Advice needed before my boyfriend loses it!

I've mentioned it in another thread. Jax will not stay off the kitchen counters. We've tried the squirt bottle. It worked at first then he just sat there and licked the water off himself. :rolleyes:
If I'm home and walk into the kitchen he knows and will jump down (not quick enough though). And my boyfriend works at home and does his work at the kitchen table. He is constantly yelling and pounding on the table to get Jax off the counter. It happens so often, he'd get a work-out if he got up and went over to him EVERY time. Nothing phases this cat. NOTHING! And I'm not going to beat the little thing, of course.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what we can do to discourage him from getting on the counter? Oh, he does it anytime, not just when there is something of yummy interest involved.

My previous experience with this (with Taz) was he was sneaky about getting on the counter. I would only see the paw prints on the glass stove top as evidence. Paizly doesn't really ever get up there, but if she does she jumps down if she even hears someone coming in. I've gone stomping into the kitchen when Jax is up there and he'll cower down in the ready-to-jump position, but won't actually get down until I'm on top of him.

Thanks!! And if I get some ideas, I promise I'll update the photo thread of him. It's long overdue. :o

You know those clear plastic runners for carpets that have grippers on the bottom? Try putting those, gripper side up, on the surfaces you dont want him to jump on. Most cats don't like the feeling of the grippers (but it doesn't hurt them) so they avoid them and the surfaces after a while.

Aluminum foil with on the counters along with soda cans filled with pennies. They hate both sounds.

Yep, aluminum foil works every time!:D

^Worked for me to keep them away from behind my computer desk too! ^

I don't know about putting plastic stuff all along the kitchen counter. :( Although, I wonder if you can cut it and just lay it along the edge. It wouldn't have to be there permanently, right?

And what do you mean with the aluminum foil? Do what with it? Lay it out all over the counter? If that's the case, I don't think Bruce would go for that. But I could always suggest it if he wants him to stay off the counter.

I thought of the noisy soda can, but Taggart is so jumpy with loud sudden noises and so is Zoee sometimes. And honestly, I think after he learned it won't hurt him he wouldn't even care. I've gone up to him while he was on the counter yelling right in his face and blowing on him. He hardly moved. And when I say yelling, I just said OFF!

Thanks for the ideas!! Keep 'em coming. :D

I've tried foil and no dice. Some cats don't care. At the risk of cruelty accusations there are "scat pads" that deliver a mild shock when the stand on them. I do have a motion activated alarm that sounds when they jump but it's more on a sofa situation. Maybe you could spray the counter with a citrus smell. They are supposed to hate that though my foster ignored it. Just some suggestions...pics pleez? LOL

PS My Calvin is the craziest kitty...I yell and shake a water bottle and spray but he runs for a second and comes RUNNING back to me. LOL! No fear. I guess that's a good thing that he knows I'd never hurt him. I think it's an attention issue...hmmm. did I mention another kitty? Distraction. Company?

Cats hate the smell of vinegar and of cedar chips. Maybe put a few cedar chips into small bowls or baskets.

I really don't know what else to add here that would help you. I've pretty much given up and I let my cats walk on my counters on the sink side but I'm still trying to teach Blaze not to jump on top of my stove/oven area. Blaze is also fearless and I have to blow in his face to get him to run away from me. If I clap my hands and shout no, he'll just sit there. Now Alani is much more sensitive so if I clap my hands he's gone in a flash.

I also have the problem of both of them jumping and wanting to play in the litter boxes while I try to clean them. I've never seen two kittens that love to sleep or play in the litter boxes so much. Now I blow in Blaze's face and clap my hands at Alani and it seems to make them stay away for a little while. Oh the joy of having kittens again.LOL:) Good luck with keeping Jax off of the counters.:)

I also thought of this. Some cats hate the smell of mint so maybe you could spray something that smells minty on or around the counters. My cats hate the smell of toothpaste and mouthwash.

If you find something which works, please let me know!

Mine go up as soon as my back is turned. They KNOW they are not to be up there. And if they see me looking at them, even with no word from me, no "frozen" position on my part, they jump right off. Then the moment I turn away, up they go again.

What is up there on your counter that is attracting him? What does he do once he is there?

Maybe use reverse psychology and ignore him for a couple days when he gets up there.

If all else fails, ditch the boyfriend and keep the cat. :D

I have no further advise for keeping the kitty down, I'm sorry, I haven't been very successful in that regard myself. Pinot knows she's not supposed to be there, and the universal (calmly but firmly stated) 'down' will most of the time get her down (unless there is cheese in the vicinity and then it's a lost cause).

You might want to mention to your boyfriend, when he's in a better mood, hysterics have no effect on cats. In my experience, they tend to ignore you even more if you're out of control or loud. They respond to even toned, repeated "commands" (suggestions for their behaviour is a better way to put it) more than shouting.

