Keeping Your Cat Off the Counters

Your cat’s curiosity knows no bounds, and it seems your kitty is especially interested in objects (or foods) located on your kitchen counters or dining room table. Remember that photo of Fluffy straddling this year’s fresh-from-the-oven Thanksgiving turkey? Also, remember that your cat creeps around the counters with the same feet she uses to sashay around the house and through the litter box. If you’d like to put an end to this undesirable practice, here are a few tips that can help you break your cat’s counter-climbing habit.

Channel Your Cat’s Climbing Instinct – Your cat might be leaping onto the counters to gain a high-level perch from which she can survey her empire. Discourage this practice by providing your cat with more acceptable vantage points. Consider multilevel cat furniture clad in carpeting or tree bark, and with spacious platforms that allow her to stretch out while she scans the landscape for marauders. Some cat habitats even feature plush, warm cubbies for her sleeping comfort. If she would rather survey the great outdoors or snooze in the sun, attach a kitty shelf to her favorite window sill.

Feed Her Food Cravings – Perhaps your cat is constantly trolling the counters because she isn’t getting enough to eat. Try resolving this problem by giving her several small meals each day. If she’s not overweight, ask your Reynoldsburg veterinarian if it’s acceptable to offer your cat free access to food. Monitor her closely to make sure she keeps her svelte figure. Of course, you’ll want to store your tempting human foods somewhere besides the counters, too.

Make the Counters More Menacing – If harnessing her climbing instincts and feeding her better don’t work, make her favorite countertop landing spot more menacing. Carefully balance a few lightweight cookie sheets at that exact location, and watch your cat’s surprise as the cookie sheets noisily skitter across the counter when she lands on them. She’ll probably leap back onto the safety of the kitchen floor after that unexpected outcome.

Finally, if she thwarts all your efforts to keep her off the counters, it might be time to get your Reynoldsburg veterinarian involved. He’s probably got a few cat behavior-modification tricks that your cat hasn’t seen.