Cat Training Techniques Training Your Cat

Keep a clean litter box. Cats will not want to use a litter box if it is dirty, and may resort to urinating or defecating around the house. Wash your hands thoroughly after handling soiled cat litter, even if you wore gloves. This entails dumping out old litter, washing the litter box with a mild detergent, thoroughly rinsing the soap away, drying the box completely, and pouring in a fresh layer of litter.

You should only add about two to three inches five to seven centimeters of litter when refilling the box. Use a litter your cat will enjoy. There are many different types of cat litter, made from a variety of different materials. The most important factor is finding a litter that your cat will want to use. Most cats prefer clumping, unscented litter. See what your cat responds to and adjust accordingly.

Mix a small amount of the new litter in with your cat's existing litter every day over the course of three to five days. If you change litters gradually, your cat shouldn't notice a difference. This can be especially problematic in cats that used to live outdoors. Try lining your cat's litter box with potting soil, and see if he uses it.

Reward your cat for using the litter box. Give him praise immediately after he has finished using the litter box. This will build positive habits and teach him that that is where he should be relieving himself. Do not punish your cat for accidents outside the litter box. Negative reinforcement will not work, and may actually create a litter box avoidance problem in your cat.

3 Cat Tricks To Teach During Kitten Training | Petplan | Petplan

If your cat passes solid waste outside the litter box, pick it up with a paper towel or gloves and place it in the litter box. This will give your cat scent-based cues to use the litter box next time. If he has a part of the house that he tends to relieve himself in instead of using his litter box, leave tin foil or double-sided tape on the floor in that spot to discourage him from going there. Try confinement training as a last resort.

If your cat has a strong aversion to using his litter box and nothing else has worked, temporarily confining him in a single room with the litter box could instill an understanding in him to use the litter box. Do not confine your cat to a small room for extended periods of time. It is cruel to lock your cat up over long periods of time.

1. How to find HELP FROM ABOVE. Volume 3 - God’s Solution to the Stresses of your Daily Walk (How to find HELP FROM ABOVE - God’s Solution to the Stresses of your Daily Walk.)!
2. A Place To Stay.
3. THE WORMWOOD PACT (A Rich Hazzard Mystery Book 3).
4. 5 Things You Can Train Your Cat to Do (Really) | HowStuffWorks?

Make sure your cat has food, water, and his bed in the room with the litter box. Keep the litter box on the opposite side of the room as the food, water, and bed. If he poops on the floor, scoop it up and put it in the tray to give him a scent mark to return to. If you cat is absolutely sold on a substrate, such as soil or carpet, and refuses to use the tray, then put that substrate in the tray. If necessary, purchase multiple pieces of carpet off cut and put it in the tray. Once the cat uses the tray with carpet in it, start to sprinkle cat litter over the carpet in the tray, to give the cat the idea.

Replace sodden carpet with fresh in the tray. If your cat gets too aggressive while playing and uses his teeth or nails, respond by immediately disengaging from the play activity, standing or sitting still, and ignoring him. Your cat will want to play, and when you deprive him of movement and interaction, he will quickly learn that he does not want that outcome. Likewise, do not yell at him or squirt him with water if he has bitten you. Over time, these negative responses can cause your cat to become fearful of you.

It's possible that he has slipped into hunting mode. Use a toy with a long string or handle to allow your cat to exercise his need to hunt without causing you injury or creating poor behavior. Respect your cat's boundaries. It's possible he bit or scratched you because you handled him roughly or chased him into a defensive position. If your cat needs room, give him room. If he does not want to be handled, do not try to handle him. Give your cat a hunting outlet.

Your cat may not be getting enough exercise or enough outlets for his predatory instincts. Try giving him toys that he can flick, like a ball or a stuffed mouse. This will make him feel like he is hunting and catching. Many stuffed cat toys come with a velcro pouch to insert catnip, or you can simply sprinkle some catnip on the floor and let your cat roll around in it. About half of all cats won't find catnip desirable, but those that do will enjoy a short, safe burst of play time, followed by a period of ecstatic inactivity. Give your cat a scratching post.

