# Kitty on countertop - Help! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 8, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180 "2010-02-08T19:15:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/21 "2010-02-08T21:18:15Z")
> [@Palo\_Verde](#): > > ASometimes it seems to be because he has a great hatred for the bread. He repeatedly knocks the bread down, shreds the bag a little, but doesn’t try to eat it. He doesn’t hate bread, he loves to play with it. This is a game to the cat. You need to make it clear you don’t want him to play. The best thing to do is set the cat up. Encourage him to go there and then give him a squirt from a squirt gun or a loud NO, followed by a swift tap of his butt. THEN you need to give him something else to do. After you give him the NO, you take him away from the area and give him a mouse with catnip or something in a totally different area. The cat learns one behaviour is bad and another is good. If you don’t give him an alternative he continues with his fun. Give him an alternative and he’ll give up (evenutally) and do the thing he is allowed to do. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/22 "2010-02-08T21:38:38Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > After you give him the NO, you take him away from the area and give him a mouse with catnip or something in a totally different area. In stupid-cat-logic, isn’t that rewarding the cat with a toy for being bad? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/23 "2010-02-08T22:12:38Z")
> [@Palo\_Verde](#): > > I have a dog too. She sure was easier to train! She’d eat the cat food too if I let her, but I put the cat food on the bathroom counter where the dog can’t go. Maybe this is confusing to them, they are encouraged to go onto the bathroom counter but forbidden to go on the kitchen counter. I don’t think so; my cat is allowed on the bathroom counters (she loves to drink from a dribbling tap) but not the kitchen counter, and she’s gets it (and she’s not the brightest cat ever, either). ---
**Author:** ![Remarkable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@Remarkable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Remarkable)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/24 "2010-02-08T22:14:56Z")
**potential disturbing link** don’t want to upset anybody here… …the link shows a ‘scared off the bench’ Kitty. People are going to be divided as to whether this is cruel or not, but you could do [what this guy does](http://www.plasma2002.com/blenderdefender/). I lean towards it being overkill… it’s pretty much just a loud and flashy squirt-gun, but I bet it’s effective. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/25 "2010-02-08T22:19:19Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > The best thing to do is set the cat up. CATS: somebody set up us the ssscat! ---
**Author:** ![luv2draw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@luv2draw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luv2draw)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/26 "2010-02-08T23:40:55Z")
I have the perfect solution. I don’t have a freakin’ cat! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![maplekiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/27 "2010-02-09T00:25:28Z")
Some good suggestions here. I don’t like th eone about mild shocks though. Our cat is a persisteant infringer. I look at her & say “no” loudly & firmly & she backs off. & we don’t leave any food out. & she isn’t allowed in the house when we aren’t home or are asleep. I like the squirt bottle idea. I might get one of those 2. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/28 "2010-02-09T01:43:10Z")
> [@Remarkable](#): > > **potential disturbing link** don’t want to upset anybody here.. > > ..the link shows a ‘scared off the bench’ Kitty. > > People are going to be divided as to whether this is cruel or not, but you could do [what this guy does](http://www.plasma2002.com/blenderdefender/). I lean towards it being overkill.. it’s pretty much just a loud and flashy squirt-gun, but I bet it’s effective. I came in to post that one. I bet you’d only need to use it once. List of other ideas here: [http://cats.about.com/cs/behavioralissues/a/counter\_surfing.htm](http://cats.about.com/cs/behavioralissues/a/counter_surfing.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/29 "2010-02-09T01:58:28Z")
I’d go ahead and say it’s your fault for naming the thing Typhon. You got off easy with this little quirk, things could have gotten much worse with that name. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/30 "2010-02-09T02:27:05Z")
He is Typhon, most destructive of all beings. He was well named. The counter thing is just a taste of what this kitty does. He’s a wild man. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/31 "2010-02-09T03:23:06Z")
I have some big plastic trays I keep in the cupboard and get out when I need a clean surface for food preparation. I gave up trying to keep my cat off the kitchen counters. Actually, he gets up there less since I stopped shooing him off. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/32 "2010-02-09T04:38:02Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Squirt bottle. Nail him with a spritz of water whenever you see him on the counter. he’ll get the idea. Yes, unfortunately the idea he’ll get is “don’t get on the counter when the servants are in the room”. Dunno what else you can try, unfortunately. We just gave up the battle, ourselves. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/33 "2010-02-09T06:10:31Z")
