No. I was a complete failure. My two tuxedos (RIP Bessie) defied my every attempt. Foil and Saranwrap on the counter, squirting water in their faces, screaming at them. They just dug in. I hated screaming at them, so I made a deal with them. The peninsula is okay but no further. Further gets into the sink, prep zone, and stove. No-fly zone. It's been 14 years and I'm just down to one cat now, but it's been a good arrangement. Counters are easy to clean.

Same as Bunny - Bella pretty much stays to the end of the sink counter and sits on newspapers or a magazine. She has never been interested in human food so there is no issue there.

Cute cats!

PS - You KNOW at night they explore EVERYWHERE that is forbidden!

My last two really understood the rules, but it was so long ago I forgot how I did it. I mean, they'd go on the counters, in the sink, etc., but not when we were around. Or if we came in the room, they'd run off. But these two are shameless and know no boundaries. For us, the island is the prep space, as we have little perimeter counter space. We don't use the cutting board, where they are sitting in the pic. If I could get them to limit themselves to that, I'd consider it a victory.

I have two breakfast bar stools. I say in a low voice, "Get dooooown. Then tap the bar stool". They only get on the counter if I'm sitting at the breakfast bar...so they're my height and I can pet them. That's THEIR logic. When they get onto the stool I pet them and voice what GOOD BOYS they are! I keep Temptations treats nearby and give them one.

My understanding of cats: Never scold or scare...ONLY reward...they should never be afraid of you...only seeking affection and praise to motivate them to want to "be good". That doesn't mean you can't use double stick tape to keep them off. 😂 As a temporary backup plan...until they learn.

It has been a long time since I’ve owned a cat, but neither got on the counters. This is the thing I find most disturbing in cat homes. My MIL who was an excellent housekeeper in every other respect, feeds her cats on the counter.

A little bittersweet. The only thing that worked with my cat was old age. She lived to be 17 and stopped jumping on counters at the ripe age of about 14-15.

ETA: Your kitties look so sweet an innocent. And I’ve always loved your kitchen! Thanks for the little sneak peak.

Ours rarely goes up, and it's to get attention, and then sometime she will jump on the range hood. She never jumps on the counter where much of the prep is and we wipe our counters before we prep anyway.

Mine stay off until I turn my back. Then one of mine goes up to the top of the upper cabinets.

No advice, but had to stop and say they are too cute.

All my dogs have always gone on my all the furniture, but the counters are safe.

All my cats have been pretty good about not doing that - at least not in my presence. I'm reasonably sure my oldest cat has never been on the counter and I always think who ever had him before he became a stray scared the hell out of him if he did it. My middle cat can't jump that high anymore so she's not doing it now though she has in the past - often to hop in a bag or box. I see evidence of the newest cat, who's now three, walking across my cooktop so I know she's up there some time. We feed our cats under a desk area in the kitchen at our house in SC and I can't leave food out all the time because of the oldest cat's health issues. So I pick it up and put in on this desk. The little one definitely gets up there and helps herself to the extra food.

I think it's true about the positive reinforcement vs. punishment. One of our cats had some serious litterbox issues when we got her that took months to resolve. In the end what worked was catching her in the litter box and praising her and petting her when she got out. I guess for counters you just have to keep putting them down and giving a treat or something on the floor. I will say whenever I've caught them on the counter I don't let them stay there. They are immediately placed on the floor. I never did treats though.

When ours does jump up we just pick her up and put her down on the floor. We don't spray water or do any of those things. Actually here she is on the range hood. She does this for two reasons, one because of reflections on the ceiling and two because when we had a spot open in the ceiling she used to go up into the ceiling and still checks for that secret portal.

On the one hand, she's not supposed to do it, on the other hand considering she is doing this at 12 years old, more power to her.

Here she is a few years ago in the ceiling, she hasn't forgotten

It has been a long time since we had cats, but I don't remember having much of a problem with them on counters. We were fortunate -- maybe it was because we were cooking a lot - it wasn't a chill space, at least when we were home and not asleep? Maybe they just had other places to perch and watch us. I remember our cats on the upholstery more than tables or counters.

