My x used to try a spray bottle. One of my cats just folded his ears down, squinted, and would then proceed to do whatever it was.
I love that cat.
this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2025
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I had a squirt bottle with vinegar to train my cat not to get on the counter.
My 2 year old daughter just learnt the phrase "cat, no! You are lactose intolerant!"
Some people say they have trained their cats to stay off the counter and dinner table. Their cats have learned how to not get caught on the counter and dinner table. Except for disabled cats who can't jump, all cats make use of the vertical space in their homes. It's one reason they don't need to go outside to get exercise. And they feel safer when they have the high ground.
That depends on how you trained them.
If you stopped them from jumping up on the coubter, the cat will just wait for you to not be around.
What I did was set a motion activated can of pressurized air up on the counter. Now the cat get's "punished" for going up there whether I'm there or not.
A couple weeks of this was enough to not have him jump up there for years. In fact he seems to avoid ALL kitchen counters, because he doesn't jump onto them when visiting relatives or friends, either.
He still climbs all over everything else, just not kitchen counters.
I had one of those, it didn't stop mine. I also tried the tinfoil trick which didn't work either. I just cleaned my counters before preparing food.
Well, yes.
The air doesn't actually harm the cat, and if one realizes that or doesn't care, the effect stops.
The point is to set up something that punishes the cat without your involvement. Another example is the way I set a metal measuring cup atop the toilet paper roll, for it to fall down whenever my cat went to rip it up. It only worked because the sound of metal hitting the tile floor scared the shit out of my boy. It took about a week for him to stop touching the tp, after thay he's never heard the sound again.
If you have a fearless beast, then this stuff isn't gonna work. But if you DO notice something that your cat avoids or doesn't like, find a way to use it (without harming your cat, ofc).
Even though the cat knows better than to get on the counter when I can see, this is why my cutting boards are in a place cat feet can not touch, and why I wash down my counter before using it for bread making. Love the cat, she is not trusted!
Exactly. Cutting boards should be stowed on edge if possible to minimize germs landing on them from whatever source, and any food prep surface should be cleaned before use. Even without a cat.
A couple of our cat's favorite places can't be reached without jumping from the counter so I take the responsibility for clean food prep and removing possible toxins instead of trying to keep her off it.
I live in small apartments and I would know if my cat got on the table or counter, in the very least by the jumping off thump. In fact, it was happening in one particular apartment. IDK why, but he would get on that counter. And yes, usually during the night when nobody is there. Doesn't happen in the current apartment.