How to stop my cat from knocking things off counters for attention?

It can be really difficult to keep cats off the counter. You should continue to put them on the floor when you catch them. You could look into something like a Scat Mat, although it does give a small electric shock. There are also some motion sensor forced air canisters that might work. If your cats are particularly anxious or fearful you should be cautious with any type of negative reinforcement since it could frighten them and cause behavioral issues.

This unfortunately is part of a cats normal hunting and stalking behavior - providing more appropriate alternatives such as chasing games, food puzzle toys and active play can help to limit the destructive behavior, I recommend you keep anything valuable out of reach until she gets older though!

You could cover the counters with textures that cats don't like. For example, aluminum foil, placemats or cardboard covered with double-faced sticky tape. Many cats don’t like those surfaces, so the hope is for the cat to jump down once he/she touches the surface. Leave the mats on the counter at all times when not in use and, hopefully, she will stay off. After a few weeks without signs of her on the counters, remove a small section at a time and see if she will stay off.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am so sorry that Bingley is being so bad! First for your sanity, at night I would confine him so he isn't keeping you up at night. Put him in the basement (with food, water and litter boxes) or a separate room. That will keep him from getting in to things and allow you to sleep. The good news is that he will grow out of this behavior, he is very young still. As for getting up on the counters, etc: cats like high places. First provide alternatives, get a couple of cat trees or other things to enrich his environment. Make sure all food is put away and the facet doesn't drip so he isn't attracted to the counters. Then you have to make the counters unpleasant: cover the counters with textures cats hate — aluminum foil is one example; cardboard covered with double-faced masking tape or shelf liner is another. No, you won’t have your counters covered forever, but you will need to keep them covered while your cat learns to use the new perches. For the more determined cat, you can look at harmless automatic devices that discourage counter cruising by making sounds cats dislike when they trigger a pressure pad or electronic eye by jumping up. I hope this helps and have a great day!

Keeping your cat's nails short and trimmed will help. It would also be helpful to provide your cat with a scratching post so he can use this instead of using your curtains. To keep him off the counters you can use a spray bottle with water to discourage this behavior. Other things that may work is putting double sided tape on the surfaces because your cat will not like how it sticks to his paws. It usually only takes one or two trips on the counter with the tape to discourage this behavior. There are also motion detecting devices that shoot high pressured air to startle the cat when it detects the cat on the counter. I hope one of these solutions works for you and Lomeo.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. If you want to train your cat not to jump on the counter, you can try the following method. Obtain a spray bottle and fill it with water. Whenever Salem jumps up onto the counter, lightly spritz him in the face and say "off!" to show that this is an unacceptable behavior. I've had some clients use noise deterrants before where a motion sensing noise device is placed on the counter and whenever the cat triggers the motion sensor, a loud noise goes off. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

There are small water fountains you can purchase to use as her water source. This may keep her off of the counters. Restrict access to the rooms if possible. If not, a length of aluminum foil placed on the counter may deter her. Whenever you see her on the counter, gently remove her to another room. Be consistent and she will eventually learn the platform is not a place for her.