I have two super obnoxious kittens (about 9 and 10 months old) who will NOT stop jumping up on my kitchen counters! I got a squirt bottle to keep in there, but as soon as they hear me coming, they leap off the counter and run away and since you aren't supposed to punish them except when they're on the counter, that makes it very hard to work on modifying this behavior. Any suggestions on things I can do to keep them off? I understand when they jump up there to eat my food (even though I hate when they do that, at least I understand the motivation behind it), but sometimes they like to go up there just to hang out and explore.
Also, they are so bad about me leaving any food out in the kitchen that one time, they actually ripped through a sealed bag of tortilla chips and ate some of the chips!
And finally, I have one kitten who has learned to stay off of the coffee table (where most of my meal-eating takes place since I have no dining room), but the other one (Japanese bobtail mix) still likes to jump up on it, then stare at me defiantly until I grab the squirt bottle, at which point she runs away.
And it's not like I starve them, they get plenty of food!
I really want to love these kittens as much as possible and they are the sweetest, cutest things ever, but this behavior is really straining our relationship.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Also, they are so bad about me leaving any food out in the kitchen that one time, they actually ripped through a sealed bag of tortilla chips and ate some of the chips!
And finally, I have one kitten who has learned to stay off of the coffee table (where most of my meal-eating takes place since I have no dining room), but the other one (Japanese bobtail mix) still likes to jump up on it, then stare at me defiantly until I grab the squirt bottle, at which point she runs away.
And it's not like I starve them, they get plenty of food!
I really want to love these kittens as much as possible and they are the sweetest, cutest things ever, but this behavior is really straining our relationship.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!