Opinions on cats getting on the counter...

So my grandparents just got a kitty, he is cute, but im concerned because they are letting it get on the counter...
Personally i think it's unsanitary to let it up there seeing as it goes from its litter box to the counter...


do yall let your cats up there? what do you think about it being sanitary?

its just kinda nasty.

Our cats have always gotten onto the counter, but I agree - I've also always thought it was kinda gross. They poop or pee and then use their paws to cover it up and then walk all over the counter. But they're technically not MY cats, so I have no say in the matter.

I think it is nasty... but I say that not having any cats any longer.

I think when you have an animal you get comfortable and it isn't scary or gross. I mean my cat Mallory would paw my face every morning to wake me up. Nasty as it gets, but did I flip out... never.

She would also suckle at my hair when I slept... nasty, but it was almost cute.

She was my cat and I loved her...

Bruce

addendum.... we let our snakes slither all over us. I think a snake is way dirtier... I mean, they LAY in their feces and urine.

My GF has 2 cats that she got after we moved in together. They are cute and all but the kitty litter/counter/hair everywhere thing to me is totally gross.

I, of course, can't complain much. I take up an entire room with snakes, have a dog, and fill the garage with rats.......the cats stay :)

It's no nastier than everyday life IMHO. Snakes end up with feces and urates on them. Dogs lick their heinies, then your face. People touch a doorknob, and then their face.. not thinking that the people before them touched it.. after blowing their nose, scratching their butt, etc(who knows).
Cats are generally cleaner than most creatures, including a lot of humans.

For a non-cat person, it's nasty, but you get used to it.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

It's no nastier than everyday life IMHO. Snakes end up with feces and urates on them. Dogs lick their heinies, then your face. People touch a doorknob, and then their face.. not thinking that the people before them touched it.. after blowing their nose, scratching their butt, etc(who knows).
Cats are generally cleaner than most creatures, including a lot of humans.

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Or when you eat out you don't know who or what has touched your food. A study was recently done to see how much bacteria is on a woman's purse and it was seriously disgusting. People are quick to judge animals as dirty, but humans are just as filthy.

My cat's litter box is in the bathroom so she has to walk a good ways to get to the kitchen. I wipe down the counter with a bleach solution before cooking and I don't prepare food directly on the counter anyway.

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Originally Posted by onebreitgirl

Or when you eat out you don't know who or what has touched your food. A study was recently done to see how much bacteria is on a woman's purse and it was seriously disgusting. People are quick to judge animals as dirty, but humans are just as filthy.

My cat's litter box is in the bathroom so she has to walk a good ways to get to the kitchen. I wipe down the counter with a bleach solution before cooking and I don't prepare food directly on the counter anyway.

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I dont think there is anything wrong with it. First off I DONT put food on the counter i will set it on something like a plate or a cookie pan of somesort. I dont have any cats in the house but a counter is still dirty unless it was just cleaned. Rule of thumb for me is to clean anything before I put food on it. It was said that dogs lick there buts sad thing is there mouth is still cleaner then ours if I remember right. They have something in there saliva that kinda kills bacteria dont quote me on this though.

My problem with cats on the counter isn't really for sanitary reasons- if I'm going to have food or silverwear on the counter, I'll make sure it's clean first.

What I don't like is the risk of her knocking things off of the counter. She knocked a glass off the counter the first time she got up there (that we know of) and knocked us out of sleep!

Also, I don't know if you can really train them to not ever go on the counters. Binka gets in trouble whenever she's caught up there so knows not to do it when we're home/awake. But we've seen signs that she goes up there when we're not around. But I think the same goes with any rules you try and give cats. They'll follow the rules until you turn your back on them...

I think if you are a sanitary housekeeper, it isn't so much of a problem. Everything around here gets washed before it's used for human consumption, counters disinfected, etc. So, the sanitary issues doesn't bother me.

As for them knocking stuff off the counter, never an issue. Both of our cats are extremely careful.

I don't have any cats anymore, but at one time we had 5. I didn't like them on counters because although sanitary measures are practiced..the kids would not pay attention most of the time. They might come in the house, get a glass of milk and a cookie and set the cookie down on the counter or table or whatever without cleaning it first.

