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Keeping a cat off the counters can be a challenge. Cats are innately curious, and counters offer many choice items that reinforce a feline's desire to explore.
There are a few simple ways to keep your cat in line and on the floor. First, owners must realize that cats don't understand punishment the way we do. If you yell at your cat, most likely he will only learn to do whatever bad thing he was doing when you're not around.
Keep your counters clean! That cereal bowl from breakfast sitting on the counter will only encourage your cat to jump up and look for treats. Before any training can begin, get all the goodies out of reach.
Next, get a squirt gun. Squirt guns are the premier cat-training tool. Because you can shoot from a distance, most cats won't associate this sort of punishment with an owner. When you catch your cat on the table, give her a squirt on two with the water gun. She should quickly learn to stay down on the ground.
If the squirt gun isn't enough to keep your cat grounded, try booby-trapping your counter. There are a few ways to go about doing this. One method is to make some shake cans. Take a few empty soda cans and put a few pennies in them. Tape over the hole in the top of the can. Next, place some cans all around the edge of your counter. When your cat jumps up, she should knock the cans all over the place. Most cats aren't very fond of loud noises. Cans full of pennies crashing to the ground is usually enough deterrent to keep your cat away from high places for a while.
Upside down mousetraps are another way to make the counters undesirable to your feline companion. Of course, make sure they're upside down! When your cat jumps up into the middle of the upside down mousetraps, they should snap shut and scare him back down to the floor.
Another method is to cover the table or counter with something that cats don't like. Cats have a fairly long list of things they could do without, and right on the top of that list is double-sided sticky tape. Check to make sure it won't hurt the surface first, then run strips of this tape across your table. One jaunt across the sticky stuff should keep your cat grounded for a while. Covering a counter with plastic or tin foil should also do the trick.
In all of these methods, consistency is the primary ingredient. Don't just try to teach your cat to stay off the dining room table when you have people over for dinner. He could care less about dinner guests, and will just wonder why you're pushing him out of his favorite nap site. If you want your cat to stay on the floor, make rules that he needs to follow all the time. Once cats know the rules, most are willing to follow them to keep up the illusion that their owner is still in charge of the house.
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