Keeping cats off the table- could this work?

In My Humble Opinion
1

We’ve tried putting double-sided sticky tape on the table, covering the table in foil, squirting lemon juice on the tablecloth, and squirting the cats with a spray bottle when they get up on the table. Squirting them with the spray bottle works for the moment, but later on they just get back up there. Nothing else worked, or didn’t work out for us (we got tired of the tablecloth pulling out our arm hairs with the sticky tape, for example).

They are pretty good about staying off the kitchen counters, but not so much about staying off the dining room table. They don’t get up there while we’re eating at the table. They will sit in one of the extra chairs (or maybe steal our chairs if we get up) and maybe look up onto the table while we’re there, but that’s it.

I was thinking of getting them another cat tree (they have one already, and love it) and putting it near the table. In theory, this should give them a nice high place where it’s acceptable for them to be instead of on the table. But I have visions of them jumping off the cat tree onto the table while we’re eating. Which do you Dopers with experience with cats think is more likely to happen?

2

I don’t think that they will jump off the cat tree onto table. As you said, cats will rarely jump onto a table while you are actively eating. And once you are done they can jump directly onto the table easily enough that the cat tree won’t be needed. So I don’t think it will hurt. But I don’t think it will help much either.

The best way to solve the problem of the cat jumping on the table is to just let the cat jump on the table and not worry about it.

3

Do yourself a favor and capitulate now.
All hail the kitty-overlords!

4

My friend with cats said she put a couple jellyroll pans filled with water on her counters to keep the kitties off. The cats can’t see the low-profile pans, and they jump up there and get extremely pissed to find their feet are wet.

After a couple of tries, they gave up and became scare of the evil, wet counter.

Would this work on your table?