Training your cat can be a fun and rewarding experience. Patience and time are necessary for training. You can train your cat to have good behaviors so that when you are gone, you will know they are safe.
Kittens are much easier to train than older cats because a kitten is like a child, and we have to teach them right and wrong. With the older cats, it is not easy as they are set in their ways, but they are still trainable.
Some of the reasons you might want to train your cat are to avoid scratching the furniture, jumping on items, climbing the drapes or the countertop, or using the litter box and not your favorite chair. On the other hand, have your cat pulling the stuffing out of pillows, and most to use the kitty litter box and not that favorite rug that you have. A cat may do these a few things, and you would like to change the behavior.
One of the first things you want to train your cat to do is come or get the cat’s attention when you call the cat’s name. A clicker can be used and is efficient to help with training a cat. We have to remember that all cats have their own personalities, so there could be a chance that your cat will not act as quickly or to the clicker.
First, you will want to call the cat’s name click the clicker, if the cat responds in any way, you need to give the cat a small treat. Small treats are great rewards for cats, and cats love liver. You do not want to make a full meal out of the treats. Once the cat does respond, you will want to use this till the cat does come to you when called. The next step is to stop using the clicker for calling and reduce the treats until the cat does come once you call them. The clicker and treats can be used for other training.
The next training should be litter box training. In addition, if the cat or kitten is not trained already. Purchase a litter box, as boxes are very inexpensive. You will want to make sure you do not get one that is too tall for the cat to get in. You want the cat to be able to get in the box comfortably and not have to climb. Kitty litter should be about a couple of inches in the litter box. Putting too much, it will just be all over when the cat uses it and digs. Kitty litter comes in all kinds of forms, scents, and prices.
Which one is the best will be up to you and your cat. Purchase kitty litter that will absorb the smell and the poop from the cat. If it does not do this for you or the cat, the cat may not want to go back in the little box to use. The litter box needs cleaning daily, with removing the waste. Once a week the litter box needs cleaning, you will need to throw out the old litter, was the litter box, and replace the litter in the box.
Set the box near the place where the cat is going. When you see the cat going or need to go, pick the cat up and place it in a box. Then give your cat a treat, you will need to watch for this, as you will want to get the cat to use the box. Once the cat is using the litter box, you can start moving the litter box very slowly day by day to the area that is set up for your cat to use. Moving the litter box too quickly, or all at once, will not work, as the cat will not know where the litter box is. Continue the treats, and once your cat has successfully used the box in the proper area, then you can decrease the treats.
Researching and using the internet for more information on training your cat will help you with training and a successful relationship between you and the cat.
Cat behavior training
Learning cat behaviors before you start training them would be a good idea for anyone who is going to train a cat’s behavior.
A cat can jump and land on its feet, as this is a natural instinct for a cat. When a kitten is firstborn, the cushion in a kitten’s paws is not developed with the cushion to land on its feet. It takes about 7 weeks to develop the cushion in a cat’s paw for landing. A cat’s bone structure is unique to other animals as the bones are flexible, the cat has no collar bone, which enables them to be able to twist and bend their bones A cat can jump from a short distance without sustaining any injuries.
With this behavior, you will want to teach the cat to jump hoops, sticks, or the scratching tree. Letting a cat jump from extreme heights will cause injury to the cat.
Cats have a unique hearing ability; they can hear high tones and pitches, like opening a door or a can of food. Cats also have unique smelling abilities. The reason a cat will scratch or urinate on the floor, rub its self up against a door or furniture, is the cat is leaving their scent in that areas so they will be able to come back and know they were there, in other words marking its territory.
In addition, if another cat or animal comes along in the area, a cat will know this. Cats can also smell with their mouths. There is a gland called ‘Jacobson’s organ’, it is a sac in the cat’s upper mouth filled with blood, as the cat smells the scent and slightly opens their mouth and upper lip, this allows the scent to be carried in and to the sac, which it will carry the scent goes to the cat brain. This mostly happens to male cats when a female has urinated.
These natural instincts and behaviors can give you some insight to help you train your cat. With behavior training, you will want to make sure that you allow your cat the ability to play out its natural instincts and behaviors in some way.
When training a cat for behaviors here are some things that you need to look at and take into consideration when training. Aggression, especially in older cats, can be caused by illness or other cats in the home. You may want to contact your vet to have the cat checked out to see if it is all right at this time to train a cat.
