How to Train Your Cat is it Possible?

Is your cat destructive, rebellious, or just plain ill behaved?  If so, you are not alone.  Cats are notoriously independent, but the truth is that with patience, perseverance, and a few band-aids (for you, not the cat), they can be trained.  Here are some great cat training tips to help turn your unruly companion into a well-mannered, socially-acceptable pet.

Cat training isn’t hard if you understand just a little bit about cat psychology – you have to learn how they think.  For starters, you can give up on the notion of hitting, spanking, spraying, or using force to teach your cat how to behave.  Like all animals, cats learn by positive experience.  Negative experiances caused by you such as hitting simply cause them to fear you – cats have no notion of human concepts such as ‘punishment’, and will not connect your spanking with the mess they just made all over your freshly washed sheets, even if you catch them in the act.

If your cat has an accident, simply place them in the litter box, then give them a treat such as a piece of cat biscuit or a stroke when they use it.  Don’t confine them there, however, or they will start to think of the litter box as a bad place. This simple cat training tip can make things much easier.

If your cat is scratching, provide the cat with a piece of old carpet or a scratching post from a pet supply store.  Cats don’t scratch to annoy or ‘get back’ at you, it is a natural behavior that helps them shed the sheaths of their claws, which are constantly growing.  By offering these items in place of your furniture, your cat will learn that it is okay to scratch them instead. 

A great deal of misbehavior in cats is actually out of boredom, and cat training can offer them new ways to deal with these feelings.  If you cat scratches, meows, cries or deliberately knocks things off tables, buy or make them a few toys and see if their behavior improves. The best toy in the world for a cat is a simple feather on a string, tied to a wall hook so it dangles just within reach.

Another great cat training tip is to avoid responding to meows for attention.  If your cat learns that this will get them what they want, you are going to be spending the next decade with a very loud and demanding companion. 

If you need more cat training advice, consult your veterinarian.  There are some excellent ideas out there, and they can make living with a cat much more enjoyable and fun.