Keeping cat off the bench

[Charlotte91]

He knows he's doing something wrong! As soon as we walk in the room he jumps down and bolts out of the room.

Its just annoying. I hate cats on the bench. Especially because he licks all the plates and stuff. Grrr

I've tried spraying him with water, but it doesn't fuss him. I think he likes it.

We do alot of yelling and grabbing him and tossing him outside.
Lots of NOOOO!!!!

Any ideas? I thought it may be worms and he's just hungry, so I've wormed him today.
Hopefully that helps.

Any ideas tho??

[BellyBelly]

I have the same problem with one of my cats, the oldest one, drives us mad here... but... its what cats do I guess... hard to break an instinct I think! We have tried water and all sorts... just doesn't work long term.

[~StarBright~]

Yep we have a cat like that too, she knows its wrong, we tell her to get off, i smack her nose but she still does it! Sorry no help, just some understanding!!

[Phteven]

He doesn't know that it is wrong. He knows that you don't like it.

You need to make the bench unappealing to him. Rinse all your plates so he can't lick them. Wipe it down with hot water that has lemon squeezed into it and then the skin dropped in the bowl. Cover it in tin foil. Maybe get a pit bull to guard it.

[CrazyLady]

I was going to suggest some citrus as well. My cat won't go on the bench (or anywhere near the kitchen) after I use the orange power surface cleaner. I don't really blame him though, it's one of my last resort surface cleaners and is rather potent. To keep next door's cats out from under our house and to stop them terrorising other next door's dog, we put lemon and grapefruit through the blender and put it down the side where they were causing trouble. We haven't heard a peep in the past week lol

[Roryrory]

You do know that even if you teach your cat to not climb on the bench when you are in the room he will just do it when you are not there, don't you? There was a funny segment on ACA a few years back where there were a heap of people who SWORE their cat didn't do this but hidden cameras revealed the truth.

Cats inside = cats everywhere you don't want them while you are out....

[Elocin]

We used double sided tape around the edges so whenever they jumped up, their paws would touch the stickiness and they would scamper away.

They hated it... I can't fathom how many rolls of packing tape we went through though. It took a couple of weeks for it to sink in.

GL

[CrazyLady]

ooo, awesome tip Elocin! Maybe that's how I can stop mine taking refuge on top of the fridge! He was asleep the other day and scared the crap out of me when I opened the freezer

[~ Mylitta ~]

double sided tape around the edges so whenever they jumped up, their paws would touch the stickiness and they would scamper away.

Exactly what I was going to suggest. Cats really hate the feeling on their feet. You can order special stuff through vet clinics, but any old double sided tape will do the job for you.

[Cranky Kitten]

Heh, we taught our cat Finn not to claw the carpet with the use of a nerf gun. The advantage is that if you keep one loaded and shoot from a few paces away he doesn't associate that it came from you, he associates it with the undesirable behaviour. And being small foam darts, it's the surprise factor rather than any pain.

Or possibly a combination of a few different techniques may convince your cat it's just not worth the headache.

[BellyBelly]

Omg Charlotte, you sure you dont have my cat Simba there? He is EXACTLY the same. Very interesting.

[Jellybean29]

My cat just loves to be up high, since we moved out of our split level apartment into our single house he has been getting on the kitchen bench because it's now the highest perch.

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[Roryrory]

BBB has a point - cats like to be high up, so maybe if you provide something higher than the bench your cat will go there instead?

[CrazyLady]

My cat discovered the top of the pantry today. The little terror! I was looking for him for 20 minutes and he was staring at me the whole time

[Jellybean29]

My cat discovered the top of the pantry today. The little terror! I was looking for him for 20 minutes and he was staring at me the whole time

Oh yes! pumpkin will do this too if we leave the cupboard open!!!! And if he's limping a little when we get home we know he's been naughty and in the cupbaord and landed bad when he has jumped down. First time it happened we paniced and rushed him to the vet (we have abnormal affection for this cat you see), but it was just a sprain he got over in a few days... after the 3rd time he did it, we just shook our finger at him and said "serves you right!"