Training a Cat How-To - Training a Cat is Easy

Despite the common belief, training a cat is quite easy and can be very rewarding. First off, if you are trying to get your cat to sit and shake or to use the toilet you are in the wrong place. While both of these feats are possible it is not what I am talking about. What I am going to tell you about is how to teach your cat to behave in ways that are desirable to you. I will also give you a resource that will go in depth about training a cat.

How Cats Learn
Cats do not speak English. As much as you would like to believe it your precious kitty does not understand what you are saying. Cats, like dogs, can associate words with certain actions, but they do not understand you. Cats are simple. They associate actions with good and bad results. They do more of the actions that are pleasurable and rewarding to them and stay away from the actions that give bad results. Keep this in mind when training a cat.

Some Common Mistakes of Cat Training
Punishments! Yes, punishments and reprimands are not a good tactic when training a cat. This will only cause the cat to not get caught doing an action. Like we have already learned cats do only those things that cause them pleasure. So if scratching the sofa feels good, kitty will just learn to not get caught. One big mistake is when a cat owner finds a misdoing by the cat after the fact and tries to punish. If your kitty messes on the carpet and you reprimand it then push it in the litter box, it is only going to think of the litter box as a torture chamber.

The cat must think of the litter box as a good place to go. Another mistake by cat owners occurs when the cat jumps on you in the middle of the night. What do you do? Do you get up, feed the cat, and give it attention? No! This is exactly what the cat wants and it will learn that pouncing on you gets the desired action. It is pleasurable for the cat. When training a cat to not wake you up you need to ignore it. The cat will not starve if you don't feed it for a couple of hours. Also, when you wake up, wait an hour or so to feed the cat. This will help keep the cat from waking you up so early.

So, How Do I Do I Get It To Work?
To properly train a cat you need to do a few things. First, you need to learn to never punish your kitty. No matter what it is doing. The cat will not learn and this will only cause more stress and aggravation for both of you. Second, you need to set your cat up to succeed so it is easier for the cat to perform the desired actions. For example, if you are litter box training a cat you need to make the litter box easily accessible.

Put it in an area where the cat is or where the cat messes a lot. Third, you need to make your kitty's environment set up in a way so that the behaviors you do not want performed are no longer rewarding to the kitty. If you are trying to stop scratching you can cover the object in aluminum foil or double sided sticky tape. Some cats hate the feelings of these objects.

When training a cat you need to be consistent. You can not praise your cat one day and punish it the next (remember you should not be punishing at all).