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26 May Training Your Cat to Stay Off the Counter
There are many reasons you need to keep your cat off the counter. First, most human food doesn’t have the nutrients necessary for a cat. If you allow the cat to eat scraps from the counter, she can get full and not want to eat the food that’s healthy for her.
Additionally, if your cat gets hold of some raw chicken or beef, she can become deathly ill from bacteria. Knives and hot cooking surfaces pose equally dangerous problems for your furry feline.
For all of these reasons – as well as the necessity of keeping cooking areas clean – you’ll need to train your cat to keep off the counter. However, this may be easier said than done. In truth, it can actually take more time and effort to train your cat to stay off the counter than it did to train her to use the litter box.
But don’t be discouraged! There are plenty of methods you can use to train your cat to stay off the counter, table, and other kitchen and dining surfaces. Deterrents of some type are typically used – the cat doesn’t like the result of getting on the counter, so she stops the behavior.
Some people turn to drastic measures to keep their cats off the counter. Whether it’s because they don’t want to take the time to train their cat or they’re away from home much of the day, these pet owners typically choose electric shock boundaries, which utilise a special collar and boundary tape to emit an electric shock to the cat whenever she goes where she doesn’t belong. While effective, this is very inhumane, and should be avoided.
The most common deterrent method is the spray bottle. This works for many things that you must train your cat not to do. Spray bottles are very effective, as long as they’re used properly.
Many people make the mistake of spraying the cat openly, however, this allows the cat to associate the displeasure with the object rather than with the behavior you’re trying to correct.
A better method is to hold the bottle so that the cat can’t see it. This way, when she looks for the source of her displeasure, she only sees her loyal, faithful owner. Most cats want to please their owners, so they’ll stop the behavior that earned the spraying.
Another method for keeping your cat off the counter is to clean your counter with bleach. Just as bleach deters animals from getting into trash bags, cats will stay away from the bleach-smelling counters.
This is very effective, but it doesn’t really train your cat – it just acts as a deterrent. However, be sure you thoroughly rinse the counters after wiping them down with bleach. You don’t want your cat to accidentally like some up if she does make her way onto the counter.
In the end, the only real way to be successful in keeping your cat off the counter is to be sure that no food is left out to tempt her. Always make sure that the cat has plenty of food and water, as well – otherwise, she’ll go scrounging for what she needs. Cats are natural born hunters, and if you don’t care for their needs, they’ll do whatever is necessary – even if it’s getting onto counters and drinking out of the sink.
If all else fails, buy your feline a cat tree or a scratching post as this will provide the puurfect distraction!