How To Train A Cat
Would you like your cat to understand some basic concepts of living together? You can easily teach your cat to come when you call, to do their business in their litter tray and not to scratch, are some rules that can teach your feline friend with a little patience and some specific tips. Although it is more complicated than with dogs, cats can also learn concepts and associate some commands or calls, so in this OneHowTo article we show you how to train a cat so you know how to achieve this.
Before we get into the specifics to train your cat, we are going to give you some general tips that you can put into practice for anything that you want to train your pet to do.
- Postive reinforcement when your cat has done something correctly. In the early stages of training it is important to always reinforce good behaviour but as they get older, you don’t have reward them every single time. Give them their favourite food or a cat treat as a reward.
- Make it easier by using a particular sound, e.g. a bell or clicker are good to use since the animal will associate that sound with a reward and, therefore, will do what you have taught them.
- Before giving them any commands, it is important to say the name of your cat. For them to recognise their name, you also have to say it whenever you pet them, hold them and play with them. They need to clear that this is their name so look directly at them when you say it. Consult our article how to teach a cat its name for more information.
Helpful Kitten Training Tips For Beginners
A general assumption that people have about kittens is that they are untrainable. However, if you are planning to bring a kitten into your household for the first time, you need to understand that this assumption is wrong.;
Cats are highly intelligent beings, and they can be trained. In fact, its a lot like raising children. When you give them proper training and care while theyre young, they grow up to be well-adjusted and healthy adults. So, if you have brought a kitten home for the first time, here are eight tips that will help you train the cute little furball.
Litter Train Your Kitten
Litter training your kitten is as simple as placing your kitten inside the litter box to show them where it is. Kittens instinctively like to potty in the litter box. However, if you are finding it difficult to litter train your kitten, just sit and hold your cat in the litter box for a few minutes at a time while reassuring them and offering treats.;
Let your kitten paw the litter and get accustomed to the new environment. Youre simply trying to trigger your kittens instincts to scrape up and cover their feces after doing their business.
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How Cats Might Manipulate You
Frequently humans try training cat tricks and give up because their Kitty seems to be lacking in attention span. That is, the very cat that meows at them for 30 minutes straight cant seem to focus for 5 minutes to learn a new trick. If that seems odd to you, it should. What Kitty has is not a lack of attention span, rather, its a case of Kitty manipulating you. She wants the food but she wants you to do the trickslike running after her and trying to put the treat up to her face as she walks away from you around the room.
What should you do? Well, if shes hungry, you should make it clear that the food goes away rather than coming closer, when she starts to look bored. When she starts to walk away or stares at you with a blank look from several feet away, you can walk the other way or out of the room. If she follows you, shes still hungry and motivated to learn. If shes doesnt, then it means you should take a break and try later in the day.
Now that you know the general approach, you have all the tools you need to train many fun behaviors. To see video of this trick,
Teaching An Old Cat New Tricks
Just because youre really more of a cat person doesnt mean you have to sacrifice one of the best parts about having a dog: teaching it party tricks! While its true the two species do have a different learning style, you can absolutely help your feline friend absorb the basics.
Keep in mind that cats derive more motivation from play than snacks. You should also come prepared with a little extra patience. Cats generally need a few more reps than dogs before they can master any one move.
Below well offer up some general training tips and five tricks that any cat, no matter how headstrong, can performwhen they feel like it.
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Gestural And Verbal Slogan
In order for your cat to perform a certain trick or command, it’s best to teach them to perform it when observing you perform an oral command or gesture. Cats generally have more facility in learning to obey visual commands, so try to go for a certain hand gesture.
Once you have chosen a visual command you can now associate it with an auditory stimulus. It should be a short and clear word, always said in the same tone of voice to avoid confusion. By breaking this up into two parts, you’ll make it easier for you cat to understand the auditory stimulus for the trick. And by choosing a short and concise word, you’ll also make it easier for you.
What Do You Want To Train
First, determine what you’d like your cat to learn, then move toward them in small ways each day. Before you start training your cat, however, consider what commands you’ll use and what types of behavioral actions you want her to learn. Think about what you may have wondered in the past: how to train your cat to use a litter box, how to keep her calm on trips to the veterinarian’s office, and the like. How can you teach her stop scratching your rugs or furniture? These are all options you can work on during training.
