Cats on Kitchen Counters

[mvp]

[QUOTE=katenreno;7938713]

Funny story though, my mom came to visit over Thanksgiving. My husband and I do allow the cats on our dining room table, because we don’t actually eat at it, ever. It holds our mail, my purse, hubby’s school books… etc. So the cats will hang out up there while hubby is studying. (Our dining area is also his office). But while my mom was here, she was making pie crusts and wanted to use the table to roll them out. I wiped it down, and she used a big cutting board, but midway through, one of the cats hopped up to see what she was doing. She was so offended that the cat was up there and started spanking him. Hard! He jumped down and then turned and hissed at her. She went to nudge him with her foot and he bit her in the leg. I know she’s of the school that cats shouldn’t be allowed on tables or counters, and I feel the same, but since we don’t use that table we never cared. And she never should have smacked him like that. I think she kinda deserved it…[/QUOTE]

I think your mom did deserve that smack-back from Kitteh. I mean, she deserved it in a Justice-- capital J-- kind of way. She changed the rules, suddenly and hard for Cathead. There’s no way Cathead could have known he was making a mistake, so he was right to assume he was right and she was wrong.

Cats are pretty fair-minded.

[mvp]

[QUOTE=toady123;7939871]
Question (from someone without cats) if they are permitted on the counter is there not a worry of them getting burned on the stove…or if you have gas, being set alight?![/QUOTE]

I don’t worry, but I’d certainly watch if some pushy bastard of a cat made that delicious mistake.

In all seriousness, cats are smart and self-preserving. I don’t think too many would make the toddler-esque mistake of putting a paw on a hot burner.

FWIW, my mom is pro-cat and also pro-gas stoves. She hates electric burners. The main reason is that they take forever to get to a given temperature. That screws up her cooking plans. In second place for “reasons to hate electric stoves” comes the danger to little kids. She never even spoke about risk to cats.

[zippyrider]

This is probably why I don’t have a cat! I wouldn’t allow it, and don’t allow my dog on the furniture. I’m so mean! And I don’t like bleach or Clorox! :lol:

[toady123]

Thanks Simkie, I thought that might be the case - although with the glasstop stoves I would imagine they could make a mistake. And of course there is always a risk with an open flame.

Funny, unrelated story. We have a chocolate lab with a very dense coat and a very small brain. Any time we had a campfire we would have to constantly watch her because she will meander and wave her tail over the flames. I think her coat is so thick she doesn’t feel the heat at first. There has been more than one occasion when the words “the dog is on fire someone put her out”! have been uttered (in reality she was more smoldering than alight). No more camp fires for her!!

[maxiford812]

I hate all of you whose cats don’t jump onto the counters! (Not really, I’m just very jealous. ) My husband is the cat person, and all 3 of his are constantly parading around up there. I have swiped, shouted, removed gently, screamed, etc, but to no avail. They are like cockroaches - you can’t leave anything out or they will eat it, or at least lick it. Even if you are eating dinner in the next room, you can hear them jump onto the counter to start foraging. Gag!

H seems to think it’s funny, but he’s not the one who has to constantly wipe down the counters with Clorox wipes. I am soooo far from being a germaphobe, but really - they walk around in litter boxes, and I find their toe jam cat litter up on the counters all the time.

Sorry, this is one of my hot button issues. :dead:

[wendy]

I let dogs get up on the furniture, why not? but no animals are allowed in the kitchen at all. Mostly because it’s way too small and tripping over a beast while carrying hot food or sharp knives is just not safe for anyone.

Scat mats and motion-activated devices are available to help train cats to get off the kitchen counters when you aren’t around.

I’m not a germaphobe by any means, but really, you don’t want fecal matter anywhere near a food-preparation area. Cats carry fecal matter around on their feet. Many cats are chronic carriers of salmonella, toxoplasmosis, giardia and various intestinal worms, all of which are passed on via consuming contaminated fecal matter.

If you go to eat at a friend’s house and they let their cat onto the counters, you might want to feign illness and leave in order to avoid getting really ill.

[Rudy]

@mvp;7940909

In all seriousness, cats are smart and self-preserving. I don’t think too many would make the toddler-esque mistake of putting a paw on a hot burner.

