# Chuck insists on getting on my table and kitchen counter.



## katzie (Jan 25, 2006)

I adopted two brothers about 2 1/2 months ago.  They are part Manx. Both have bunny rabbit tails. One however, is marked like a Seal Point Siamese and the other is Black and white. They both have nearly identical white paws, all four.  They are very intertaining, but Chuck, the black and white is very bad about getting on my table and then onto the kitchen counter where the sink is. :roll: He really doesn't get on anything else that I don't want him to. I have tried just putting him down with a stern NO, Get down! Then I resorted to spraying water at him. At first he would just sit up where he was and look at me and when I would spray him he took his time getting down. The other cat, Joe, gets up on things once in a while, but all I have to do is clap my hands and say Joe, Get down and he jumps down immediately. But not Chuck. Today I was cleaning in the laundry room and they were both out there seeing what they could get into. Then I went out into the garage for a little project. I was out there maybe 3 minutes, came in to the kitchen for something and there was Chuck on the counter. Got him down, went back out and in about 5 minutes came back in and you guessed it, he was up again. This went on for 4 or 5 times. :x He got squirted all of those times. I think he thought I was gone, he could do what he wanted. :wink: When I first got them they were so destructive that I kept them in my big bedroom and the bath off of it and would go play with them OFTEN. Just a couple of weeks did I let them have the run of the house. They are pretty good except for Chuck's cabinet habit.

Can anyone give me some other hints that I haven't tried yet. Someone on the forum mentioned Bitter Apple. Is that something I can spray that will repel Chuck from the things I want to protect? And is it harmful to humans if I spray it on the table and counter. :?:


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## Nell (Apr 7, 2005)

I would suggest getting some cheap contact paper (the stuff you line drawers and cupboards with). Pull off the backing and fasten it sticky side up to the counters. Chuck will jump up there and his paws will stick to the contact paper enough to annoy him and he should jump down. He should learn after several tries and stop going up there (for a while at least). This works really well if the cat has never been on the surface before, but it should help if they're already familiar with it.
You can also buy a motion sensor device that is made for the purpose. I forget what they're called, but they emit an annoying noise when the cat jumps on the counter and it scares them off.

Either way, you need a solution that doesn't associate _you_ with the counters for it to be completely effective, otherwise they'll just wait until your back is turned or you're not there...


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## katzie (Jan 25, 2006)

Those both sound like good ideas. I'll try to contact paper. Thanks. If anyone has other ideas :idea: please let me know.


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

The motion sensor device is called ssscat: www.ssscat.com

Good luck with your cat deterrence project. My advice would be to just give up, but everybody always starts out with high hopes of training their cats to stay off their kitchen countertops, so I wouldn't want to take away your fun. :lol:


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Yeah...I gave up long ago. I just make sure to clean 'em before I cook. They will get down when I tell them to...sort of. I say *down*, they ignore me. I say *down*, they look at me like 'awwww Mom, do you really mean it'. I say *down*...and they finally go.

Another method I heard that might be easier to work with if you're really determined to try....get some cheap plastic placemats and put double sided tape on them, then you can just scatter the placemats on the counter when you need to. Easier to manage than contact paper.


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## horseplaypen (Apr 1, 2004)

I'm not sure if it's worth mentioning, since most cats probably jump on the counters out of sheer rebelliousness, but is there anything on the counter that Chuck might be attracted to?

Our cats were really good about counters their whole lives, then suddenly one day we couldn't keep them off. Turns out that week we had had to buy boxed cat food that didn't seal completely since our regular pet food store was closed, and they were able to smell the food and wanted at it. Once we were back to our sealable bags, they lost interest in the counter. 

Just a thought?


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

horseplaypen said:


> I'm not sure if it's worth mentioning, since most cats probably jump on the counters out of sheer rebelliousness, but is there anything on the counter that Chuck might be attracted to?
> 
> Our cats were really good about counters their whole lives, then suddenly one day we couldn't keep them off. Turns out that week we had had to buy boxed cat food that didn't seal completely since our regular pet food store was closed, and they were able to smell the food and wanted at it. Once we were back to our sealable bags, they lost interest in the counter.
> 
> Just a thought?