Depression and anxiety could play another part in trying to train your cat. If a cat is separated from its recent owner, the cat can become depressed. Stress can be a common effect on a cat. If you think that your cat has depression or high anxiety, this would be a good time to take the cat to the vet. Vets can talk to you about some of the things that may be causing this and a helpful list to help the cat. There are medications that a vet can prescribe for the cat to help with depression and anxiety.
Never hit a cat for a punishment. The cat will learn to fear you, and fear will be a behavior you will not be able to control or retrain when they do something that is not right. Ignore the problem, or if you catch them right away, you can associate the noise with that behavior on what you do not like or just in a stern voice tell them “NO”.
If behavior is becoming impossible you may have to resort to the baby proof home, all containers that have food in them have a lid on it. Make sure that the counters are clean and have nothing that a cat would want to play with.
The day that you get your cat or kitten, you will want to start training at this point. This will keep many unwanted behaviors away and hopefully not let any new behaviors start.
Healthy cats need healthy relationships with their owner.
Cat door training
Are you tired of listening to the cat meowing up a storm or scratching up the door to get in? Let us look at some simple solutions to this problem. Let us take a look at some of the training aids to help train your cat to alert you to come in.
Put a small bell on a string that hangs down from the door. This will allow the cat to play with the string and ring the bell. This is a good learning tool to help both you and the cat. Bells come in a variety of different sizes. A small one would be the perfect size for a cat to play with so they are able to ring the bell. Bells are very inexpensive and can be found and purchased in most stores. Craft stores have them and are very inexpensive. The string should hang down long enough so the cat can reach it without jumping at it or using the door for support. You can put a small amount of catnip on the string or in the bell. This will attract them to play with the bell. Get catnip in a spray, smell this will help attract them to the bell.
Teaching the cat to use the bell is another thing you must do for them. This is so they learn how the bell works to play with. The sound from the bell will warn your kitty that it is ready to come inside.
When you put the cat outside, you will want to keep an eye out for them coming in and show them to ring the bell. Once your cat rings the bell, you want to reward them with a good, healthy snack. As you help the cat ring the bell, you will need to open the door and allow the cat to come in with a reward right as they can get in.
Let us look at another way of training a cat to use a cat door to the entrance and exit. You can find cat doors and entrances in most large pet stores, on the web, or ask your vet where you can purchase a cat door. The doors are small enough so that a cat can get in and out when it wants to, and frees you up from having to attend to the cat going in and out. One simple suggestion is to make sure your cat is not going to run off before installing the door.
These doors can be installed right in your door or possibly next to your door for wall mounting. This is something that you will have to look at before purchasing a door for the cat. Measuring the size of the opening is also important to look at before purchasing. You will want to know the size that you are able to fit the door in. You also will want to measure your cats’ height and width. To know what size of the opening you will need to get. When measuring the width make sure, you allow at least a couple of inches more than the width of the cat. The height from the shoulders to the back of the front legs will give the right height. With the many different types of doors, sizes, and quality, an in-store or online search would be a great place to start looking.
Let us look at the training for the cat to use the door. A cat will not automatically use the door. Hold the door open and allow the cat to come in and out freely with a reward of a simple small snack on each side. This will give the cat a chance to know that they are able to do this. This could take time for the cat to use with continue playing with the cat over a period, soon they will be entering and exiting on their own. Something that you will not want to do is by using the cat’s nose and pushing the cat through the door opening. Open the door and allow them to come in and out.
Once the cat is using the door, you will experience the freedom of sleeping through the night, not having to stop what you are doing to let your cat in and out, and possibly no more kitty litter or mess where they should not be doing.
Cat training supplies
Kitty litter, litter pan, catnip, catnip toys, cat mats, play mice, scratching tree or post collars, leashes, Supplements, door entrances, treats, and food are all cat-training supplies. All these items, plus more, can be found in pet stores on the Internet, in the local vet’s office, and in local stores that carry a line of pet supplies. In addition, just about anything that you may need to help you train your cat can be found.
Another way to get very inexpensive and maybe free supplies is to check out different articles to come up with homemade remedies and items that will help you with the training of a cat. Cats are not really fussy pets. We can make them that way, cats do not know that you made the item or purchased it. This is another good way to get the whole family involved with training the cat. Have them help make the item or come up with some ideas to help train a cat. Children love to make things, and this is a good teaching tool for them. Teaching children that their pet cat also needs to have training in areas that will help the family have a good, healthy relationship with the pet cat.