If your cat is constantly scratching you or pieces of furniture, there's a chance that he's doing it because he needs to scratch. A cat scratches household items to mark his scent on that item using glands in his paws , and to remove the sheath that naturally grows over his claws. Giving him an outlet, like a scratching post, to satisfy his scratching needs should alleviate some of this problem behavior. Try clapping your hands or shaking a jar full of coins to startle your cat out of his scratching. By interrupting his scratching of furniture and moving him to an acceptable object like a scratching post, you are reinforcing for your cat the notion that some objects are okay to scratch, but not others.

Use citrus or menthol. Cats tend to dislike the smells of citrus and menthol. Rubbing a little bit of oil on the furniture your cat scratches the most could help prevent him from scratching there in the future. Note that this will leave your furniture with a slight odor and may cause staining. Citrus oil may be less likely to stain. If you're concerned about the oils soaking through to your furniture, you may want to try simply taping the cotton balls onto the legs of couches and tables your cat tends to scratch.

Use the squirt method. If your cat continues to pounce on your hands or feet, or destroy furniture around the house, it might be time to employ the water squirt method. Fill a spray bottle with clean, cold water. When the cat pounces, give him or her a quick squirt. Cats don't appreciate being sprayed with water, and they'll soon learn to associate this uncomfortable sensation with biting or scratching you.

Be advised, however, that your cat will come to associate you with the unpleasant sensation of being sprayed with water.

He may even come to fear you. Do not get your cat declawed. No matter how bad of a scratching problem he has, getting your cat declawed will only cause worse problems. The process is incredibly painful for cats and can cause lasting problems like tissue necrosis, permanent pain, aversion to using the litter box, and increased aggression towards humans. If you keep food stored on the counter, including your cat's food bowl, he may have come to think of the counter as a place to find food. Remove any food products from the counter, and keep the cat's food bowl on the floor while he's using it or in the sink to deter him from climbing up on the counter.

Make the counters unpleasant.

3 cat tricks to teach during kitten training

One of the best ways to keep your cat from climbing on the counter is to make the counter an unpleasant place for him. Give him other climbing options. Cats love to climb, mostly because they enjoy being elevated off the ground. It's possible that the kitchen counters are the highest "perch" your cat can reach. Give him other climbing options, like a cat "condo," which you can set up anywhere in the house and offer your cat a satisfying climbing and perching experience. Keep the cat out. If your cat insists on climbing up on the counters whenever you are preparing food in the kitchen, keep your cat confined in a bedroom or bathroom, if at all possible.

This will keep him from climbing and interfering with your kitchen plans. Training a cat is slightly different from training a dog. A dog will learn tricks because he wants to please you; to train a cat, you need to respect his or her independence and provide enticing reasons for the cat to obey you. Pellets of dry cat food aren't going to work, and neither is excessive praise, which cats are less interested in than dogs. The trick is to use high-quality treats that your cat will desire, like catnip, pieces of fresh chicken, or tuna.

Make sure your cat is engaged. Before you begin trying to teach your cat a new trick, make sure he is aware that you're trying to teach him something. Hold the treat in front of your cat's nose so he understands that there is a potential reward waiting for him. Slowly move the treat in your hand over and behind his head. Continue to do this until your cat tips his head up and sits down on his bottom. Praise your cat and give him the treat as soon as he completes the "trick" of sitting down.

Try using a clicker. If you don't have a clicker, you can use a retractable pen to make a similar noise. Then use the clicker and a reward every time your cat accomplishes a new trick, like chasing a stick when you throw it. Eventually your cat will respond every time you throw the stick and click the clicker. Keep training and play sessions short. Remember that your cat will get tired out.

Aim for training and play sessions that run about 15 minutes, once or twice every day. As a cat owner, you are probably aware of your cat's unique personality traits and independent nature. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in , and worked as a veterinary surgeon for 7 years. Elliott worked as a veterinarian at an animal clinic for over a decade.

