Getting on Kitchen counters...

[Court]

I am having a real problem with my cat's getting on the kitchen counters. They get on the bar and even the stove-sink. When we are fixing ourselves something to eat, they take it upon themselves to jump on the counters where we're fixing our food. It's getting very annoying. We have tried "spanking" them but they get right back up there. Any suggestions?
P.S. Yes, they are a little spoiled.

[JenBKR]

Don't spank them, that does absolutely nothing. There are several things you can try. Lay some aluminum foil out on the counters - cats don't like the feel of foil on their paws, and eventually they'll stop getting up there. That didn't work for mine, they just played with the foil Cats kind of do what they want most of the time. Also, you can spray some Pam on the counter, they supposedly don't like the feel of that either - mine liked the taste though so that didn't work either for us.

What did work was two sided sticky tape. They get a little stuck, and really don't like the feel of that. Eventually, they stopped getting up there - but it took a little while.

Another idea is to keep a spray can of water by the counter and give them a little squirt when you catch them there. Try not to let them see you do it, or they'll think that they can get up there when you aren't there. Cats really are pretty smart Good luck!

[gini]

I didn't know that I had a problem until I happened to walk into the kitchen the other day and found "an orange cat" sitting on one of the burners on my old gas stove. (means a pilot light is under the burner). It happened so fast that I could not tell if it was Annie or Emma up there because they immediately jumped down and ran away when I came into the room.

I now keep a frying pan on the burners so they won't do it again.

It scared me though!

Mine do it when I am not looking and because they jump down so fast you can tell they know they aren't supposed to be up there.

[Randi]

I'd try the two last suggestions JenBKR gave, one of them should work.

LOL Gini, I can picture Annie/Emma sitting up there ..... uh, her comes evil meowmie, better get the he%# out of here!!

[kuhio98]

Some people suggest spraying them with water when they do that, but I never could find the bottle when I needed it. So what we did was clap our hands or smack the countertop and yell NO real loud. Then push them off the countertop. It only took once or twice until they got the message. Now whenever we clap or smack something and yell NO, they stop whatever they are doing and run because they know it's not allowed.

[.sarah]

I don't have a solution, in fact, at the moment I'm having trouble with Nova jumping up on the counters and stealing food.

But, I've always wondered -- if you've just cooked something on the stove and your cats jump on the counters, do you put something over the stove so that they won't burn themselves? I mean, I'd like to own a cat in the future but I am *constantly* cooking and baking and I don't want my cat to get hurt because it steps on a burner