Cats on Kitchen Counters and Tables?

[mom_2_3]

~I dont mind so much that my kittys get on the counters/table etc but my husband who is a clean freak doesnt like it. Also my kittys are starting to help themselves to peoples places, knocking over drinks etc as well. I dont know how to stop them because I have allowed them to get onto couches and counters etc. When I have guest over or the kids are eating in the family room they have to guard their plates and drinks because if its left alone for a few moments they come back to kitty lappin up their drink or eating their Mac N cheese. Does anybody else have this problem and if so how are you correcting it? I say "SHU" and "NO" when I catch them in the act but soon as my backs turned again there they go.

I also have had to put their cat food bowls up in their cat tree's so Abby our Yorkie cant eat their Food. They always have a fresh supply of filtered water and a good amount of food out so I cant for the life of me think that they are HUNGRY and that is the cause of their eating of our food. Maybe because ours taste better than their dry food?? My Yorkie went from 5 lbs to 12 lbs because she sneaks and eats the kitty food so I have to elevate their food so she cant reach it. How does one stop the "Cat Nabbing" of our plates and little lappings of our drinks??~

 

[swampwitch]

We don't allow cats, kids, or adults to stand on the kitchen counters and tables.

After about a million times of everyone in the family saying "NO" and putting the kitty back down, the cat finally gives up and stays on the floor.

 

[deljo]

My Sweetie loves the kitchen table and microwave top. Her other favorite is the sink. She jumps on the stove then into the sink. I don't cook hardly ever so the stove is never hot. I've given up in trying to make her stay down. She lays on my newspaper when I'm reading it on the table. I do use the sanitizing wipes. My other cat pretty much stays on the floor. I don't feel Sweetie is a health hazard. She sleeps on my pillow with me. She's currently in the hosp. and when she comes home she can go anywhere she wants.

 

[crt]

I've given up as well. My female goes where she wants to and Brandon my male is learning from her. I am careful when I use the stove so they don't get near the burners (which isn't always easy), clean the counter tops, use a cutting board.

 

[amyscrazy]

I have a "no cat" policy in the kitchen, well at least on the table or counters. That includes coffee tables or anywhere food may be left. When they are home alone I'm sure they go where ever they please

.
When they are young and just learning the rules, I put tin foil and double sided tape on the edge of the counters and table. It only takes a couple of times for them to realize they really don't like being up there. It has worked great for us.

 

[kitytize]

My cats are allowed on the counters and table. I even have a food and water bowl on the counter for them. I do shoo them away if I am cooking. I even allow them to sit on the table while we eat as long as they keep their noses off the plates.

 

[tekgrl]

When I got Palas I didn't mind him in the kitchen but the counters were going to be a no-no. I was on the computer (I use my dining area as an office) next to the kitchen and saw him playing with the oven drawer and checkin out the dishwasher. Then a few minutes later he came out of the ktichen shaking his front paws. Upon closer inspection, he somehow almost cut off the upper pads on both his front legs in the same direction (towards his body) and I couldn't figure out how he did it but I know he somehow did it in the kitchen. From that point on there is a "NO!!!" + hand clapping + squirt bottle enforcement on the no cats in the ktichen policy. Of course I can never know what they do when I'm not home or asleep, but Palas is very good about understanding what I don't want him to do. DeeDee on the other hand *shakes head* I catch her napping on my kitchen rug in front of the sink sometimes...stinker.

 

[amyscrazy]

I just cant stand the thought of cat hair and paws anywhere near food prep surfaces. I had dinner at a friends house once and there was cat hair in the food- I was so grossed out!
I treat my cats like I treat my kids. I don't let my kids climb on the table or counters either

Bounderies are good for them.

 

[cessena]

My cats aren't really allowed on the counter, but I've never really made an issue of it, and my old roommate encouraged it so it's occasionally a problem. We just moved so we'll have to see if it is a problem.

Anecdote: I'm making a sandwich, I go into the fridge, and pull out a peice of cheese, one of those big old slices. I set it on a paper towel on the counter and then I turn around to get some turkey and put the rest of the cheese away. I turn back around and there is Dora, with the entire peice of cheese hanging out of her mouth about to jump down off the counter. Oh did she know she was in trouble!!!!!

I don't have a kitchen table, but when I do the cats will not be allowed on it. I don't particularly want to fight for my dish with the cats. And now I guess my man who is a chef will be in charge of cat kitchen behavior.

 

[arlyn]

Ours are allowed where ever they like, except on the bird cage.
Cats or no, I've always wiped down counters, cutting boards, and stove tops and disinfected them before every use seeing as how bacteria of all kinds can travel through the air, not just on kitty paws.

They drink from the kitchen faucet anyway.

 

[urbantigers]

Originally Posted by AMYSCRAZY

I just cant stand the thought of cat hair and paws anywhere near food prep surfaces. I had dinner at a friends house once and there was cat hair in the food- I was so grossed out!