The authors of this article cited 21 references, which can be found at the bottom of the page. Get a supply of treats. Cats need to be constantly rewarded with tasty treats in order to learn tricks. Give your cat frequent treats when training it in short sessions. Starting by giving your cat a treat might get its attention. A pet clicker is a small device that makes a clicking sound. Each time your cat does something you want it to like a trick , make the clicking sound and give it a treat.

The sound and positive reinforcement reward of the treat condition your cat to repeat the behavior. Keep training sessions short and frequent. Cats learn through repetition, so frequent training sessions will help them master a trick. Try repeating tricks several times each day. Repeat tricks when training your cat. When your cat completes a trick, give it a treat. Then try to get your cat to repeat the trick times in a row giving it a treat each time , as long as it is interested. This repetition will encourage the behavior.

This will help the cat associate the word specifically with the trick. Teach one trick at a time. Positive reinforcement like praise and treats as your cat learns a trick will help it to master the behavior. Trying to teach it more than one trick at a time can confuse it, however, because it may not understand what behavior is being rewarded. Wait until your cat has mastered one trick before moving on to the next.

Do not punish your cat for not learning a trick. Cats learn when given rewards and positive reinforcement, not when they are punished. Take cat breaks so they look forward to learning. Teach your cat to sit. When your cat is on all four feet, hold a treat in front of its face to get its attention.

Many cats will follow the treat in the air and lower their rear end to get it. When your cat sits, positively reinforce its behavior by praising it and giving it the treat. Keep repeating this training and your cat can get better each time. Then, put a treat in your hand wrapped in your fist, for instance , and wait for your cat to use its paw to try and grab it out of your hand. Give the cat a treat as a reward when it does. Repeat this many times, gradually lifting your hand up higher each time until the behavior resembles giving a hi-five. Train your cat to come when called. When your cat comes, praise them and give them a treat.

You can vary this trick by trying to train your cat to come from distances increasingly farther away, from outside to inside, etc. Train your cat to touch an object. You can have your cat learn to touch an object like a toy or a sturdy surface that will not fall over. This trick is learned best after your cat has learned to sit. Once your cat is sitting next to the object, hold a treat near it to attract the cat.

When the cat touches the object, give it a treat. Once your cat becomes interested in this trick, you can also train it to touch the object with a specific type of its body. For instance, if you want to train it to touch an object with its paw, wait to give your cat a treat until it does. Train your cat to sit up on two legs. Hold a treat above your cat, but not so close that it can touch it.

A dog-on approach

Teach your cat to shake hands. Sit in front of your cat and gently touch its paw. When it lifts the paw off the ground, grasp it in yours as though you were shaking hands. Give your cat a treat immediately afterwards. Train your cat to meow on command. Cats are capable of producing a wide range of vocal sounds meows, chirps, trills, yowls, etc.

Just give your cat a treat when it makes the desired sound. After the cat begins to associate the treat with a reward, introduce a word like "meow" or "chirp" to create the command. A super-neat way to teach a cat to 'kiss' you is to put something tasty on your cheek. Then when the cat licks it off, add a cue word such as 'Kiss' to put the action on command. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 1. Teach the cat to tap your hand with a paw.

Try holding a tasty treat inside your fist and, when the cat taps your hand to investigate, give the 'High five' cue and reward them with the treat. Cats don't do anything they don't want to, so the key to teaching tricks is great motivation. Find the cat's 'must have treat' and you're halfway there. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0. Absolutely, yes, you can.

1. Pathways (Full Circle).
2. All Hallows ABC!
3. Can you train your cat?.

But it does take patience, and make sure you work within the cat's physical abilities. For example, don't expect an old cat to do athletic jumps. You should teach your cat to respond to its name first, that way it will know when you're calling it to a training session. Not Helpful 5 Helpful Not Helpful 9 Helpful