Keeping Cat Off Table!

Good luck!

Shut the door of the room the table is in, before you go to bed or if it’s an open plan house put a cover on over night take off the next morning

Our elderly (14.5) female cat has taken to sleeping on the kitchen work top ... basket and comfy blanket on chair are ignored. Leading to much disinfecting each day.
We tried putting obstacles in her way and found she slept squashed in between them.
I agree a cover at night, is probably the best option.

This is the reason I don’t like cats. They just leap up onto surfaces.

A friend has one and I see her cat on the kitchen units. She doesn’t seem to notice he’s up there really and just says ‘shoo’ or bats him down. I saw she didn’t disinfect the surfaces.

She offered me a sandwich once. I declined.

It's a pretty impossible task trying to keep a cat off. We have always fed the cats on a special corner of the worktop because we have two greedy dogs who would eat their food if put on the floor. Before anyone says anything we disinfect straight after them. Of course we have brought the consequences on ourselves as this means our cats now jump up on an any horizontal surface.
As for your table, the answer would seem to be a cloth. Ours jump on hard surfaces more in the summer because the heat from the sun is retained more than in squishy fabrics. They jump up less in the winter, preferring the sofa, if that's any consolation to you!?

It's not impossible to train a cat to do things if you make the effort. I've had cats all my life and never allowed them onto the kitchen worktops or tables. From kittenhood they are trained, either with clapping of hands, or if they persist, with a "rattle tin" (small stones inside a washed out tin - it makes a terrific din when rattled and they hate the noise.)

I had one kitten who had great fun playing with the tv cables but the rattle tin quickly solved that. I rattled it on two occasions, and from then on I only had to point to it, and she would follow my finger and stop whatever she was doing that I didn't like.

It did mean that I had to carry the tin around the house for a couple of days in order to rattle it whilst the "crime" was being committed, but it quickly worked ... no problems since, and I have used it with all my cats over the years.

Obviously you can only shake the rattle tin if you are there so night-time behaviour has to be stopped in some other way.

Urmstongran it's not the cats, it's the owners. Ditto with dogs.

Our dogs always think cat food is better than theirs Ellianne we have to shut them out of the kitchen whilst the cat eats.
I agree with BlueBelle close the door or use a cover fir the table.
I get through a lot of disinfectant with three dogs and a cat but we love them.

You're right sodapop, the interaction between the pets is funny but cats have the upper hand. Dogs are so much easier to train than cats but are ruled by their stomachs.
Luckily our cats don't like visitors so never sit around on any surfaces when we have company.

My cat would love that rattle tin, she’d think it was full of cat treats!

Put some baking tins around the edges of the table, they fall off if the cat jumps up, makes an awful clatter and after a couple of nights the cat will get the message, I did this all along my worktops too, it does work.

Cats are trainable with patience.

Sparklefizz I laughed out loud at your post. Our cat loves that sound.
We get him in at night by standing in the back doorway and rattling the tin his 'treats' are kept in.
He comes running from 2-3 gardens away.

Sorry Hooty I missed your post.

In my opinion, animals are much cleaner than a lot of humans. Not many men seem to wash their hands after they have been to the toilet but a cat washes itself constantly.

Put a tablecloth on..........

My cat understands the word no when I put my finger upright and close to her face.

We shut the lounge door at night, and when we are out, as there are some breakable items in there, and they may have a mad 5 minutes. Agree with Bluebelle, table cloth at night or door shut is the only safe answer.

Ours are not allowed on worktop, clapped hands and a firm voice work. What they do when we are not around is another matter. So I disinfect worktops regularly. Hygiene is needed with all pets (and humans).

I was told that cats don't like the smell of oranges and I used an orange scented cleaning spray. I don't know if it's still made by Flash. It seemed to work. I also kept a bowl of oranges on the counter.

Baking tins poised to fall off in the night and wake up the whole household!! A tablecloth would be quieter.

I like the idea of cats coming running to the sound of the rattle tin. I guess my cats .... well, they were kittens when I was training them .... were just scaredy-cats and so it worked.

I have a piece of clear glass over my dining table to protect it, it's almost impossible to see it so not obtrusive. I had it cut to size by a glazier who them bevelled the edges.

Yes Baking tins make a noise and frighten the cat and possibly wakes you up, it also stops the cat getting on table/worktop.

A cloth would not. I like the glass idea though.

Yes but you would be using the cloth purely for the purpose of stopping the cat scratching the table LadyGracie, it could be removed in the morning.

Claws go through cloths though, if the need arises I’ll be using my old baking tins.

I am another who has successfully trained all my cats to keep of tables and the kitchen work top.

As yours is only on the table at night, he knows it is wrong, so you might just get him to stop. Might being the operative word.

A saucer of vinegar on the table might help, most cats dislike the smell.

If there is a door to the room the table is in, close it before going to bed, after making sure the cat isn't already on or under the table.

The table is in the kitchen/diner - where the cat-flap is, so we couldn't lock him out.

I guess the only way is to use the table-protector (which we use when the grandchildren come and play at the table). Such a faff, though. Might try the saucer of vinegar tonight ... Bloody cat! And he really has no right to be here at all! An adopted stray - who now thinks he owns the place!