How to Train a Cat
Cats are very independent creatures—they are not as demanding of attention as dogs and they don’t make large efforts to win your approval. While this makes for a fairly laid-back, easy-going house companion, it can present training challenges.
While many cats can be trained to do tricks and walk on leashes, the most important training for cats is to make sure they are performing normal and natural cat behaviors in the proper places at the proper times. For example, toilet training a cat is critical to living happily with a cat. Cat potty training is usually fairly easy to do as cats are naturally clean and prefer to bury their waste. The first step to training kittens is to make sure they know where their litterbox is located. It is often necessary to confine your kitten to a room with water, food and a clean litterbox for a short time until he or she is successfully using the litterbox every time. Cat toilet training usually happens very quickly.
Contact us if your kitten is not using the litterbox as there may be a medical or behavioral issue we can help with.
Another good example of important cat training is proper scratching behavior. Scratching is a normal cat behavior but it must be done on an appropriate scratching post so as to not destroy the household furniture. When training a cat to scratch in the right place, you must provide adequate scratching posts and then praise him when he uses the post and offer only minor corrections (not punishments) when he is caught in the act of scratching elsewhere. The most successful way to train a cat is by providing adequate environmental stimulation and then using positive reinforcement techniques. There are many tips for training cats to instill good manners and avoid bad behaviors which may lead to problems with aggression or inappropriate elimination.
More on Training
- How Can I Get My Cat to Use the Pet Door?
- Why Does My Cat... Not Use the Litterbox?
- Five Training Tips for New Kitten Owners
- Help! Our Wild Kitten Is Tearing Up Our House
- Cat Missing the Litterbox? It Could Be Your Other Feline's Fault
- Cat Scratching Up Your Furniture? Reader Shares Tried-and-True Solution
- How Should I Introduce My New Cat to My Existing Cat?
- Applause for Claws: 7 Scratch-Training Tips
- Kitten Socialization
- Have Several Cats? How to Defuse the Drama