How normal is it for cats to walk on kitchen counters and the table?

Pretty normal for our cats.

Normal unless you teach them not too.

Cats walk on anything they can jump onto, unless you teach them (repeatedly) that it isn’t an ok space for them to be on.

Cats like vertical space. So, if they are not trained to stay down from certain high surfaces they naturally want to be up high surveying their domain. My 2 fight over the top tier of the cat tree, the highest perch is preferred.

You mean like this?

Or this?

Or this?

I had a Siamese that liked to be on the top of the refrigerator or on the top of an open door.

I think it’s part of their instinct to climb and get from place to place without being on the ground. It ‘s a survival trait. I think they just like to look down on us. Our cats like to nap high up on things like dressers and refrigerators. If you end up with a cat who began life as a ferrule it may be really hard to civilize him. We have one we have to keep an eye on whenever we have food on the counter or table. He knows we don’t like it because he’s in a big hurry whenever he makes a food swiping action, even with plenty of cat food in the bowl.

Very normal. Our cats know to stay the hell off the table and countertops when we’re cooking, eating, etc… But overnight? They go wherever the hell they want and I just use Clorox wipes on everything the next day.

They have a tendency to want to get up high and see what is around them. You can break them of this habit through training.

I can only speak for my two, but the little one pretty much goes wherever he wants. The older one tends to stick to the floor.

For the little one, I keep a spray bottle of water handy; if I happen to catch him in the act, all I have to do is pick up the bottle and he hauls ass, lol. God knows what he does at night while I’m not watching!

But both mine are kinda strange – they drink out of the toilet like dogs, lol…...

Cats will do anything that you let them do. The only place my cats are not allowed is the kitchen counters. But I suspect they do it when we are not looking.

Et tu, tiny?

I don’t care if my cats are on the tables or furniture, but they know not to go on the kitchen counters if we are watching; however, they also know when we are not watching.

I found it impossible to keep mine off the counters and table altogether, but have been able to train most of them not to do it while there is food present. My newest kitty still hasn’t gotten that message, yet, so there’s a lot of putting her back on the floor while saying “No!” when I’m trying to make a sandwich.

^^ Milo here; And how has that worked so far?

Ugh, my friend had a cat and I refused to eat anything that didn’t come out of a package that I opened because they let their cat jump on the kitchen counter and walk around on everything. That cat had stepped in a litter box of its own shit and piss and whatever else. One of the many reasons I’m not a cat person!

Not every cat owner is like that. This is why I keep a supply of Clorox wipes, 409, and leather cleaner…

@WillWorkForChocolate Thank you for your cleanliness, but that was not the situation at my friend’s house :/

@Ponderer983 Also why I don’t set any food directly on the counter or table. That’s what plates and cutting boards are for, you know?

@gailcalled She’s still a kitten, so it’s not going very well just yet. My other cats all got it eventually, and I hope she will, too.

It’s no worse than dog owners allowing the pooch to sleep on their bed.

@gailcalled, your examples don’t count. It’s clear that Milo is not an ordinary cat.

@ratboy: What? Your cat doesn’t bake apple pies or do your taxes? @tinyfaery to the rescue. She can train a cat to do anything.

I say it’s a filthy and disgusting behavior, but I’m always outvoted.

This is kind of like asking, do men like to masturbate? Or do women get hot and bothered by Johnny Depp? Well, duh!

They do anything if no human is around.

@ratboy; The expression on the fluffy guy at the top gives new meaning to the word “baleful.”

Of course its normal. How else are they going to supervise and make sure everything is done properly to their exacting standards. I love the look on Milo in the kitchen pic. Clearly he takes his responsibility quite seriously :)

If you don’t want your cats on kitchen counters, etc then you have to be prepared to pay the price; the price being eternal vigilance. If you just place them back on the floor each and EVERY time, they will get the point. But you can’t be haphazard about it or they’ll just keep testing you.

And obviously, all bets are off when you’re not around. Unless you invest in a Scat Mat, don’t have any illusions about what goes on when you’re not there to supervise :)

But its just such a natural instinct for them to be up as high as possible. So with any of mine, I just kept repeatedly putting them back on the kitchen floor until they got tired of fighting it. But for the rest of the non-food areas, I let them perch wherever they wanted to.

They aren’t trying to just be ornery or something. They really do genuinely NEED some easily accessible high places in order to be happy and content so just make sure to provide as many as possible and they’ll be less inclined to see the kitchen counters as so important.

If you want to see some cute inspiration for this, there’s a site called “the cat’s house” and it’s amazing what a little basic carpentry skill can produce.

www.thecatshouse.com

There’s also a book (avail. on Amazon) about it with lots of pics and Animal Planet did a segment on it.

This is one thing my cats were never allowed to do. Once in a while they will test me and then I’ll yell at them, which scares them. Not saying they don’t do it when I’m not home, I wouldn’t swear to it, but when I’m home, they don’t.

It always grossed me out to go to someone’s house and see their cats walking around on the counters and tables (kitchen and dining room tables, that is). I’m really not a squeamish person, but cats on counters and tables was always kind of gross to me.

@jca It doesn’t bother me (plates and cutting boards, as I mentioned above), but… I once had dinner at my mother’s house, and she and her husband not only allowed the cats to be on the table while we ate, they allowed the cats to eat off their plates! The cats kept trying to eat my food, too, and I finally put my foot down. “Uh, mom? This is… not normal. Could you please put the cats in another room until we finish eating?” Ick.