Some common objectives include:
- House training or litter training.
- Coming to you when you call or gesture.
- Staying calm and still for grooming.
- Interacting with you, other people, or other animals.
- Playing with toys, with you, or with another cat.
- Calm traveling .
There are many important reasons to learn why and how to train your cat. But above all, teaching her to behave in certain ways will help her become social and content around humans and other animals. Training is also important for your own well-being; if your cat learns to be calm during nail-trimming or travel, there will be no anxiety for her or you. The better mannered your cat is, the better your relationship will be.
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Avoid Physical Manipulation And Punishment
As we’ve previously mentioned, we need to train them through positive reinforcement in order to help them enjoy the process and create a stronger bond with our cat. If we try to train them through punishment, it will result in trauma and behavioral issues.
Training a cat will usually take more time than training a dog, so we must be patient, kind and compassionate. Avoid aggressive physical manipulation or punishments. If you feel stressed at any moment, stop their training session and try another day. This is meant to be an enjoyable activity for both you and your cat.
Easy Cat Tricks And Commands You Can Teach Your Cat
When it comes to training animals, cats are not usually the first creatures that spring to mind, but these are extremely intelligent animals and if you have one, training them to do a few cat tricks can be fun for you both. Training your cat can be simple and easy, and by starting with the easy to teach tricks we are going to discuss in this article, your kitty will be complying in no time at all. We are also going to take a look at some great training tips to ensure that teaching your cat tricks is as easy as possible.
If you are not convinced that cat tricks are a thing, just take a look at platforms such as , where thousands of doting pet owners have showcased their cats performing all sorts of wacky and wonderful things. Your cat is no different. Lets take a look at some of the things that your feline friend will easily be able to pick up, with a little help from you, of course.
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Fun Tricks To Teach Your Cat
Can you train a cat? Many people assume that answer is no; cats are independent animals and respond less to human praise than dogs. However, with a little bit of patience and some tasty treats, cats can be trained just as well as dogs! Here are three of our favourite tricks to teach our feline friends, and some handy tips on how you can make them obey your commands.
Teach Your Cat To High Five
For this trick, youll need a small target; you can use a small sticky note or a piece of colored card. Place a treat under the sticky note, and as your cat bats the sticky note out of the way, click to reward them. Repeat this until your cat knows that they need to touch the sticky note to get the treat.
Now you can place the sticky note on your hand, put your hand close to your cat not too high at this point and click and repeat as your cat touches the target on your hand. You can then repeat this with your hand held higher up, in a high five position. Start to use a verbal cue if you like, such as saying high five as you show your cat the target.
Once your cat has mastered this, you can make the target smaller, until its phased out completely and your cat doesnt need it.
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Why Teach Your Cat Tricks
Tricks for cats are a good way of keeping her mind agile and active. Training her also serves are a means of expanding her natural abilities.
Another benefit of training your cat tricks is that you will form a stronger bond with her. Investing your time and effort into teaching your cat tricks will be well worth when the rewards are reaped. Your cat will respond well to you.
One last benefit of teaching your cat is that she will be more adorable. Because what is more adorable than a cute kitty? A kitty that can do tricks!
Use Treats As Positive Reinforcement
The best reinforcements to use when training cats are treats. But, they cant be just any treats, as most cat owners know.
Cats can be very particular when it comes to their likes and dislikes. So make sure you splurge for the treats your cat loves the most. These will be the most effective.
Check out our guide to the best treats for cats.
If your cat doesnt fancy typical cat treats, try diced pieces of chicken or turkey, low-sodium tuna and even meat-flavored baby food.
Next, make sure your cat acclimates to receiving rewards in response to certain behaviors, like performing a simple trick.;
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Slip Me Some Skin Kitten
Your cat can give you high fives with a little practice every day, a lot of praise and a little incentive . Training your cat to high five is similar to training her to sit; begin by holding a treat slightly over her head, raising it high enough that she needs to reach for it — when she does, touch her paw, say “High Five!” and give her a reward for her efforts.
