How to keep a cat off a kitchen counter?

I bought a water pistol in the toy section of wal mart- one of the long range kind. I waited for him to get on the counter, then squirted him with water. It took some patience and several days of this but it finally helped. I was careful to never leave any food that he could get - that was what he was after on the cabinet.

Apply sticky tape to the edge of counter, cats hate the feeling of sticky tape

You can't, why would you want to? Just grin and love it

You already tried Aluminum foil..... but have you tried:

Motion activated pet deterrents. They make a sound if they trip the sensor. Scares them off almost all the time.

Double sided sticky tape, but then you have it up there all the time.

Citrus fruit peels are good.. they don't like the smell.

Similar to Foil... Tin cans filled with dry beans. It scares them.

I have seen in the pet stores that there is a spray you can use.

I used sticky tape. It worked for a while, then cat learned to jump over it. :)

Have you tried a squirt gun?

Cats LOVE boxes. Put on on the floor and he'll stay in there as long as there's nothing attractive on top of the counter

You don't...keep a cat off of anything...you learn to keep the butter covered...

Get a motion activated spray cannister from the vet. Use 'regular' canned air as a replacement when the can is empty (less expensive than the 'real' replacement canned air.