Good luck! Kisses to Jax! :love:

I feel for you, Cindy, truly. I've tried everything that's been suggested except the gripper pad but I have no doubt that it wouldn't discourage Coco Puff. If I squirt him in the face w/water, he braces himself as if to say "Go ahead. Hit me w/your best shot". Then he jumps down but he jumps right back up again. He actually sleeps on the countertop sometimes. I don't know what attracts him; I doubt anything does. He just likes being naughty. Wish I could offer some suggestions that others haven't already offered but I've got nothin'. I can only offer my encouragement to not give up. Good luck. :love:

Cali's not much for counter tops but Diego is. I wait until he sits his catbutt down and then I give him the "look" and calmly but assertively tell him to get down. And he does. I do however give them free reign over the bathroom counter and sink. I love it when Cali lays in the sink!

I don't have any ideas to add, but I hope some of them works. If not, I'd go with happylabs suggestion "If all else fails, ditch the boyfriend and keep the cat. :D

Does Jax keep getting up there because he wants to look out the window? That's Fister's reason for sitting on the kitchen counter here. Does your boyfriend not want him there because he needs the space for work, or is it because of dirty paws? If so, perhaps it would be easier to just have a damp cloth laying there at all times and just wipe the counter before use.

LOL, thanks for the suggestions. And I will not be ditching the boyfriend. :p We've been together for over 7 years, he's a keeper. I've always had the rule that cats are not allowed on the kitchen counters. That's just a pet peeve of mine, and Bruce agrees with me.
I have no clue what he wants on the counter. He is allowed EVERY where else in the house (kitchen table-when we aren't eating, and he's catching on to that rule, dining room table-because we don't use that table for eating, bathroom counters-although he doesn't get up there often).
He has access to several windows (with the help of cat trees) as well as three sliding glass doors and the front storm door to see out of. And he never goes to the window in the kitchen. I think he's attracted to the smells up on the counter. :confused: We do keep the counter clean.
I like the idea of using something minty smelling. That way it doesn't bother our noses but maybe he won't like it.
Oh, and as far as the boyfriends hysterics (LOL) we started out taking the nice but firm approach. And since that has absolutely no affect on Jax he just gets irritated that he'll get him down and then by the time he sits back down in the chair to continue working Jax is back up on the counter again. It's not even when we turn our back on him, he does it right in front of us! :eek:
I realize the hysterics are eventually just ignored. And our house is such a loud household anyway, the animals become immuned to the noise. (Except Taggart does not like us yelling, even if we aren't yelling in anger.)
Ok, I am going to talk to Bruce tonight about some of the ideas given here and see what we can do. I really appreciate all the great suggestions. :D
And I will be taking pictures soon for the PT calendar so I will post some of them.

Cindy, I forgot to add that I saw an episode of Cats 101 on Animal Planet and they had an animal behaviorist on the show. She was trying to help a couple to teach their cat not to jump up on the counters. They put some sticky tape on the back of something like a plastic runner and when the cat would try to jump up there his paws would get all sticky so he'd then jump down. Then they used a clicker to teach him to jump up on his cat tree instead and they would click and give him a treat when he used the cat tree. Just another idea to throw out at you. Good luck.:)

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Originally Posted by krazyaboutkatz

Cindy, I forgot to add that I saw an episode of Cats 101 on Animal Planet and they had an animal behaviorist on the show. She was trying to help a couple to teach their cat not to jump up on the counters. They put some sticky tape on the back of something like a plastic runner and when the cat would try to jump up there his paws would get all sticky so he'd then jump down. Then they used a clicker to teach him to jump up on his cat tree instead and they would click and give him a treat when he used the cat tree. Just another idea to throw out at you. Good luck.:)

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That's interesting. A clicker on a cat. Never thought of that. And I have a clicker I use for Taggart. :) Thanks!!

Purrsonally I don't care where My Cats go, its their house.
Its odd that none of My Found Casts go on the counter.
It might be that I do not prepare food a lot there so there are no good smells to attract them!!!
Good Luck on that ,I know some people are just aggrevated by Cats on the Counter!!!!GRRRRRRRRR!

One note about mint....it's actually in the catnip family and some cats LOVE it! My friend couldn't brush her teeth in peace without one of her kitties getting all up in her face! LOL! Citrus might be a safer route. What about some potpourri?

Well, Cats are gonna do what they want to do, no matter what. Better
to get used to it & adjust his attitude. You could keep a cannister of Clorox
disinfecting wipes on the counter for quick cleanups.;)

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Originally Posted by moosmom

Aluminum foil with on the counters along with soda cans filled with pennies. They hate both sounds.