So my one sphynx has burned his front paws by jumping on a hot burner. It hasn’t deterred him from jumping on warm/potentially hot stoves yet…he is special.

My mother has a long haired cat that likes to stick his paws in the gas fireplace, singes the hair on the bottom, then runs back to his bed to lick them. Rinse and repeat…

[mvp]

[QUOTE=zippyrider;7940960]
This is probably why I don’t have a cat! I wouldn’t allow it, and don’t allow my dog on the furniture. I’m so mean! And I don’t like bleach or Clorox! :lol:[/QUOTE]

You can like cats and not like bleach. Owning cat doesn’t mean you have to own bleach. it really doesn’t. But a cat will make you be diligent about changing your sheets. Cats don’t like to sleep in cat hair.

[mvp]

[QUOTE=maxiford812;7941299]
I hate all of you whose cats don’t jump onto the counters! (Not really, I’m just very jealous. ) My husband is the cat person, and all 3 of his are constantly parading around up there. I have swiped, shouted, removed gently, screamed, etc, but to no avail. They are like cockroaches - you can’t leave anything out or they will eat it, or at least lick it. Even if you are eating dinner in the next room, you can hear them jump onto the counter to start foraging. Gag!

H seems to think it’s funny, but he’s not the one who has to constantly wipe down the counters with Clorox wipes. I am soooo far from being a germaphobe, but really - they walk around in litter boxes, and I find their toe jam cat litter up on the counters all the time.

Sorry, this is one of my hot button issues. :dead:[/QUOTE]

I can’t substantiate my claim, but I have it on the authority of a “vibe” that your cats get on your counter precisely because of the dynamic you, they and their beloved patron, DH, all have.

See, the cats know it pisses you off. They also know, thanks to DH, that you have relatively little power. That it pisses off someone with no power makes the cats sure that something good is on the counter. Oh, and finding food, of course, confirms their hypothesis. They like it that they get something you don’t… and that you can’t get what you want makes them enjoy the experience of having what they want all the more.

The cure? It is as with kids: The parents must present a united front. It would be especially effective if DH did some blitzkrieg on da kittehs once or twice. The cats won’t believe a No until they hear it from their Yes Man.

Might I suggest, as well, that you make the gross litter-cat-toe-jam-on-the-counters DH’s problem? Perhaps this could induce him to get off his tuckus with respect to his ill-mannered cats.

[french_fry]

[QUOTE=wendy;7941375]
I’m not a germaphobe by any means, but really, you don’t want fecal matter anywhere near a food-preparation area. Cats carry fecal matter around on their feet. Many cats are chronic carriers of salmonella, toxoplasmosis, giardia and various intestinal worms, all of which are passed on via consuming contaminated fecal matter.

If you go to eat at a friend’s house and they let their cat onto the counters, you might want to feign illness and leave in order to avoid getting really ill.[/QUOTE]

I totally agree with your bolded sentence! But…my cat gets up on the counters nonetheless. I can’t even get her to stop doing it when I’m in the other room, let alone when I’m not home. I’ve given up. Considering that when I don’t get up quickly enough in the AM (whatever part of the “AM” she happens to think is appropriate that day - 6am, 5am, 4am…) she will look me directly in the eye while knocking my glass of water off of the dresser, I think she possesses the higher reasoning capabilities to simply do it when I’m not home.

What freaks me out is people who are confident that their cat never gets on the counter. I Clorox the ish out of my counters and stovetop before preparing any food and I always use cutting boards (although this is something that I did before having pets, actually - you can never tell when your BF sets his boots up there “for just a second” while he opens the refrigerator and, being in NYC, those probably have fecal matter on them too :eek:) If your cat has lulled you into complacency by deigning not to get on the counters while you’re around and you subsequently don’t wipe them down 24/7…well, you are consuming a lot more fecal matter than anyone at my house (except perhaps the cat.)

[maxiford812]

mvp, I appreciate your reply. It made me laugh and I see a lot of truth in what you say. Some good food for thought there! (Hey, that’s one kind of food the cats can’t contaminate! )

[Blondie22]

I must be the luckiest cat owner alive! I adopted my cat as a 6 year old from the local shelter. In the 3 years I’ve had him, he has never even looked remotely interested in getting on the counter! He will jump up onto the couch or the bed (and the coffee table once…I put a stop to that!) and that’s it!