Can cats be trained to stop jumping on the counter?

It seems like some never bother with it and others are constantly up there. My sister's one cat will not stop, and it's driving us all nuts. He is going up there and hunting for crumbs to eat, getting in the sink for water (even if we fill his bowl with fresh water), and just generally being mischievous and looking for things to play with.

Sometimes he will get down when we scold him and shout "down!" but other times, he will stay up there until someone walks into the kitchen adn physically removes him.

Any suggestions would be appreciated it!

 

I have had a cat that was trained not to jump on anything in the kitchen. I don't think I tried to train him in particular to do this, but it was just the result of me not letting him on counters and such in general. After so much repetition, the cat having a negative reward (such as saying 'no!') for a deliberate behavior will eventually train him.

 

I was going to Google this but I am positive they can be trained to stay off the counter. The sad thing is that I never trained Twinkle in this area. If I am being completely honest, once or twice I turned away and smiled because I found it funny to see him sitting on my counter like he was there for cooking lessons. He used to make me laugh more than anything. I would gently take me off but in my heart I felt like I needed to find a spot to call his own. I was so in love with that cat I was too accommodating. Still I would say it can be done. I am sure the spray can of water might be enough to get the message across. @AnnaBanana comments also make good sense to me.

 

I have heard of people using spray bottles to get them to stay off the counter. You usually don't even have to spray them. When they see the bottle they will get down and eventually they will not go back on the counter. I have never had that problem with my cats. They never get on the counters.

 

This is what we did for Casey - it does take a little time but now if he's up to anything cheeky we get the spray bottle and he will realize he's doing something he isn't supposed to do and stop. It worked well for us as a training tool.

 

I am definitely going to have to try that. Shouting "No!" does not work with this cat. He will jump down, and you can even scold him and chase him down the stairs, and he will take off at a lunge, but he always comes back and does it again. It is almost as if he takes it as a challenge.

Spray bottle training shall commence this morning, if I can find something to use!

Does anyone have other ideas I can try if this doesn't work?

 

I was just about to mention that same thing, I found that method on the internet a while ago, and it did work. I decided to not do anything else about our cats jumping up there because it's not a big deal. If I'm in the kitchen cooking, they never really do it because I give them some food.

Other than that, they will do it when you're not around, and I know they can be very territorial at times, I let mines relax up there, my house is their house. If I could regularly relax on my roof, I would.

 

Just the bottle would send my Twinkle scampering but like I suggested I never really used that. That fella was spoiled rotten. He was one cat that got away with murder. How I miss him!!

 

So how did the spray bottle work in training your sister's cat? I hope she had success with it. I am not sure what would work because some cats can just be stubborn and they just won't listen. They are smart. They know they aren't suppose to be doing it but they just choose to ignore you.

 

Daisy tried jumping on the counter a few times when he was quite young. I just scolded him and and pushed him down. I only had to do that a few times and he was trained. He never gets up on anything in the kitchen anymore, but he still gets up on everything else all over the house. He is a good kitty

 

My kitty is free to go anywhere she often lays on the dinner table I have a water dish on the sink counter and one in the bathroom. Last Friday I had my bi eeekly in home blood test and she laid in my lap either front feet on my arm just inches away from the test needle. The in home nurse has a kitty too so didn’t mind. I haven’t found a cat mask for her so she just watches I found a very angry German shepherd mask that I’m getting for the mask mandate. If I have to wear a mask others are just going to have to watch me. I don’t like being forced to do things much less ineffective things. Also found an angry cat mask so that will be my backup. Can’t wait to go to the clinic. And grocery store.