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My silly cats love aluminum foil!!! I've given up on keeping them off the counters. I've squirted them with water until they dripped. They love it. :rolleyes:
I just lock them out of the kitchen and wipe down everything before I cook anything. They aren't allowed back in until all food is put away and dishes are done. Might not be the best solution but it works for us. :love:

It's not the dirty paws and food preparation that bothers me. It's just the idea of the cat up there where food is prepared in general. I don't know why. Maybe it's from growing up with no animals aloud in the house AT ALL. We never had animals in the house until my sister was an adult and brought home the min pin puppy. Now none of the animals live outside. Oh, except the horse. :p

I can't close the kitchen. There are no doors! LOL Like I said, I'm going to give these suggestions to Bruce and see what he thinks. Even if it doesn't keep him off the counter forever, it might just help while Bruce is in there working so he won't have to wrangle him all the time.

I have some feeding dishes placed on the kitchen counter (out of Coco's reach, he LOVES cat food, silly dog). They hop on everything, other counter and refrigerator top. I just clean off the surfaces with handy Clorox wipes when I am ready to prepare food. It would be a losing battle with my gang of 6 if I tried to keep them off of stuff.

Foil never worked, they loved the touch, sound.

What Craftlady said...use the wipes, or put on rubber gloves and give the surface a light coating of undiluted bleach. Give it several minutes, then wipe well and 'rinse' with a wet cloth or etc.

You might need to do this only twice a week to get rid of the smells that Jax finds so tempting. :)

I might have a solution! I have some orange scented dish soap, so I put some on my fingers and held it up to his nose. He jumped back squinting. So I'm going to look for some kind of spray or cleaner with an orange (or citrus) scent. Thanks Claudia!! :D

And another big thanks to everyone for the ideas. I will definitely come back to this if the scent thing doesn't work. Or maybe we will just let him have his way. LOL :rolleyes:

Hey kiddo! I have some potpouri called Bitter Orange that I think is divine. I'll bring you a sample to Wine & Whiskers and see if it deters w:love:ee Jax!

After several years of cats on the counters, I decided I'd had enough. The cats weren't interested in the new rule. Water pistol wasn't going to work unless I camped out in the kitchen. Plastic runners with little bumps on the top side didn't work-they just walked between the bumps. Foil just kept falling on the floor.

Bit the bullet and bought two 40X20 Scat mats. Set them for static shock and beep. Guess who got the first shock?

Yup! And a dandy it was. I remembered real well not to lean in the counter as I walked by!

After two weeks and a few zaps, no more cats on the counters. It was a real pain to work around the mats (pun intended). Now I have the mats back in the boxes, at least until I catch someone on the counter again.

I probably wouldn't have resorted to the mats if the cats didn't pee on the backsplash and roll of paper towels while they were up there.:rolleyes:

Thanks mruffruff. So if the smell doesn't work then I might try the scat mats. :)

"Bit the bullet and bought two 40X20 Scat mats. Set them for static shock and beep. Guess who got the first shock?"

ROFL! That would be me! Sometimes you gotta be cruel to be kind. I really sympathize if they were being extra naughty with the peeing. There's no way around that. Thankfully Calvin doesn't go on kitchen countertops. Dinner table only to do lovey flips when I get home. He's really quite good. No begging. No stealing. I might need a scat mat on ME since he insists on stomping on me in the middle of the night! Standing on my wrists? Really? You cant stand on either side of the three inch surface? LOL!

You put two-sided tape on the aluminum foil and tape it to the counter (it's temporary). Like I said, they hate the noise. Once they hear that noise (you can also use some kind of paper that "crackles") they'll associate the bad noise with the counter and avoid it.

They don't like citrus smells, moth balls (do not put them loose, enclose them in a netted lingerie bag so they can't chew on them, not that they will) and cedar.

Good luck!!

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Originally Posted by mruffruff

I probably wouldn't have resorted to the mats if the cats didn't pee on the backsplash and roll of paper towels while they were up there.:rolleyes:

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Oh man, it that case I would use ANYTHING I needed to use to prevent
cats on the counter. This is one thing I could never accept.

That's why I have a piece of plastic hanging in front of my paper towels and my spice rack. The plastic has been there for a couple of years so I guess it was time to do something drastic.

Took the scat mats down Sunday and so far no one's been on the counters.

You can also just use the two sided tape on the counter. Their pads will stick to it and they do NOT like that feeling!!!

I don't know if maybe Jax is learning he can't get on the counter. But I haven't heard Bruce shouting or pounding on the table lately. Although, the other night he had me come get him because he (Bruce) was working on yeast starters for brewing beer and he had candles lit on the counter. He didn't want to take a chance of Jax jumping up there when he wasn't looking. But when I went in to get him he was already walking away all by himself. :)

I still plan on getting a citrus or mint smelling product though, just to have on hand in case. The other night he was on the bathroom counter while I was brushing my teeth so I held my toothbrush up to him. He smelled it and quickly left the bathroom. LOL

I really appreciate all the advice! Lots of thank you's to my wonderful PT family!! :D :D