Counter?

Jules

Jules

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Do you let your cat on the kitchen counter? Or basically anywhere it wants to go in the house.

This can be controversial based on a discussion elsewhere. The OP wanted to set up a system so it was easy for her cat to get on the kitchen counter. It elicited 100s of replies, both yes and no. It really became quite heated.
 

It is close to impossible to keep MaMa from getting on the kitchen counter tops. She insists on drinking water from the standing water in dishes! Weird. We shoosh her down, but she is up there a lot. At night when we are asleep both of them are up there...I can feel it. :) I clean the counter tops daily. We wash everything we touch, and our hands often. What are ya gonna do?
 
Jules said:
Do you let your cat on the kitchen counter?
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"Let" them? LOL, in my experience cats will do what cats want to do. Even though my current cat has short legs and can't jump up on the counters, from decades of having cats my first action when I go into the kitchen is to spread a clean little cloth on each portion of counter I intend to use.
 
My tabby goes on the counters a lot. Walks across the stove. My last two cats were rarely on the counters. Not when I was home but sometimes I found evidence they had been.

I wouldn't get into a heated discussion with anyone regarding this. People need to do what they need to in their own home. I think I worry more about people who don't wash their hands. When I was working at a nursing home in the laundry, they had a hepatitis A outbreak in the building. They traced it to the director of nurses daughter who worked there as a nurses aid. I guess she didn't know how to wash her hands.

I did see a discussion on this once and someone said they used a large cutting board they kept put away and put that on the counter for food prep, then put it away again to avoid the cats walking on it.
 
Year ago: I hadn't done the supper dishes yet and there was a frying pan on the stove with bacon grease in it. I'm on the far side of the living room and see my cat on the stove lapping up the bacon grease as fast as he can. I yell and him and start across the room to grab him.

He looks at me and I can just see the wheels turning in his head, "OK, let's see, shall I jump down now and get under the couch so I won't get in trouble or shall I see how much more I can lap up before she gets here. It's really tasty and it's almost worth it to get in a few more licks before she gets here....."

He chose to keep lapping. I grab him by the scruff and start scolding him. The whole time I'm yelling at him, he's licking his chops and yowling, "NYOM, NYOM, NYOM, NYOM...." which translates to, "Ummm, good, there's some more grease on my whiskers to lick off and it was really, really worth it!"

The difference between dogs and cats. The dog misbehaves, you yell at him, and he's very sorry. He's ashamed. He knows he's lower than a snake's belly and he begs for your forgiveness. He'll do it again, but he'll be just as regretful next time. A cat, on the other hand, isn't sorry, isn't ashamed, isn't regretful. He's going to do it again. He knows that you know he's going to do it again and that he isn't going to be any more sorry next time, so "WHY THE HECK ARE YOU MAKING SUCH A FUSS ABOUT IT, LADY???? JUST GET OVER IT AND WE'LL BOTH GO BACK TO OUR BUSINESS!" as he stomps off oozing distain.
 
I'm really interested in how to keep cats off the kitchen counter. Andy gets onto the counter occasionally but Bugsy is constantly up there. If I'm cooking, he jumps up there. He also jumps up there to lick anything that is available in the sink, so we have to put soap in every container or dish.

Bugsy is a senior and is somewhat overweight so he can't jump right onto the counter. He gets onto a couch that is in the family room under the higher counter, then jumps onto the counter. Maybe this will help clarify. Andy is on the back of the couch and Bugsy in on the counter. (Yes, he's feisty for a Senior.)

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My senior cat can’t jump high any more so I am safe. I was sure my cats never jumped on the table or counters until one day I was pulling into my driveway and saw my cat sitting on the table looking out the window. Cats are smart enough to do it when you are not in the room or out of the house. Just invest in Lysol or any disinfectant spray, use it regularly on countertops, tables and know that you can’t control a cat.
 
When I had cats, I trained them right from the start with a toy water pistol. It didn’t hurt them; they sure didn’t like it. Yes, sometimes they were trying, spotted me and quit. I’m not foolish enough to think that they weren’t successful sometimes.
 
Cats are sly and pretend to be obedient, but when we are not at home, they start doing everything they were forbidden to do before. And the first thing they do is run to the kitchen counter.
 
Rosie56 said:
Never let my cat on kitchen counters.
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We haven't had a cat for a decade after a two decade gap. They're ecologically unfriendly to Australian fauna, the last cat was kept in the laundry every night. However it's a boundary issue more than a hygiene issue and still a no.
 
One of my cats liked to jump on the counter and get on top of the refrigerator. I sometimes would look for him and then finally see him on top of the refrigerator looking at me.

I disinfected the counters when using them.
 


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