Advice please on how to keep my 4-math old kittens off the kitchen counter!

[Alicat624]

Hello I have 2 new kittens adopted almost a month ago. I don’t know how to keep them off the kitchen counter and off the table when we were eating. I’ve sprayed them with water and I put sticky tape on placemats on the counter but that doesn’t seem to do any good either. Any other suggestions please?

[papa cat]

Aluminium kitchen foil on (and horizontally overhanging the edge) of the kitchen counters and on the table . After a while they will learn that it is unpleasant under their paws and the overhanging part doesn't give them a firm surface to jump up on.

[fjm]

Covering the butter and putting all food away in the fridge so the counters are less tempting helps. A towel or cushion on top of the fridge freezer, if you have one, or another high spot gives them a vantage point from which they can observe without getting in the way - a word of praise and a tidbit whenever you see them there will encourage them to use it. Similarly giving them a small meal away from where you are eating, and making an absolute rule that they are never fed from the table will eventually get the message across - my animals wait until the sounds of cutlery stop, and then remind me that they are waiting for their treat in the kitchen when the plates are cleared!

[Mollycat]

I've literally never had this problem and always wondered why not, because I'm on my 9th cat and she is my 5th adult rescue cat, so it's not even as if I have taught them from young. Even worse, the cats I left with my ex after the relationship ended, who never counter surfed the whole years I was there, suddenly started as soon as I left, aged 8 and 14!

But I'm with fjm on basic principle - you can't tell a cat no to one thing without offering a better yes in return. I've always given titbits on polite request from the floor so I suppose that's the same as giving the reward for being on one allocated place like the fridge freezer.

Molly now often (not always) waits with the dog just outside the kitchen, on the perch above her radiator bed. I do have the advantage though that Molly is still shy enough to keep out of the way of moving feet, so I don't mind her being there. Dog is banned because he is a trip hazard and a liability, so I can't risk him. Give and take, is what I'm saying.