A simple plastic concentrated juice container is a great idea for cats to roll around and play with. By putting something harmless in the container that will make noise, and if the cat world gets the container open, so they will not be harmed. Put some good tape or glue the top close to the juice container. On the other hand, if someone in the family can sew. Making toys for the cat. Mice, balls, and objects that you can think of. Fill it with soft batting or catnip. The cat will love to play with any of these items.
Build a tree-climbing house for your cat. If you or a family member is a handy person with building small things, this is a good idea, and the cost is very inexpensive. You do not want to make it too high, as we do not want to teach a cat to jump from high places. However, you can have it spread out if there is room for it.
Get some type of idea how much room the cat needs when they are curled up sleeping, you can make a little area particular enclosed for the cat to sleep. Make it from the bottom to the next level high enough to allow the cat for a scratching pole. Have a small shelve on it for the cat to sit and play with some toys or a couple of toys on a stick with a string attached so that the cat can swat at the toy. Make a tunnel for the cat to crawl through or to go when they feel they need protection. If the wood does not splinter, you can use just the bare wood. If you are going to paint or stain the scratching post, take time to check out your local paint store for suggestions on this. You would not want to harm the cat if they licked or tried to gnaw at the wood. Putting carpeting is a good idea. Make sure the carpeting does not have loops in the weaving so that the cat can get the claws snagged. Cats do not like to get claws to snag on anything.
When purchasing supplies for your pet make sure that the item will be appropriate to the trick or behavior you intend to train the cat, some of the pet stores will allow you to bring in your pet. This is a good idea if you are able to do this. This way, you can tell by a cat’s reaction if the supplies that you would like to purchase will be interesting enough to the cat.
Cats are all different and have very many different natures. If it works for one cat, it may not work for another cat.
Always remember when training a pet cat that it will take time and patience to train a cat. In addition, this will be rewarding to your pet cat and the family. If you are having problems with training the cat there are many articles on the Internet about training cats and call the vet, cats too do get sick or depressed.
Cat training tips
When starting to train a cat, a couple of things you will want to take into consideration. Learn more about your cat, have the proper tools to do the training, and have lots of patience. Setting goals too high for you and your cat at training can get very stressful.
Make it simple and fun for your cat training, then both you and your cat will enjoy the bonding from the training.
The right tools are essential when training your cat. Many different items, books, articles, and places will help you with all the items and information that you and your cat will need.
One of the first places that should be checked out is at the area vet. You will want to take your cat in for a check-up. A cat that is ill, sick, or has something wrong with the bone structure is not going to be easy if at all trainable. With help from your vet, they will be able to help you with some ideas about training your cat.
Getting as much information as you can now that you have taken the cat to the vet and have gotten ideas and information from them, now is a time not to stop learning for yourself about your cat. Look for books and magazines that give good advice on training your cat. Especially if the cat may have a small defect, this will be a good time to research books and articles on the particular training that you would like to do for your cat. Check on the internet for articles on cat training for all types of behaviors and lifestyles of your cat.
Age and type of cat also play a part when training your cat. The older cats and cats that are ill will not tolerate a lot of training, if at all. There are many articles out on the market and the internet to help with this issue.
Patience, guidance, care, and nurturing your cat will be big assets when training your cat.
NEVER harm your cat in any way, they will not enjoy it and can cause the cat to have a fear of you in return the cat will not come near you. Using a strong “NO” or loud noise to let the cat know that you do not approve of the behavior is the best way.
Allow the cat to use natural behaviors and instincts with some of the training. We all would love the perfect cat that does nothing wrong and sits still on our command. This is not a good idea for a cat. Both you and the cat would be nothing but stressful.
There are ways of training and using the behaviors, which you and your cat can both benefit. If the cat likes to scratch, buy or build a scratching post. If they like to jump, set up a hoop, or stick, by working with your cat, you will soon see this behavior going in good behavior.
Another important thing is feeding your cat. This is important to the training as the cat will be under some stress from the changes inhabits. Even doing it slowly and gradually, there still is stress in the cat’s training. Feeding it a good, balanced, healthy meal is important. Do you have a cat or a kitten? Feeding kittens, you will want to look at healthy bone, muscle, and brain-building foods. Snacks and treats you will want to make sure are healthy food for your cat. As part of the training, you must reward your cat with healthy small treats. Cats, like humans, can gain weight by overeating. If you own a cat, you will want to feed the cat good, healthy food to maintain a balanced diet.
Training a cat or kitten for behaviors will be an important step in the relationship between you and your cat. Remember, if you are stressed, most likely, your cat will be stressed. Sitting with your cat for 20 minutes can relieve some of the stress for both you and your cat.