After our cats were gone, I fostered a cat until he was adopted. He is the only cat who got on our kitchen counters and I had to allow it when we weren't cooking. That was one of the few places he had peace. One of our dogs changed from cat indifferent to a cat threat when our last cat began to have seizures - apparently a herding behavior to take out a sick animal and protect the herd. She never harmed our cat, but she would alert and no other cat was ever given peace here while that dog was with us. The foster cat was the test that allowed us to see that change -- and also gave the cat a second life. He was literally on the way to the vet to be put down after his owner died when I agreed to foster him. The owner's family promised not to take any of the cats to the shelter and he was the only one who hadn't gotten a new home. So yeah, temporary resident got special privileges.

I've had 4 cats, in 2 pairs in my adult life; all lived to be nearly 20. None of them ever got on the counters. Once in a while we'd race out somewhere right after dinner, leaving the dishes on the table and none ever disturbed anything on the table either. I have no idea why.

Once in a while we'd race out somewhere right after dinner, leaving the dishes on the table and none ever disturbed anything on the table either.

I find that amazing. That would never happen with my cats, nor with any of my previous ones.

Pal’s cat “I could have sworn there was an entrance up here. Am I remembering another house?”

I never leave any food of any type on the counter or table if I'm not around. I've never shared any of my food with any of my cats. I don't want them to think it's fair game, but I wouldn't put him to the test, if for no other reason than it's not good for him.

My husband once bought a whole chicken, then as he was unpacking the grocery bag he realized he forgot something for his recipe and went to buy it, unwittingly leaving the chicken sitting out on the counter. Needless to say, we didn't get to eat chicken that night but the cats enjoyed a tasty lunch.

But I've never intentionally given any of our cats any of our food, either.

I got one of the scat mats for my good sofa. It kept the cats off the cushions, but they still laid across the top of the sofa.

Funniest story - one of my husbands friends came to the house and sat on the sofa with the scat mat while he was waiting for my husband. I walked in and said "Doesn't that hurt?" He looked at me with this strange look and I told him to stand up and I pulled the mat away and told him he could sit down again. He started to laugh - said he couldn't figure out WTF was wrong, if something was biting him or what . . . I couldn't believe he just sat there and was too polite to say anything.

My girls don't go on the counters. Once in a great while when they were kittens, I might see a small line of foot prints across the cook top, so they did get up there at night once in a while. But we have left food on the counter -- even defrosting fish -- and they never touch it. No problem. We also feed them 4x per day...6 am canned food, 8am cookies, 6pm canned food, 8p, cookies. They have never been allowed to beg and have never been rewarded for doing so.

As kittens, we got them a high cat condo, so as far as the need to get high...especially when the heat is on so it's warmer up there... this has worked very well. It's also helped spare the furniture as they scratch the codo posts instead.

One essential thing is to be absolutely persistent and consistent. Another advantage we had was to start them as young as possible so it's a lifetime thing for them -- they've never known it to be otherwise. Another thing that's worked really well for all kinds of situations is to teach them "Scram!" I say it loudly, sharply and clap my hands at the same time which would scare them and they'd take off. It has been useful for many situations where they are about to get themselves in trouble, or if we open the door and they might try to get out, Scram! is great...they take off.

I have had many cats throughout my life and the only one that tried the counter, Kibble, laid on the granite right over the dishwasher which would get warm. I would put a towel

there for her to lay on. However that behavior was short lived when she was given a heated cat bed. She preferred that. I do agree with others that positive interactions

are always the way to go. You never want your cat to be afraid of you. I would use yelling or clapping as an emergency technique for dangerous situations or to break up

a fight if needed. Is there a way to put something near the counter that’s about that height? Then train them to go on that. So near you, in an elevated position but not on the counter.

debra

The only cats I’ve had that went on the counters, at least with my knowledge lol, were my first own cats in my second apartment. They didn’t in the first apartment, but in the second there were to factors.

One, one of the cats would go after the other one’s food, so the other was fed on the counter, a narrow 11” space between range and cabinet. I sent my mom a photo because they were so cute, lurking under the handing Swedish ivy in the window, and she had a potter neighbor render them on a plate.

Two, the sink had a wide, deep sill above it, perfect vantage point. From the counter beside the sink, they could open the little drawer where I kept dish cloths and dry sponges, and I’d come home to sponges scattered around the living room. Scamps.