I keep my dry food in a plastic container with a lid that has a gasket on it to seal it....yet when Kobi is hungry he jumps up on the counter, meows at me and rubs his head on the container. He knows it by sight :lol: :lol:


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## gunterkat (Aug 19, 2006)

My late Sam :angel understood that he could get on the counter as long as there was no food being prepared. 
I don't remember now how I convinced him not to try to get on the counter when I was preparing food. It was a long time ago. :roll:


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## Sky Eyes Woman (Feb 26, 2006)

Well, you guys might think I'm telling tall tales here, but my cats don't jump up on my kithcen counters. I don't know why, either, because they climb on everything else! The tape and sticky stuff ideas work well because it is always there to deter them even if you aren't. It did wonders for keeping Dude off the top of my fish tank.


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## OctoberinMaine (Sep 12, 2006)

My vet told me that cats hate to walk on aluminum foil. Maybe it would be worth a try to put aluminum foil on the counters, just to break them of the habit?


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## sefaleth (Mar 8, 2006)

Our miracle solution with Mac has been a modified form of clicker training/redirection. You reward him for sitting on 'approved' surfaces, like a chair, or the plant table. If he jumps up on the countertop, move him to the chair, then praise and treat for being in the chair as opposed to the countertop. Then, you gradually stop rewarding him if he doesn't go to the chair by himself; and reward him a lot if he hops up on the chair without getting on the countertop.

This only works if you are really good about putting away food though- otherwise they get 'rewarded' for stealing food off the countertop.


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## katzie (Jan 25, 2006)

Thanks for all the good ideas. Today I am trying the contact paper sticky side up. Joe jumped up on it and just sat there looking confused, but I got him down and we'll see if he trys it again. He is not the worst one for the cabinet hopping though. Chuck is and he hasn't tried the chairs yet. The reason I put it on chairs is because I'm pretty sure that is the only way he gets up there. If this doesn't work I will try to aluminum foil. I looked up the sensor and it's too expensive and probably wouldn't work anyway. You'd have to have a bunch of them and at $50 a whack I think it would be unreal.

I don't agree that I must just accept the cabinet and table walking. I have never had a house cat that did that and don't really want one now let alone two. I will solve this problem, she said smiling  Or die trying.  

My son had a solution that some might want to try and I will if the sticky stuff doesn't work. He cut strips of cardboard and fastened it to the edge of his cabinet with tape so that when the cat jumped up he landed on the cardboard and it gave way and he went to the floor. Sort of like those things on bird feeders for squirels and large birds. 

Thanks for all the good ideas. I tried to put a picture of my beauties on here but I think my picture was too big. It was a digital one and should have worked. Maybe I just didn't do it right.


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

Your son has a good idea there. You can try it. Basically, there's two types of cats: those that can be deterred from counter-hopping, and those that can't. If you have one of the first type (which must be what you had before) something or other will convince the cat it doesn't really want to be up there anyway. But for a cat that really, really wants to be up there, nothing you do will work. So, we won't hold you to your vow. :wink: 

If you upload your pics to the forum gallery then they'll automatically be sized correctly for embedding in posts. See "Cat Photos" at top of page.


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## katzie (Jan 25, 2006)

I did manage to get my boys pictures in the gallary. Hope everyone enjoys seeing them. I'm wanting them to be beside my user name in my messages, is that possible?

So far today, no counter kittens!!!!!! I'm determined. :lol:


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## katzie (Jan 25, 2006)

Or under my message. Am I asking the impossible?


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

Check in the Arts & Literature forum. Look for offers to make signatures and avatars. Also look for a stickie about how to post photos. It's in the Meet My Kitty forum. Have fun!!


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## katzie (Jan 25, 2006)

I DID IT!  I DID IT! 8O Now you can see my boys everytime I post a question. But alas, I may be out of questions! :wink: 

They are adorable aren't they?


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

When you have cats you never run out of questions. :lol:

(PS - yes they are!!)


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## kana (Apr 23, 2004)

> I think he thought I was gone, he could do what he wanted.


