How to Keep Cats off Counters Naturally?

Cats are playful animals. It is quite natural for you to find them on your counter tops where meals are prepared. However, this may be unhealthy and inconvenient for them and you. Therefore they must be prevented from jumping and moving around the counter.

5 Tips To Keep Cats Off The Kitchen Counter

Preventing a cat from jumping on the countertop in the kitchen is quite difficult due to their instincts and curiosity. Here are some natural ways to keep your cats off the counter.

1. Don’t leave food on counters:

Since counters are where food is prepared, most times, food crumbs are left on the counters. These food crumbs attract cats. To prevent your cat from jumping and climbing on your counters, make sure you keep your food out of the reach of cats and clean the counter quickly to ensure your cats won’t be getting any food crumb from there. Dishes should also be washed as soon as possible or soaked in dishwater to limit their access to them.

2. Provide alternatives that are more interesting:

Since jumping and climbing are the natural instinct of cats coupled with the fact that they love high places due to their warmth and comfort, discouraging them from climbing would be rather difficult therefore the best solution is to provide a more suitable place where your cats can climb. Some options are providing a cat condo or a cat tree. Other options include installing shelves or a window perch in other parts of the house where your cat can spend time.

3. Feed your cats well:

Apart from having the instinct to climb and jump, cats climb on counters in search of food. Ensure you feed your cats properly; this will prevent them from going in search of food on the countertop.

4. Discourage your cats from jumping on counters:

Cats like most animals can be trained and conditioned. Since your countertop attracts your cats to it, you must find a way to discourage your cats from jumping on them. One way of deterring them is by placing a sticky tape on the countertop until the cat is trained. You can also use citrus scents to keep your cats away since they dislike the scent produced by citrus. Aluminum foil can also be used to prevent cats from your counters since they do not like the feel of aluminum foil on their paws. While training your pets, please make sure you do not use any material or substance that can hurt your cat or show any negative attitude so that your cat does not begin to fear you.

5. Clear any other attractant from the counter:

Observing your cats to know what it’s attracted to on the counter and removing it can reduce greatly the way you cat climbs your counter.

Finally, having cats on your kitchen counters are not only unsanitary but also dangerous to the cats health.  Applying the method above would help you get your cats out of harm’s way and ultimately, out of your counters.