Cats Sleeping on Kitchen Counters

I woke up at 3 a.m. to find my kitty sleeping my kitchen counter. The same one where I fix my coffee in the morning. I was so shocked and am wondering how long this has been going on for. Does this happen to anyone else? How do I stop him from doing this?

 

That is a little gross if you put your food right on there. My cat Dolores STILL hangs out on the counter so I have to disinfect it every time I want to prepare food or make coffee. I, too would like to know if there is a way to train little critters not to lie down where Mommy prepares meals. My kid would like fur-free muffins.

 

I wonder if putting some cat shelves up on the walls for him to climb up and perch himself on would help. Our cat's don't really like sleeping on the ground either, they will typically sleep on one of our dressers or on a kitchen table chair. You could also try maybe putting some child gates in the doorways at night.

 

MIne don't touch the counters. I did two things.

Firstly, I always leave me bedroom door open so they can sleep with me, but thats not really one of the things. haha.

Every time they would jump on the counters, I would spray them in the face with a water bottle and say a stern NO, and point to them. Now all I need to do is point and say, NO, whenever they come close to the counters.

Secondly, you can pick them off the counter, and say NO, BAD, and then tap there nose, not hard or anything, just a tap. They know they did bad whenever I do this.

Now they only respond to the words BAD, NO and pointing then they do bad.

Obviously, this only works when you are awake, but it really works, i have trained them to stay off the stove which scares me!

 

Thankfully I've never had an issue with my cat Bunny jumping on tables or the counters but my new kitten Fizz keeps jumping on the table and not only do I not want him hanging out on top of where I eat, but I also don't want him up there because he's constantly knocking stuff off of it. I've been doing things similar to what Scottyxx suggested above - everytime I catch Fizz on the table I grab him off of there and put him on the floor while telling him "No! Bad kitty!" and tapping his nose.

I didn't want to resort to spraying him with water because I don't want him to associate water with a bad thing when it comes time to give him a bath.

 

Cats will sleep anywhere they please. Mine likes to jump on my desk chair the SECOND I get up to go into another room. I always have to take him off it, and I get a very disgruntled mewling noise when I do it. He has slept on the counter in the past, but only when the sun has been streaming in the window.

 

Because it's happening overnight, you won't be available to spray the cat consistently and use that technique.

I would recommend putting tape along the edge of the counter. They hate touching that with their feet and it'll discourage them from getting up there at all. It should only take a couple days. You could also put annoying, noisy things up there, like aluminum foil, for the same purpose.

 

Good tips you guys! I am going to try out Scotty and Jessi's tips! I never thought to use tape. My cat is such a little weirdo that he might just pull the tape off and play with it. He likes all of the things that most cats hate. He loves foil and plastic bags. Such a silly little bugger. I will report back soon!

 

Well Steph, if he tends to like things that other cats hate, how about smells? Are there any smells he hates or avoids? You might be able to put something on the counter that he doesn't like the smell of to keep him away from the area.

 

In regards to smells, I've heard that many cats hate the scent of citrus, such as orange peels. My mother use to put them in her potted plants to deter the cats from digging them up and eating the leaves.

 

My sister's cat freaks out over citrus and mint smells. She doesn't hate them, though. They attract her and she keeps trying to sniff them and bite at whatever smells like it. So for example, if you brush your teeth with a mint smelling toothpaste, she will try to shove her nose in yours in order to smell it better. It's ridiculous.

 

This happens to me all the time! We've gotten used to it, though. We have a dishwasher and our black cat loves to sit on top of it because it's nice and warm. Unfortunately, we find cat hair constantly in our food and dishes. Nothing much you can do about it. Maybe put something on the counter that would deter your cat from doing it, whether it's a certain aroma, clutter or something else.

 

Thanks for the smells tip you guys! My oldest cat is a weirdo and he LOVES minty smells. We can't put on Vicks Vapor Rub or andy Bengay in this house because he will go up to you and lick you. Then when you get off the sofa he will lick the sofa. He's attracted to it and loves it like catnip lol

 

I have a cat that sits on top of the counter as well. I hardly ever use that side of the counter, so I just leave her be and clean it thoroughly when I have to use it. She knows she can only stay on that side of the counter and not where the food is prepared. If she does, I give her a stern 'no' and pick her of the counter. Luckily that was enough so I guess this is our compromise and it works well ;-)

 

Awesome tricks! I heard about the spray and nose tapping one a while ago, the nose tapping one is a clear way to tell them they did very wrong! My in laws have no issues with their cat getting everywhere... even tho he keeps catching mice and eating them very often. Am I the only one who think that's super gross?

 

Hahahaha! I'm definitely going to try this one out! I have never tried this with my Bob, I wonder if this happens with only a few cats or all the cats? I'll definitely try this, not only with Bob with also with the in laws cat.