my cats are good about not going on the counter! but they're everywhere else - including the dining room table whilst i am attempting to entertain folks :)

Also, for meat, especially that's already prepped with seasonings, I often just put the skillet lid over the plate or tray that the meat is sitting on, since the lid will often be used shortly anyway.

I haven't tried it, but a friend (with a different cat problem) recently sent me a link to Ssscat. Not sure what I think of it. Has anyone tried it?
http://www.ssscat.com/en/

My dearly departed Albert would constantly jump onto the counters, tables, etc. He loved the warmth from the lights. My other cat, Mr. Fatty McFattypants (not his real name; he will remain anonymous for privacy) can't jump that high, nor does he like human food. Albert knew the sounds of a bacon package opening & butter coming out of the fridge, so he was always under my feet or nudging my hands. I miss him tremendously.

Love the photo of the adorable kitty!

My little baby boy is still a baby to reach the counter but I keep a half of lemon next to whatever I want to protect from him.

this is why i hate cats

My cat hates the sound of cookie sheets banging together so any time he's made an attempt at the counter I rattle the sheets and he flees. I've also left a stack of cookie sheets on the counter to deter him if I have to leave when something is out.

well good for you - hopefully you don't have cats cause i am sure they would hate you too!

I have sufficiently traumatized my cats (with yelling, clapping, and the occasional swift shove) that they don't dare approach the counter tops if I am anywhere nearby. If I have to leave the kitchen for more than a moment, I close the door. This is the only time I enjoy the many-roomed Victorian layout of my apartment...

We don't have problems with cats on the counter. We have two and the one that likes human food is to fat and lazy to jump up there. However, we've learned that when we need to deter them from doing something canned air is where its at. We just happened to find out that the cats absolute HATE the noise of canned air when we were cleaning a computer. Since then we always keep a can close by in case they get a bit out of control.

My Fatty-Boom-Batty (as with @tallsarah, name changed to protect his privacy. Hee) is good about staying off the counters, but if I'm cooking, he HAS to be on the kitchen table. He likes being high enough to see what I'm doing. Once I figured that out, I was ok with him sitting up there.

My Luna is a bossy little demanding thing who will yowl and wine and cry whenever I'm in the kitchen cooking. I've gotten into the habit of offering her whatever I'm working with, if I know it's something that she won't like (yogurt, veggies, anything else with a strong smell or flavor), and she usually looses interest quickly. I also flick her with water from the faucet if she's being extra naughty, and that sends her running out of the kitchen. She doesn't get on the counters anymore, after being sprayed with water enough times.

I just adopted a rescued kitty after not having a cat for 15 years, and he's the first cat I've ever had who regards anything left on the counter as fair game! (It doesn't help that the windowsill in my small galley kitchen, his favorite perch, is inches away from the countertop on one side and the stovetop on the other.) And it's not just chicken or fish he's after ... I once came in to find him dragging a log of goat cheese across the floor toward his bowl; another time, he had ripped open the foil wrapping on a gift of homemade mandelbrot and flipped a piece onto the floor, where he was munching away when I came back after five minutes.

I've taken to putting cooling baked goods or stockpots in the bedroom and closing the door if I have to leave the room or apartment before they're fridge-ready. Pyrex dishes with glass lids seems to be safe (if I remember to put the lid back on after I serve myself). The toaster oven, microwave, and oven are handy places to stick things temporarily if I need to leave the kitchen for a few minutes. I love the little guy ... but it's tough when you're used to living by yourself and not thinking twice!

haha @ "i hate cats" vs. "cats hate you too" - get over it folks, some people don't like cats, some love them! learn to see both sides!

an old neighbor who also cut hair used a spray bottle of water to keep the cat out of things, seemed to work very well - when the cat saw the water bottle coming out she knew it was not a good idea to do whatever it was she was just pondering.

my cats don't get on the counter. i trained them from day one that counters are bad...most of the time, they listen. i haven't had an issue with a cat getting into food on the counter in years, though.

Yes, the spray bottle works ... if you're in the room when the cat helps himself, which is not often!

@Renai Marie, I do the same thing! I offer my naughtiest cat something I know he hates like fresh lemon or, worse, a sniff of my vodka drink. Oh boy, does that send him running for cover!

Never had a cat where counters were a problem. My mother never had a cat where it was an issue nor my grandmother. Although my grandmother did have one cat who thought she was human, used the toilet, wanted to sit at table with us, etc. The counter thing is actually why I'm not thrilled about the idea of getting a dog.

About a month of being a quick draw with a watergun taught my baby girl to stay off the counters, but it was always more "hey, pay attention to me!" than it was "i can has cheezburger?", really. Now she stays on the ground and menaces my feet when she wants attention, and sleeps and sheds on the clean towels in the bathroom by way of retribution for all the times I squirted her.