They ALL do this! When someone claims that their cat doesn't walk on the counters then they just have cats that care enough to not do it in front of them or they can't jump. My husband and I were convinced that our sweet little kitty wasn't a counter surfer. One day we went for a walk and decided to spy on the little bugger and guess where he was? :lol: :lol: :lol: We were peering in the window at him and he about jumped out of his fur when he seen us staring at them. I can honestly say that I haven't seen him on the counter since BUT I know he still does it. :wink:


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## katzie (Jan 25, 2006)

That's funny. I thought my sticky counter tops were being left alone pretty well until today!!! I left the house for about 20 minutes and whenI came back, you guessed it, they had been up there. So I'm back to starting over. They are pretty smart to wait until I leave the house. :roll: I've still got ideas though from the other answers I got. I haven't given up yet. Actually if they just did it when I was gone I probably wouldn't care as much.  But I would still like to stop the habit.


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## sefaleth (Mar 8, 2006)

You can always use the webcam/mirror trick to convince them you have magic surveillance powers even when you are not in the house.


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## debo (Jul 25, 2005)

I have tried the sticky paper, the bubble wrap paper that is even sticky and THEY LIKE TO PLAY WITH IT! So I gave up. Now I just make sure I clean the counters before I cook. When Jack is in the sink I even turn the sprayer on full blast and hose him down. Doesn't work.............
Ever hear the saying..............

You don't own a cat.............it owns you?


BELIEVE IT!


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## jafa73 (Oct 17, 2005)

I tried the SCATT and it was an instant success. I thought it was worth every penny. The only problem is that if I remove the SCATT can from the dining table, he starts going back up there. So now the empty can and the motion sensor are a permanent fixure on the dining table. 

I think the refills are expensive so I never ordered any. I followed the advice of another poster and got a can of compressed air that is used to clean computer keyboards for about $5. That works with the SCATT but the effect is not as dramatic as the original SCATT can. You can also continue to use the beeping feature of the SCATT without the comperssed air can. 

I am just happy there is not anymore cat hair and tiny pieces of cat litter on my dining table.


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## karebu (Sep 12, 2006)

*Cats Like to be On Counters...*

I think cats jump on the counters just because it is higher than the floor. I trained mine to stay off the counter when they were kittens by taping bubblewrap to the countertop. After getting the snot scared out of them the first time they landed on the bubblewrap, they never tried it again. Squirting water doesn't work because it doesn't take long for them to figure out that the only time they get wet when on the counter is when you are around. I do have a cupboard under the counter that is designated for them, and they think that is the greatest thing next to the electric can opener. Maybe let your cats have a cupboard near the counter that they can investigate and claim as theirs to distract them from the counter?


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

*Re: Cats Like to be On Counters...*



karebu said:


> ... I trained mine to stay off the counter when they were *kittens* by taping bubblewrap to the countertop. After getting the snot *scared out of them the first time they landed* on the bubblewrap, they never tried it again. ...


(my emphasis added)
I hope you don't mind me quoting you to make an excellent point: you're most likely to be successful teaching a cat to stay off something if you do it when it's a kitten and if you make it happen the very first time the kitten tries it.


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## karebu (Sep 12, 2006)

[/quote]One day we went for a walk and decided to spy on the little bugger and guess where he was?


> That is funny! I can pictrure the look on your cat's face when he realized he was being spied on :lol:


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## karebu (Sep 12, 2006)

*quotes*

Okay, I'm still trying to get the hang of quoting peoples' posts on here...the lst post I sent was totally backwards...what is in the box is what I said and what should be in the box is what i copied from an earlier post.


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

You hit the quote button on the post you want to quote from, edit out the non-relevant parts, then append your message to the end. Or you can just do it manually by typing in the quote tags. 

It should look like this:

----------------------------------


> Okay, I'm still trying to get the hang of quoting peoples' posts on here....


OK, it's not too hard. You can practice in the Test forum.
---------------------------------

And it should look like what's in the next post.


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

karebu said:


> Okay, I'm still trying to get the hang of quoting peoples' posts on here....


OK, it's not too hard. You can practice in the Test forum.


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