Once she’s mastered how to high five, it’s just a little more practice to turn that into a hand shake, a wave goodbye, or even something as cool as closing drawers or cabinet doors for you when your hands are full.
Keep Each ‘session’ Short And Natural
Having determined which lessons you and your cat will master, it’s time to get down to business. First and foremost, your cat’s attention span is shorter than yours; you can’t expect her to stay interested every time you’re ready to be the trainer. Let the lesson dictate how long she’s willing to be in your company.
Because some kittens take to potty training quickly after watching their mother use a litter box, this type of training time may be brief. However, you may still need to lead her back to the little box in the early stages to remind her where it is. If you’re training your kitten to play with her toys , however, the lessons might be more gradual. Cats often prefer to explore new toys on their own, which means your role should be to respect her space while remaining approachable during her exploration. Then once she’s acquainted herself with a new item, you can participate.
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Teach Your Cat To Roll Over
To teach your cat to roll over, youll first need to teach them the sit command, which weve covered. Ask your cat to lie down, then use a treat toward your cats back paws, so theyre lying more on their side, with their shoulder and hip on one side, both contacting the floor.
Next up, once your cat is lying on their side, take a treat and draw it up and around your cats neck. Keep practicing as your cat learns to roll over. Using a soft surface like a bed can help encourage your cat to roll over.
Train Your Cat To Come When Called
Using your cats favorite treat bag is a great way to teach your cat to come when theyre called. Many cats will come running as soon as they hear that treat bag start to rustle. All you need to do is create a positive association between the treats and your cats name.
Its easiest to start this training with your cat right up close. Simply say your cats name, crinkle the bag, and reward them with a treat. Over time, increase the distance between you and your cat, call their name, crinkle the treat bag, and reward your cat when they come running.
You should eventually be able to phase out the treats and reward your cat with a cuddle or a scratch when they come running as you call their name.
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The Next Step: Teaching Cues
Once your cat has learned several behaviors, the next step is to teach her to do it on command by responding to a signal.
Cats relate better to gestures and hand signals than they do to verbal cues. Whether you are using your voice or a certain rap on a hard surface or hand gesture, use the same cue all the time and only use it once. The cat must learn to respond immediately.
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Try Teaching Him These Tricks
Sit
The easiest tricks to teach your cat involve natural behaviors he already does. Sit is a perfect example.
- Have the treat in your hand and let your cat see and smell it.
- As your cat smells the treat, move it upward and slightly back over his head. As his nose moves up, his haunches naturally go down.
- Say sit when your cat sits, and give the reward at the same time. You can also use a hand signal, held up in the stop position, to deepen the learning.
High five
Teaching your cat to do a high five is also easier than you might think. Just be sure to pick one name for the trick and stick with it, whether its high five, shake or fist bump.
- To start, encourage tiny paw movements when your cat naturally lifts a paw off the floor, and give him a treat.
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With a treat held in your closed hand, wait for your cat to try to grab it, then give the treat as a reward.
- Gradually raise your hand higher; when your cat touches it with a paw, give him the treat reward.
These are only two examples of tricks you can teach your cat. Felines are smart and can be easily trained with positive reinforcement. It also reduces stress, counteracts boredom, and provides mental and physical stimulation while deepening your bond with your cat. With patience, diligence and consistency, you and your kitty will soon be ready to delight your family and friends with some smarty-cat party tricks!
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The Clicker: A Great Training Tool
You probably noticed in the video that I was using a little clicking device. This is a clicker. It is a training tool that is used to indicate to the animal that he did the right thing and he will receive a reward. It is like the whistle used to train dolphins.
This tool is really inexpensive and will fasten your training! What is great about a clicker is:
- That it always has the same sound, unlike our voice that will change depending on our mood or can be unclear.
- It is precise! It is great when you need perfect timingâwhen you need to reward the precise moment when the animal does his action.
- You can click from a distance; the sound is loud enough.
- The association made with the clicking sound makes it a really strong motivator. The sound is distinct, and the animal knows exactly what it means if introduced properly.
You can search the internet for videos or articles on how to use a clicker, or you can also buy books that will teach you.
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