cat people - training our new kitty

KathrynMD

We adopted a 10ish month old cat last week.  He was already litter box trained and so far, so good adjusting to our house, etc.  However, he keeps jumping on the kitchen counters and dining room table.  What's the best way to stop that behavior - I realize he's never been taught this and otherwise his behavior is fine - no inappropriate scratching/climbing, etc.

Ragdolls

Hover with a spray bottle of water and give him a spritz when he jumps up. He'll learn soon enough.

 And congrats again on your new addition!! 

meghann1046

I haven't used this method but a few friends swear by it... 

It's a little unsightly, but line the counter/table/nightstand with aluminum foil.  Cats hate the feel and the sound of it.   Cats are smart and it doesn't take long for them to realize they don't want to be up there.  It also helps to have something to redirect their need to be up high (tall scratching post, kitty condo, etc).

Kaybee44

Our cat does this as well. Not because he wants to be up tall but because he is a fat, greedy cat and he wants food. He was fine for a year and just started doing it within the last month. I'm going to try the aluminium foil.

KathrynMD

I've done the aluminum foil before (with cat#1) when he climbed on my dresser every night and it worked, but we didn't need to access the dresser at 3 am either.  I don't want to line my kitchen counters w/ foil constantly as that will make it inaccessible to me.

Kaybee44

We only have like 2 counters so it's easier for us He usually gets up there when we're all sleeping or later at night when no one is really going to be in the kitchen. Actually, now that I think about it, he's kind of stopped doing it since we put a collar with a bell on it on him. It alerts us to where he is. Weird. 

If you see him do it, I would spray him with a water bottle. If it's done enough, they do learn not to do it. 

SarahKate31

We use a can of compressed air instead of a squirt bottle. We aren't close enough to actually hit him with the air, but the sound scared him away. We tried a squirt bottle, but he'd just sit there and take it, then lick all the water. Honestly, we have not been able to win this battle. The air bottle makes him get down, but nothing seems to stop him from jumping in the first place..

Ragdolls

Another option is to use something that makes noise - either a can full of change or a dustbuster works well to dissuade them.  Along the lines of foil, you can also use something tacky since they hate that feeling on their feet - but I'm guessing you don't want to line your kitchen counters with sticky stuff.

geminiye

I put pennies in an aluminum can and rattled it to make mine stop doing things I didn't want her to do.  But then she quickly learned that it just means she can't do those things while we're around to catch her. 

So... they're too darned smart.  Try water or loud noises and see how it goes.  I just eventually gave up.

Bailey1806

I second the squirt bottle idea, but I often resort to yelling NO or clapping. I also don't keep anything on the counter that they would want.