> [@Remarkable](#): > > **potential disturbing link** don’t want to upset anybody here.. > > ..the link shows a ‘scared off the bench’ Kitty. > > People are going to be divided as to whether this is cruel or not, but you could do [what this guy does](http://www.plasma2002.com/blenderdefender/). I lean towards it being overkill.. it’s pretty much just a loud and flashy squirt-gun, but I bet it’s effective. Eh, I don’t think it’s cruel. Of course, it cracks me up when I hear the Sscat going off in the hallway and a cat frantically scrabbling away in the night. They’re just startled, and cats are always startled. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/34 "2010-02-09T14:28:55Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > Our cats do the same thing…all you’ll do is train them to not be on the counter while you’re present. That’s what I was going to say about the squirt bottle. Tin foil worked… for a while. I ended up booby trapping the counter wit mouse traps. I bent the bar up, so no kitties would be injured, it still made a heck of a noise, and may have stung a bit. I only had to set them for a couple of days Afterwords, I would just leave them on the counter. The cat would avoid them whenever she saw them. Again - I would bend the bar up, so the cat would not get injured. ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/35 "2010-02-10T17:27:35Z")
My girlfriend suggests “She needs to put a lot of citrus scent on the counter. You can either buy orange essential oil, mix 10 drops in a spray bottle and spray it, or you can even eat an orange, take the peel, squeeze it and rub on the counter. Or there’s even citrus sprays that they sell at Target or Walmart, etc. Cats HATE citrus. That other thing with the air spray sounds cruel. I would throw that out.” ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/36 "2010-02-10T19:02:29Z")
> [@Palo\_Verde](#): > > Maybe this is confusing to them, they are encouraged to go onto the bathroom counter but forbidden to go on the kitchen counter. I doubt it. Classifying two different surfaces in two different rooms as “counters” just because they’re high up and have sinks in them requires reasoning power that is beyond most cats. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/37 "2010-02-10T19:16:53Z")
Just yell at him \*\*\*really loud \*\*\*when you catch him in the act. Yell and stomp your feet and scare the crap out of him . . . and after a while forgive him and make nice. I’ve never had a cat that didn’t stop this kind of behavior. But I do have one with a special affinity for rubber bands. I don’t even know where she finds them, I just find half-chewed rubber bands now and then. Wish I could catch her in the act. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/38 "2010-02-10T19:22:22Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I doubt it. Classifying two different surfaces in two different rooms as “counters” just because they’re high up and have sinks in them requires reasoning power that is beyond most cats. My cats have a card table in the kitchen with their food and water on it. They are not allowed on the dining room table. The fact that they’re allowed on one table but not another doesn’t seem to confuse them. I don’t think they understand that both of those things are tables. There’s the card table, and the dining room table, and those are two different things. What _will_ confuse them, though, is if you allow them on the counter at some times but not others (if you try to keep them off the counter only when your mother-in-law is visiting, for example), or if one person shoos them off the counter but another person encourages them to be up there. > [@panache45](#): > > But I do have one with a special affinity for rubber bands. I don’t even know where she finds them, I just find half-chewed rubber bands now and then. Wish I could catch her in the act. Do try to keep those away from her. It can be very bad if she swallows one- it can get tangled up with her intestines and damage them. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180/39 "2010-02-10T19:42:32Z")
> [@Palo\_Verde](#): > > Thanks for all the advice guys. I think the main problem is that the Ssscat and the sticky tape and foil all get in my way when I’m in the kitchen. But with 4 kids and a husband, someone is very frequently in the kitchen, so these things get annoying to have to put on and off. So we end up leaving them off. > > And Typhon is smart enough to not try to get up when anyone is there. He’s sneaky and only gets up when no one is looking. I was going to suggest the sticky tape attached to sheets of paper rather than the counter top. You can move them out of the way when you need to use the counter and easily replace them when you’re done. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-on-countertop-help/528180.md?page=1)