How to keep cat off kitchen counters  

Place double-sided sticky tape on your counter about the place the cat lands when he jumps up. Cats hate sticky stuff on their paws. Remove the tape once the habit is broken. Also, lining up aluminim cans can help hinder this, as cats don't like the noise the cans make when they fall. Once the cat thinks it's always going to be like that when he jumps on the counter, you can take the cans away.

My aunt suggested putting aluminum foil on the counters. That or I read it somewhere. I cant remember which. Its one of those little tips and tricks lodged in my brain, but I dont remember where it came from. Anyway, theoretically cats are supposed to hate the way sheets of aluminum foil feel and sound when they jump on them and it is supposed to condition them to stop, and then you take the foil away. I havent tried it. But it seems plausible. Also a squirt bottle with water works for some cats. (with one of my cats and her infatuation with a plant, I had to resort to a supersoaker squirt gun before she got the idea to stay away)

If you want the cats off the counter then put them in a cage or leash them.

The only thing that I know of that works 100% and that you can use when you are or aren't home are the shock pads. You place them on your counter and the cats gets a very, very mild shock. The squirt bottle is nice, but if you don't lock your cats in a room when you leave the house until they are fully trained, they are just going to jump up when you aren't home. I suggest that you invest in a good cat training book.

hmm now the sticky tape Idea is pretty neat i never heard of that , I can tell ya now tho the fiol idea wont work cause i have 6 cats and they still try to go after the cookies we have on the table ,the thing that worked for us was teh water gun and to make sure that ther was nothing on teh counter for them to be tempted by , hmm i know cats like to be high up you could get some scrap wood and make a lil cat "tree" like thing or like i said in another post we clean areas wher the cats have sprayed with double strenth pine oil they hate the smell and wont go near that place again , if you live in the states they may still sell it at walmart they stopped selling it at ours but they now sell it at the dollar store , its called pineall, comes in a dark green bottle and that stuff is potent LOL but it works!! and a lil goes a looong way ;)

~M~

Sticky tape is always a good one and most usually works. It is hard to work on the counters with tape all over them though.

Coffee grinds in the corners and behind appliances on the counter work sometimes as well.

Spray bottle works almost every single time.

Good luck to 'ya.

My Columbus, who is ten years old, just started that bad habit! I caught him on the counter AND on the stove a few times and shooed him off. I think that he was just curious, but now keep clean dishes and food off the counter, the stove and the table.

The key to training a cat to not do something is to make sure that there is never a reward for the action and usually a negative effect. So, the most important thing in breaking this habit of jumping on counters is to NEVER leave food out on the counters or dirty dishes in the sink for the cat to lick. Every time he jumps up there and finds something to eat, he is (in his mind) being rewarded for what he did.
Once there is never a reward and you have added a deterrant, like the tape or foil, it will not be worth it to him to get up there any more.
Squirt bottles work great, too, but some cats figure out that the water only happens whey you are in the room, so will wait until you are not there to get up on the counter, so an "away" strategy is good to have.
Good luck.

Cats HATE water. Try using a spray bottle with water and everytime you see your cat jumping or about to jump on the counter, spray him/her with it. My daughter has a poodle and she had the same problem with Chloe jumping on the tables and now all they have to do is show her the water bottle and she doesn't get on the table. It also helps when you are trying to get her leash on her to go outside. She will sit still like a little lady once she sees the bottle, don't even have to spray her anymore! Hope this helps.

a spray bottle full of water and a loud firm voice AND if you can catch him as he's running after you've sprayed him, a tap on the rump..