As a rule, some cat germs are usually only a danger to some pregnant women.

Do you know how often cats clean their paws?

CONSTANTLY.

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

Do you know how often cats clean their paws?

CONSTANTLY.

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I've currently got five cats (six up until one week ago) and all save one get up on the counters. We clean our counters before we cook anyway, and nothing is ever put directly on the counters (that's what cutting boards are for, silly :P) But, all of my cats are crazy about their hygiene. I always see Twilight cleaning, like, ALWAYS. And my Hershey pretty much cleans his paws when he's not harassing everyone else :P My dad's cat Buddy, wakes up, cleans himself. Uses his toilet, cleans himself, etc. Cat's are vain creatures lol. Their nails are dirty yes, because the claws have recesses where bacteria, poop, urine saturated litter dust, can accumulate, but their feet themselves, between toes, their bodies, are constantly being cleaned

I am a cat lover, and a cat person. But when I visit people's houses, and see their cats running amok all over the place, it does make me thankful for my cat. He is fat and lazy, and never jumps on counters, or on the fridge. He hates human food and will never eat off of any plates left out. I cannot even get him to eat crab, chicken, or any other meat if I try! Weird..
I don't know about some cats being able to be trained. My friend has two male Snow Bengals and I have seen her reprimand them off of the counter, only to see them jump RIGHT back up in about five seconds. I do not think that they can be trained.. my mom's run-o-the-mill orange tabby is exactly the same. Seriously. And water? Nope. They love water, and if you squirt them with it, you would be rewarding them because they will bat at it and play in it. LOL.
I don't like the idea of cats on the counter though. They Do dig in their litter box.. and germs Are in there. I know that pregnant women should not clean out litterboxes.. therefore, I don't know if it is such a stretch to say that, it could be dangerous for them to touch a counter where a cat's paws could have transferred bacteria or even kitty-litter with bacteria on it. I would be worried about visiting people, since, I might know that my counter is dirty, but they could possibly not.. And I am not even a neat-freak! I am the one who cleans the barn and has a bottle of Mountain Dew sitting on the manure cart. With chickens running around.. I must be immune to salmonella by now with the barns I have cleaned at!

I voted no, but not really for the sanitary reasons. I have two cats and neither are allowed on the counters. I'm not saying they don't get up there when I'm not home (I know they do sometimes) but they know to stay off when I'm home. I like that b/c I know I can fix food without them coming up and trying to get in it. They sit at my feet and just hope I drop some. :P

I have also taught my cats 'No!'. I can't stand animals that beg for food (cats, dogs, whatever). Both kittens know not to go near the human food, and even when they try, all it takes is a firm 'no' and they stop where they are. They have even learned to sit before I feed them. They still meow, but they aren't running crazy around me wanting what I have.

I am very careful about leaving anything out, b/c I know any rules that I have go right out the window when I leave. So I put up any food and clean the counters before using them.

I left my hat and gloves on the counter where my cat sleeps in an attempt to get her to stop sleeping there. The next morning I found my hat and gloves in her litter box, and she peed on them.

I dont really care.

I clean all surfaces before i cook anyway.

Lol, well, I can understand the hygiene aspect of it, but...we clean the countertops before cooking. I'd prefer that he didn't get up on the countertop, but I'll be the first to admit that my cat is a mean, snarky, disobedient little snot. When we take him off the counter, he'll jump right back up--while we're still standing there, and he'll give us a defiant look! We use a squirt bottle as a punishment, but whenever he sees us grab it and point it at him, he'll just hunker down, flatten his ears and squint his eyes and give us the MEANEST look imaginable. And then we have to squirt him a LOT before he'll move...and then he hops down, licks himself clean, and gets right back up.

We've sort of given up the battle after losing for two years...

Buy a hose.

Hah! I've never even thought of the hygiene part of it. D: I don't let my cats on the counter because its annoying and they get into food. Anyway, it gets them into bad habits like always trying to get on your desk (which has a lot of very easily knocked over/breakable things) and always trying to get onto the highest places they can such as on top of the fridge. My cat and my step-mom's cats used to always try to get to the top of the fridge and were always knocking things over because of it. But now they're OUTLAWED. :)