cats

Side note for OP, if you don’t want them on kitchen counters, giving alternatives helps a lot. Cats are snoopy- they have to know what everyone is doing, so a cat shelf in the kitchen (or kitchen window) with a bed will give them a place other than your counter.

Or stools to watch from, (and if they still use it as a highway, tinfoil worked on the guy I watch occasionally.)(still gotta scrub the counter before you start cooking…)