My cat can smell cheese from the other side of the house. It amazes me how good his nose is. He also only likes very good cheese, preferring Epoisse to Cabot Cheddar any day. Guess it runs in the family.

On another note, he can sniff out the cat-haters instantly and always makes a point of hanging right next to them whenever I have a cat-hater in the house. I think he knows he's torturing them and it gives him pleasure. It certainly makes me chuckle.

This is exactly why I am not a cat owner. An old roommate of mine had a lovely kitty, but I got really tired of there being cat hair on tea towels I used to dry off dishes, as well as everything else.
I do howeve, have a dog imbued with the soul of Paula Deen. The guy just adores butter, much to the detriment of his digestive system and my sanity. i have just invested in a baby gate, as he finally figured out how to get around every other method of blocking off the kitchen and the trashcan. I'm sure it will work well til he figures out that he can chew through the plastic mesh.

The top of the refrigerator has become the safe keeping space for butter, any sweet baked goods, and really everything that the KitCat shouldn't get to. Good thing the refrigerator stands alone across from the counters. We have been trying to spray her with water when she gets on the counters, but she LIKES the water.

I trained my kitties not to get on counters or tables. They now prefer curling up next to the stove where it's warm. Not sure that's better..

Our cat is too chunky to get up on the counter with any regularity (sounds like he may have some 'big boned' pals out there!) but he will make the effort to get up there if we have any fresh cut flowers, and in particular he goes nuts for baby's breath (no idea how that came about). So we have to put books/bags/etc on the bar stools so he can't jump up on them to get to the flowers.

With regards to food, he definitely gets extra affectionate when the refrigerator is open, etc, loves the sound of the can opener, but mostly it's meowing and pawing at our legs. If i want him to stop pestering me, presenting him with a half of lemon or some other citrus usually works really well.

I will say though that any plates left on the floor/couch/ other easily reachable places have been hard to keep him away from. I once fell asleep on the couch after having some bone-in chicken for dinner (in front of the tv) and when i woke up my kitty had dragged the carcass across the room and was happily chomping away. Lesson learned...

sscat is the greatest invention ever for cat owners. It is a motion detecter can of air. Set it up and turn it on, as soon as your cat jumps on the counter, table, sofa or near a plant he will be sprayed with air. Once was all it took to train our new cat. Well worth the $20 from Amazon. The only drawback is forgetting it is on and getting sprayed yourself. Great source of enterainment everytime it gets my husband.

This and the pungent aroma of a litter box is why I no longer have cats, but I have had four in my lifetime who were all crazy scavengers for human food. After cooking, I always made sure to cover all dishes with their lids, put everything away in the fridge, cabinets, or microwave (temporarily), and immediate cleanup helped too. My parents had a cat that actually pulled bread, sealed in a bag, through a quarter-sized hole in their breadbox, with a bowl full of cat food sitting mere feet away!

The fifth cat I had was never interested in human food, not even tuna. But you couldn't leave a glass of Guiness unattended or his whole face would be buried in it. He LOVED beer, and coffee.

OK, these comments are hilarious.
The #1 reason to love a fat cat: they can't jump up on the counter!
Butter and ice water are the two worst kitty magnets around here. The butter issue I can manage fairly well by keeping it covered or on a countertop the thief can't get to, but ice water, no chance. It's like the most addictive kitty crack ever.
I can't even say how many times I've had to replace a glass of ice water because a kitty snuck up and stole a drink from it. I swear she can smell a fresh, cold glass from upstairs.

My cat is theripetomatos (-es?-'s?) cat. He has been trained that tables & counters are NOT for kitties - and he's quite mannerly in this regard. Unless.
Unless there are fresh cut flowers or a plant on any surface. Then he cannot resist. If I put them on top of a high shelf - he will sit in front of the shelf and just cry. (he likes to eat the flowers)

If you're in the fridge though - he will often sneak around your legs to see what you're looking at. He'll do this with all windows too.

My oldest cat doesn't do counters but she'll sit at your feet and cry until you pick her up and show her what you're doing. She doesn't want it unless it's fish (which I don't eat) but she wants to know what you're up to.

The youngest hasn't figured out that anything other than kibble is food so she ignores people food. It helps that the counters are usually covered in dishes so there's no room for her. She will hop up on top of the fridge to watch, though.

We have 2 Burmese - one isn't so interested in human food but adores sitting on the warm cooktop or oven. The other one - very persistent little bugger. We've started pushing him onto one of the bar stools in front of the prep area while saying 'down' and he's learning. Now cooking has become a spectator sport to him :)
Oh, and yogurt will have them both practically grab the spoon....

I don't have much of a problem when I'm at the worktop, but my cat Charlie is an expert thief and like Jane's cat regards pretty much anything as fair game and his for the taking as soon as my back is turned. He can also sniff out Chicken and sausages through packaging and will rummage through shopping bags if I'm not on the ball when bringing the food shopping in from the car.
I use the microwave for safe keeping of kitty delicacies or the larder for larger items.

