Do your cats ever jump up on the counters while you're trying to cook?

I got lucky, I had a cat that didn't care to get up really high, he's like a black Garfield hehe, he got on the table once and that was it. I pushed him off lol he was fine he didn't get hurt. :)

I don't have cats at the moment but i used to, and yes they jumped on counters while i was cooking, just take a squirt bottle and spray them with water they will leave then and soon stop.

I have had three cats in my life, one at a time and I have never had this problem, I am so glad that none of them have done this as I don't think it is all that easy to train cats to stop doing things, they just seem to do what they want to do most times...

When I had cats NO WAY! I had enough with fur everywhere else yet alone on my coiunters where food is set a lot. My Buster, (beagle) is well trained though. He won't come near us when we are eating as he knows my feelings about it etc. But get near his cookie jar or his bag of treats and he will beg and jump onto opur legs wanting one. I also can not stand animals allowed on counters etc. Very unhealthy, and dirty in my eyes. HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!~

If you give in, they'll never learn. My cats are good about staying off tables and counters, it drives me nuts when they get up there. I used to keep a spray bottle of water on hand, and squirt them when they did something like that. They learned their lesson fast, because they hate to get wet. My mom had a cat that was so awful, she'd put vinegar in the bottle. It doesn't hurt them, but man they had to lick that off themselves. It's a good way to train cats.

HI HI Yes, all my cats do this when I am trying to make a sanwhich or cookng anything . They seem to follow me each time i have food near me . I am watching this one cat till my bro moves and takes it back , and it is a true wild cat it grabes things right off your plate , or from a cooking pot . My fiance bought a water bottle to shoot em with when they try that . ah, it kinda works .

My cat does that to me all the time, and it drives me absolutely crazy!! I have to make sure that I have one hand free at all times to slide it under the cat's belly, lift him up in the air, and deposit him on the floor or a chair nearby, so he does not get in my way while I am in the kitchen.

I can't keep those cats off the counters, best o'luck with it!

mine stay off the counter,but what they're doing now is when mommy cooks dinner,it's fight time.it starts as ring around the table,next i hear "rrrrrrrrRAAAAAgrbleK". i don't know what it is with those 3,but they've been doing it everytime.

Well, the dog shrink is also a cat shrink, and after reading your post, I can pinpoint the problem. The reason you can't change this behavior is because I put him down, but he kept jumping up, until I gave in. Once you give in, you create the strongest incentive for the cat (or any animal) to keep trying. He doesn't know how many times of begging it will take but he does know that sometimes he gets a treat when he does this, so he will try harder and longer to hit that "magic number" of tries that gets him the reward! So, hard as it is -- and I know it is hard -- you have to be strong and never give in, not even once.It will take a long time for him to finally realize that he won't get any more treats that way. So it will take a LOT of work on your part, since the habit is so well ingrained. I have this problem with two of my cats, who were raised by someone who let them get away with not only getting on the counters, but stealing food from her plate! So, it's been quite a battle for me and I understand how you feel. So far, I have gotten them to stay off the counter once I put them down, and to leave my plate alone. We're still working on getting rid of the habit completely. But in the past when I've raised cats from kittens myself, I have had them taught to stay off the counters. They learned it so well that I could even allow them about 6 inches of space to hop up on top of the fridge to eat, and no where else. So it IS possible. And with the progress these two have made since living with me, it is also possible to retrain one that has learned to get away with it. (all I do is put them down, over and over, no hitting or anything, just like you did, put them down)

My cats have never ever jumped on the sides in the kitchen and I can leave anything on the sides and leave the room for a few seconds and I know they haven't jumped on the siders. Now the dust bin outside is a different matter. If we have had chicken etc we have to put a brick on the bin to stop them getting in there to get the bones!

A couple of them have been counter jumpers and all of them have been annoying at one time or another. Even so, I still love every one of them.

My cat doesn't jump on the counter when I cook. I'm surprised, though, because he jumps up on everthing else. When I come home with grocery bags, he has to check and see if I've bought him any treat-treats (that's what I call them) by jumping on the counter and/or getting and staying under my feet.

I have 2 cats, both are obsessed with food. One of them will grab it off your plate and everything.... He does jump on the counters when he was an indoor cat, now he's a screened in porch cat, so he jumps on things just not on counters anymore...... He does expect you to feed him every time that you go outside. The smaller one likes food too, but not to that extint. He will trip you though.... You can imagine when they were both indoors and I was trying to do anything in the kitchen. One was jumping in the middle of whet ever I was doing..... the other was doing his best to trip me..... I'm sure they got tired of being yelled at, pushed off the counters, and stepped on.

Since I don't cook a lot I don't have the problem with the cats jumping up on the counters while I am cooking. I got home last night and had two on top of the refrigerator leering down at me miffed that I took so long to come home. You can teach them not to jump on the counter by getting a sprayer bottle and when they get up on the counter just give them a quick squirt. It doesn't hurt them but it gives them negative reinforcement that they are NOT to get up on the counters. I have a feral cat that I have tamed that walks between my feet when I am outside. If I need to do something in a hurry I can forget it because I end up either stepping on him or tripping over him. Otherwise, all my cats and dogs and I get along and I find that what they do isn't as annoying as I would have originally thought. Right now Khuay(one of my flame point Siamese kittens) is laying on my computer table with his head resting on my right wrist, sleeping away. He is purring in total contentment so I really don't want to disturb him. One thing I do so that I don't have the cats jumping on the counter while I'm cooking is to put to one side some of the food that they are interested in and then I will give them little tastes while I am cooking. It keeps all of their "fours" on the floor.

Neither our current cat nor the previous one ever get or got on the counter. Each tried it ONCE. They never tried it again. You made a big mistake by giving in to your cat. They will now think that getting on the counter is OK no matter how many times you gently put them down. Keep a rolled up newspaper to swat them with or a squirt bottle filled with water near by. Any time one gets on the counter, holler loudly in a rough voice and either squirt or swat them. That will eventually break them of the habit, at least when you are around. I can leave meat on the counter to thaw, and my cat will not bother it. I would not advise you to try that, though.

Its really cute, and funny too. Even my cat tries to do similar kind of things, but I dont let them enter my kitchen at all. Just like you said I also value "hygine" a lot. So due to that, they are away from my kitchen. But I play a lot with them. They jump here and there, I play with them and also sometimes tease them with food. However it is said not to ever tease cats, as they can be a problem for you later on. Still, I do so, just for fun, as I also feel that They too enjoy this a lot, not only this, but this keeps them healthy too. lol!!! How about you? do you enjoy the fun with your cat?

My cat Kat jumps on the counter whenever she hears the can opener. She thinks its cat food. When I'm sleeping and the alarm goes off she jumps on the bed and walks over my face. Kat is a manx so it's worse. She used to be a nice kitty. Now she's psycho cat.

That is funny. Mine does not jump on the counters but likes to stand up on his hind legs and looks like a weasel. I laugh at him but then I usually end up giving him a snack since he is diabetic. I do have to kick him off the couch when I eat on the couch though because he is always reaching for my food so I kick him off but other than that I just find him funny.

My cat doesn it occassionally. Its not usually when I am cooking. Sometimes I walk into the kitchen & catch him in the sink playing in a glass or dish that has water in it! Its hard not to laugh at him, but at the same time try to tell him to get down!