If you've found a way to keep cat hair out of food please let me know! Cat hair always gets in my food and it's not from the counters. It's just sort of "there"!

It gets on and in everything.

 

[pekoe & nigel]

Originally Posted by urbantigers

If you've found a way to keep cat hair out of food please let me know! Cat hair always gets in my food and it's not from the counters. It's just sort of "there"!

It gets on and in everything.

I like to bring baking into work on occasion. I was SO embarrassed the first time I did after I adopted my cats when someone told me that they found some cat hair in there. Mine aren't allowed up on the counters (well, they jump up, I put them down. Repeat 1 million times) so I don't know how they managed to get hair in there.

 

[duchess15]

In our house our cats are never allowed on the counter top or the table. Occassionally they will jump up on the table, but we always tell them no and they know better. We have never had an issue of them jumping up on the counter. The reason we don't allow them on anything around food is because it's bad enough I can't keep cat hair off of my clothing, but I do not want it anywhere near my food.

 

[aussie_dog]

Buffy hops on the counter any time she wants, but Molly only hops up when she's worried that I'm not preparing her food properly (usually happens when she's most hungry, like every morning when I get up late, lol). I personally don't care, they don't get into trouble (since Molly's so big, I simply place her on the floor so I have room to move around, but Buffy usually hops onto the fridge immediately). I don't worry about their litter-box feet touching the counters because they the counters are wiped down every day anyways, and I never prepare food on the counters (always on a plate, or a bread board). My family, on the other hand, thinks I'm commiting some sin by letting Buffy hop up so much, lol

 

[mom_2_3]

~Hmm so nobody has cat nappers when it comes to eating? I have 3 kids and they constantly have kids over after school so everyone is snacking/drinking and my 2 cats, even the Yorkie does it if she thinks she wont get caught, but they will just jump up on the coffee tables/end tables and have a go at whatever is sitting there. My daughter was eating cookies and milk and she went to the bathroom to cum back to Oreo dipping his tongue in her milk. (weird but expected...Oreo and MILK??) but my cats are CRAZY!

Throughout the night I hear them running a muck in the kitchen, knocking things over off the pantry, unrolling toiletpaper/napkins, getting in the rolls of garbage bags, playing with the cerial boxes lol I mean you name it they get into it. We have 5 computers in my house and at least 2 of them have weird things going on every morning because the cats get up on the keyboards and take naps, play with the keys etc. I actually had a notepad pulled up one morning. I had convinced myself they were trying to leave me notes "Hey Mom the cat food you buy us is OKAY but umm how about you take it up a notch and give us TUNA....BAMMMM~ lolol

Weird thing is they dont mess with the fish and the fist tank, nor the Hedgehog who is up half the night, just things you wouldnt expect them to play with.~

 

[momofmany]

I did a poll on this a few months back cause I was curious about the answer. Here's the link to that thread:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ll+cat+counter

And yes, more people allow their kids on the counters than those that do not.

 

[deljo]

Originally Posted by deljo

My Sweetie loves the kitchen table and microwave top. Her other favorite is the sink. She jumps on the stove then into the sink. I don't cook hardly ever so the stove is never hot. I've given up in trying to make her stay down. She lays on my newspaper when I'm reading it on the table. I do use the sanitizing wipes. My other cat pretty much stays on the floor. I don't feel Sweetie is a health hazard. She sleeps on my pillow with me. She's currently in the hosp. and when she comes home she can go anywhere she wants.

Well Sweetie is home and she must have read my original post. I said when she comes home from the hosp. she could go anywhere she wants. She jumped up on the entertainment center where I have lots of Hummels and precious moment figurines. I had to move all. I have no kitchen counters so she can't jummp there . Just the table, microwave and dishwasher. She is stubborn and no matter how many times I get the water bottle she goes right back up.

 

[angie8]

Well, I guess I gave up on that battle long ago.........chalk up one more victory for the cats

. I use the Clorox wipes ALOT to keep the counters wiped down & disinfected. I don't allow them up there when I'm preparing food or have the stove on (for their own safety).

I figured it didn't do me any good to enforce "rules" that will most assuredly be broken the minute I leave the house

.

 

[tavia'smom]

Well my dog knows how to get on the counters and I hate that but she is always knocking things off and breaking them. I would much rather Tavia get up there but she isn't interested in it atleast when she walks around the tv stand she never knocks stuff down. And she isn't interested in human food she turns her nose up to it.

 

[javern]

Our cats have full run of the house, I clean off the counters and dining table before I prepare food with a disinfecting cleaner. Having cats pressures me to keep the house cleaner, probably a good thing! One of our cats like to sit atop the :censor::censor::censor::censor:. In fact she jumped down from there once onto a tray of cookies Kim was frosting, had to throw that batch out.