I finally trained my elderly cat to use the footstool up to the bathroom counter (and more importantly, to get down) and now they have taken ownership of that side of the counter. Last night I was brushing my teeth and had set a cup on Kanika's side of the counter. They stood on their hind legs with front paws on the counter prepared to jump, saw the cup, and very gently pushed it with one paw, alerting me to move it. This cat gets more clever with every passing year.