Cat training requires a lot of patience, time and often luck! Once you’ve mastered the basics, you and your cat can begin to happily co-exist in peace.
How to train your cat
Contrary to popular opinion, it's possible to teach your cat some useful skills such coming to you on command. The earlier you start training, the greater the likelihood of success.
Remember, cats are individuals and each one will react differently when training begins. Some will ignore you or look at you as if you are mad, whilst others will be very curious and eager. Bear in mind that you'll need to be patient.
Starting out
- Have your cat examined by your vet to ensure there are no hidden health problems that could be aggravated by any training activity.
- Teach one trick at a time. You can reinforce tricks your cat has mastered, but do not confuse her by teaching more than one new behaviour at a time.
- Reward your cat every time she performs a new task correctly. Once it’s learned, only offer the reward every so often. Manufactured cat treats are the healthiest option.
- Teach your cat to associate a food reward with a sound such as a bell, or a clicker for example. Once the association between the noise and the reward is learned, always ring the bell at the exact moment your cat performs the desired behaviour.
- Reinforce the spoken command. Always precede a command with your cat's name. After your cat has performed the behaviour correctly and is rewarded, continue repeating the command in a positive way, for example, 'Sit, good, sit'.
If your cat isn't succeeding, you may be trying to progress too quickly.
Toilet Training
Cats that repeatedly go to the toilet outside the litter box should be gently brought to the box once or twice a day. Reward them when they relieve inside it.
Try placing the litter tray where your cat keeps going to associate the tray with the toilet. If your cat chooses to go in a very unsociable place, restrict their access or put pieces of silver foil down as cats don’t like the texture on their paws. You can also clean the area very thoroughly and use an odorous spray, which cats find repellent, such as a pheromone-based masking spray that you can get from your vet or pet shop.
Ringing the Bell
Outdoor cats can be frustrating or even destructive in their efforts to come back inside. Try suspending a small but loud bell on a string at your cat's eye level. Ignore the meowing, scratching and other efforts to get your attention. Eventually, your cat will touch that bell and make it ring, at which point you can open the door. If this is repeated several times, your cat will soon learn to ring the bell deliberately.
Training tips
- Train your cat before mealtimes, as a food reward won't be so enticing on a full stomach. Don’t 'starve' cats to make them eager to learn as a hungry cat will quickly become an annoyed one.
- Eliminate any distracting noise from the TV or stereo during training time as it will make the process almost impossible.
- Keep sessions short, ending them before your cat gets bored or tired. 15 minutes is ideal.
- Don't vary the training sessions - make sure the trainer, commands, signals and rewards are always the same.
- If possible, regularly train your cat, preferably every day. Training your cat once a month won't get the results you want.