My cats were trained when they were much younger to stay off the counter and kitchen table. I kept a spray bottle of water in the fridge so it was always good and cold. Little spritz and off they went, took a couple months but they stopped and it's stuck for years.

However both the kitties and the dogs will sit at your feet and beg for food. Since I give in an share they aren't goign to stop doing that anytime soon (do wish my dad would stop giving my cat donuts though).

I have taken to constructing elaborate cat-screening devices out of bowls, colanders, plates, etc., sometimes secured with bricks or twist-ties, to keep them away from cooling bread, thawing meat, softening butter, etc. I finally realized that this is why pie cupboards were invented.

One of my cats once reached inside a pot of simmering pasta sauce and plucked out a chunk of zucchini. My cats are horrible, they jump up on the counters, fish things out of the garbage disposal, lick EVERYTHING. But I've made peace with it. I have a garbage can they can't open, I keep lids on pans at all times when they are on the stove and I store ingredients and cooling food inside the microwave or oven while I am cooking. Life tastes better with cat fur :-)

Two words: squirt gun. Oh yes! And cover everything.

I had a problem with my fattest kitty trying to get into my cooking. She knows sits on the seat under my glass table and just stares and stares while I'm prepping a meal. If I offer her bits and pieces now and then, she doesn't jump on the table or stove. This is good, because I found her once sitting on the stove with the burners going.

My dear departed cats never jumped up high anywhere in the kitchen. They did jump on the dining room table. Oddly enough they were not interested in many human foods. I had a butter licker, which I found very endearing, finding the little licked spot on the butter if I forgot & left it out. And I had a cat who was crazy for olives and olive brine. I just let her have them, she loved them so much.

Hah, these cracked me up.

My cats are both jumpers and despite being squirted with a spray bottle are persistent. One can sense the presence of dairy or fish products and will sit and watch you eat cereal/yogurt/ice cream/macaroni and cheese. The other likes bread (I learned when she started licking a cooling loaf) and I once went to get butter from the fridge to turn around and find her with her nose in the bowl of flour for the biscuits I was making. I have started to leave a barrier of dishes on the counter to prevent them from jumping up while I am cooking.

love the cat tails!

my nat-a-pus doesn't like people food, but whenever I am washing lettuce she always steals a piece or two when I'm not looking.

That's the only reason she gets on the counter so I have just learned to laugh and love her for it.

Haha!

Charlotte - Charlie is a butter licker too, he broke a too delicate butter dish by nudging it to get at the butter. I am too familiar with little tongue marks in uncovered butter!

Littlebluehen - He also likes to sit on the table (despite the no feet on the table rule) and wait for my daughter to finish her milk and cereal so he can polish off the leftovers.

Charlie also regards and empty chair at the table as his and will sit at the table hoping for food scraps to come his way.

At least these crazy kitties aren't invading the fridge! My poodle (12lbs!!) figured out how to open the refridgerator door in order to get at the pot roast I'd cooked off for a dinner party that night. I came home with hungry guests in tow to find the poodle (now 15lbs) asleep on the living room couch next to the gnawed remains of my pot roast!!

We ate pizza for dinner and I learned to lock the fridge.

My kitten-cat loves my sink and will dig egg shells out of the sink if they're left there, but I don't have problems with her checking out ingredients when I'm prepping a meal. Mostly she stays off the counters (unless I leave butter out to soften) though she never tires of exploring the kitchen table (where we hardly ever eat). My mom's cats, when they're feeling curious, reach-stretch toward the countertop when she's cutting up food, and she lets them sniff a piece of carrot or onion--they smell it and, satisfied that they're not being totally ignored, they usually go away.

http://www.plasma2002.com/blenderdefender/

My kitty recently became interested in the kitchen counter because she loves checking out the birds and squirrels. She perches herself in the window sill by the sink. She's a good kitty...trained her from the time she was 6 weeks old. The water bottle was never a deterent. In fact, she thought it was a game. Nowadays, the water bottle has become her spa treatment when she's doing her grooming thing. She leans back and spreads all fours and lets me spritz her. It's one of our many bonding rituals. She's totally human.

i've given up. as long as i get to eat *most* of my dinner, we're all ok.

Our cat just has to eat before we do, otherwise he makes a nuisance of himself, and cats are so good at that. When he's full, I can start cooking our meal. He knows he's the most important member of the household!

Widmerpool (his real name as he prefers his fan mail to be correctly addressed) has been trained not to go on counters - clapping & water spray when he was little.
He may go there when we're out, but food is not left out & there's not much more you can do with cats. Everything should be cleaned before you use it anyway.

Widmerpool does eat bread if you dont get the shopping off the floor fast enough.