--- title: Cat Reacts to Tin Foil on Counter in Viral Video description: If you're having an issue with your cat climbing all over your kitchen counters, then the tin foil trick may be for you. canonical: https://time.com/5800184/cat-tin-foil-counter/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-03-10T16:20:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:01:21.794Z og:title: Cat Reacts Accordingly to Tin Foil Used to Keep It Off the Counter og:description: This feline is not a fan of foil og:url: https://time.com/5800184/cat-tin-foil-counter/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7dd25441b6dbd8c7/698a0b59656a3f0753bd9c9c/Cat-Tin-Foil-Counter.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Cat-Tin-Foil-Counter og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cat Reacts Accordingly to Tin Foil Used to Keep It Off the Counter twitter:description: This feline is not a fan of foil twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7dd25441b6dbd8c7/698a0b59656a3f0753bd9c9c/Cat-Tin-Foil-Counter.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's a Cat Reacting Accordingly to the Tin Foil Used to Keep It Off the Kitchen Counter  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Mar 10, 2020 4:20 PM UTC  Tabby cat on a kitchen counter Tabby cat on a kitchen counterWestend61—Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Mar 10, 2020 4:20 PM UTC If you’re having an issue with your [cat](https://time.com/5768746/cat-reacts-to-can-of-tuna/) climbing all over your kitchen counters, then the [tin foil](https://time.com/5682464/area-51-raid-hat/) trick may be for you. Since most cats dislike the way aluminum foil feels and sounds under their paws, it can be an effective deterrent for keeping them off of a surface you don’t want them to walk on. At least, that’s certainly true for the cat in a now-viral video that was recently shared by [YouTube channel ViralHog](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3339WgBDKIcxTfywuSmG8w). “My cat won’t stop jumping up on the kitchen bench, so I googled ways to stop that,” the cat’s owner explains at the beginning of the clip. “Apparently all you need is some tin foil.” This is followed by the owner laying down the foil and secretly filming as his cat prepares to jump up. In a hilarious sequence that seems to prove the trick works, the cat proceeds to make its leap but rebounds off the counter as if it was hit by an electric shock as soon as its feet touch the foil. It then scurries out of the room without even attempting a different approach. Watch the video of the cat reacting to tin foil below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5800184/cat-tin-foil-counter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5800184/cat-tin-foil-counter/"},"headline":"Here's a Cat Reacting Accordingly to the Tin Foil Used to Keep It Off the Kitchen Counter","datePublished":"2020-03-10T16:20:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:01:21.794Z","description":"This feline is not a fan of foil","url":"https://time.com/5800184/cat-tin-foil-counter/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","Brief","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7dd25441b6dbd8c7/698a0b59656a3f0753bd9c9c/Cat-Tin-Foil-Counter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7dd25441b6dbd8c7/698a0b59656a3f0753bd9c9c/Cat-Tin-Foil-Counter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Cat-Tin-Foil-Counter","caption":"Tabby cat on a kitchen counter","creditText":"Westend61—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5800184/cat-tin-foil-counter/","name":"Here's a Cat Reacting Accordingly to the Tin Foil Used to Keep It Off the Kitchen Counter"}}]}] ```