How to keep cats off the kitchen counter
When our cats were kittens, they almost set our house on fire.
When we first brought them home, we never really minded the cats jumping up on the kitchen tops. It would be cleaned often and we never left food out. We didn’t have to think about how to keep the cats off the kitchen counter.
They generally kept themselves to the kitchen top next to the window as they loved to watch the birds from there. But one day, I was in the bedroom having a snooze and awoke to a smell of smoke.
One of the cats had decided to jump up on the other side where the oven was. Somehow switching on the hob and warming up a pan we’d left on the top.
Whatever your reason for not wanting your feline friends on your kitchen worktops, we have some handy pointers for you.
I’ll be honest here, cats can be tricky (as you well know!) so please try and keep your head if it takes a while.
There are a few options when trying to keep cats off counter tops.
- Giving them other options
- Things that will make them jump
- Things they don’t like the feel of
- Spray bottles
- Being there 24/7 to tell them no
- Making it less interesting
So first up, giving them another option.
Cats like to jump and explore, right?
Perhaps there are other areas of your home that look fun but they are unable to reach. Is there a windowsill that’s maybe too cluttered that they don’t feel they can make the jump?
Some cats couldn’t give a flying fig if they knock things off, but others find it a bit daunting. Our old sweet boy Geoff would never jump up if he couldn’t see a 100% clear space to land. Whereas Una is quite the mid-air acrobat and can land in a 10cm gap 😹
Do you have space in your budget for a cat tree?
This is a great option and a good tool for jumping and climbing. Just make sure it’s not in the kitchen to make their ascent to the counter that much easier!
Check out our fave cat trees and scratchers.
Eew, David
Cats have things they don’t like the feel of. Their paws and toe beans are really quite sensitive so when they step on something they don’t like, they’ll try their best not to do it again.
This is where you can leverage that to your advantage. We used masking tape, sticky side up which worked quite well. Also tin foil is a good choice. If you crinkle it up in places, most cats will not enjoy how it feels on their cute little tootsie rolls.
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You could try laying out your pots and pans towards the edges of your kitchen tops. Not only will they not be able to see a clear route up, but if they knock one off it will make a large enough noise to freak them out into not trying again. (I feel like this is a bit mean, but needs must).
What else can I try to keep my cat off the kitchen counter?
Well, there’s always a spray bottle. Fill a spray bottle with water and each time your cat either attempts to get up on the worktop or actually does get up, squirt them with the water.
The majority of cats do not like this sensation of water.
Being there 24/7. Now, if you’re willing to employ people to stand guard day and night then that’s great. But, another option here is some sort of sensor with an alarm. Obviously not loud enough to have you jumping up and running from your bed in a panic. Maybe something loud enough to give the cat/s a bit of a jump to deter them.
Which leaves our last option, make it less interesting.
Cats don’t like bad smells
What turns their little noses up can actually be quite nice to us.
- Mint
- Lavender
- Citrus
These are the kind of scents our little feline friends do not enjoy. So a good option would be to get some nice little herbs and plants up on the countertop so if they try and make it up there, they’ll get a good waft of something they detest.
This option is also great for making you feel all fancy and grown up, so high five to that!
I’d love to know if you have any other tips for how to keep cats off the kitchen counter. Let us know in the comments.
I hope you have some luck in stopping your cat from jumping up on the worktops but please bear in mind this can sometimes take a while to kick in. Cats are a bit like toddlers really and you can drive yourself mad sometimes trying to bend them to your will, right 😹 So take it one step at a time, if something is obviously not working, try again with something else.
Good luck 😻
