Do you let your kids on the table?

I read so many threads that ask how to keep their cats off the dining room / kitchen tables, but I know there are other folks out there like myself that allow it (the pictures don't lie).

Fess up - who really doesn't care about having their cats on the table? I'm really curious.

The boys are allowed to go where ever they want. If I'm having company over I'll bleach down everything so people don't get grossed out. Also, the are allowed on the coutners, so I bleach them down before I make anything.

The counter and the kitchen table are the only places the cats aren't allowed to be. Though it doesn't stop them from getting up there.

I just think it's gross that their little litterbox feeties are standing ontop of where you prepare food.

I feed them on the kitchen table.
Space is limited in this condo, and our microwave and other things are stored on it anyway.
It's a great place to keep the cat food out of the dog's reach.
They also all drink from the kitchen faucet, so obviously I let them on the counters too.

I don't have the room for a table anymore but when I did I didn't care. Heck when all the apples or bananas were missing from the basket on the table they slept in it

If we decided to have a sit down dinner I just cleaned it off real well. The best part is wiping it down with pledge and watch there faces as the loose the footing on the slick surface and go sliding back on to the floor

Originally Posted by Leto86

The counter and the kitchen table are the only places the cats aren't allowed to be. ...

I just think it's gross that their little litterbox feeties are standing ontop of where you prepare food.

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Same here although they prefer softer surfaces and rarely pay attention to any table etc

My "kitchen table" is rarely used as a kitchen table... it's a desk now. So I don't mind the cats jumping on it... unless they're trying to interupt my studying (like by standing between my book and the reading lamp )

I didn't want to vote, sounded harsh that I don't but it's not no way as they get smacked or punished...........Just kept it that way from itty bitty kittens. Your not taking anything away from them if they never had it to begin with . But yes I don't like my cats on tables or counters, or any people as well !

Mine are allowed to go anywhere they want except the bird room and Charlies cage. I don't really care if they go on the dining room table because we never use it to eat off of.

I allow them anywhere they want to. When I have guests who are not used to cats showing interest in their food, I keep them of the table though.

Why bother keeping them off? I wash off the (oilcloth) tablecloth, and food is never directly on the table anyway. If we're eating, he's not allowed on the table, but any other time he is.
This is one of my niece's cats. Obviously, my family isn't too fussy about cats and tables.

Jamie prefers to eat up on the counter, but he's not allowed up around the sink and range.

So the vote is swinging right now to the "yes" side. I admit that I chuckle when I see people obsess over it. Perhaps its cause I have so many and they own the house anyway.....

My cats go where ever they want and because of that I am cleaning a lot. Lord knows what they do when I'm not around.
Bella NEVER went on the counter, but the rest of them do, Sophia has to eat on the high(bar) counter because if the boys come near her she runs away and won't eat. Although they have never ever gone on my Island and that's where my stove is.

Oh no problem, Miss Moofs and Princess Peps have their meals on our dining table - well with hoover face Dino mooching about, they need to eat out of his reach
When people come they still eat on the table, but once its set for our meals they know its a 'no-go zone'

I don't have a proper table so the question is fairly hpyothetical for me, but I don't keep mine off anything unless it's dangerous for them (eg the cooker). I take the view that as I'm keeping them in a small flat and cats like heights it would be unfair to limit where they can go too much. I wouldn't allow them to jump up while I was eating, esp if I had visitors, and wouldn't actively encourage it at any time, but if they want to go on it when it's not being used I don't mind. I also allow them on the counters as long as I'm not preparing food but they don't do that much, except to get to the kitchen window.

All I ask is that they don't get up there when I'm in the house. The reason I do this is because I want to be able to set the table or clean the counters and prepare food and not worry about them getting in the way. I feel that by not allowing them up in my presence gives them consistency and they aren't wondering why suddenly, I'm not allowing them up on a set table.

Originally Posted by katachtig

All I ask is that they don't get up there when I'm in the house. The reason I do this is because I want to be able to set the table or clean the counters and prepare food and not worry about them getting in the way. I feel that by not allowing them up in my presence gives them consistency and they aren't wondering why suddenly, I'm not allowing them up on a set table.

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THAT is a very logical solution!!

Mine love to sleep there, for some reason LOL.

But I do get kinda aggrevated that they are always on my cabinets. How do I break them of that???

I don't know how it is in your house, but in mine, the question is not: Are the kids allowed on the table; the question is: Do the kids allow ME at the table and the answer to that is yes.

Originally Posted by KittenKiya

I don't know how it is in your house, but in mine, the question is not: Are the kids allowed on the table; the question is: Do the kids allow ME at the table and the answer to that is yes.

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