Top 5 Ways to Train Your Cat

by Kathrynn Kelley

Cats are greatly popular, and among the top favorites to have as pets. They are cute, fun, and greatly independent, making them easy to have around. However, if you don't know how to train them, your cute kitty, can turn into a great pain.

People assume because cats are independent and have a stubborn streak that they are hard to train, but if you know the proper way to train them it's rather easy. It will take a little time, because like we mentioned before they are stubborn, however you can use that stubborn streak to your advantage.

These are a few cat training tips to ensure a successful training program:

1. Don't give up before you start

Two seconds into starting to train your cat, you might realize that's not a piece of cake, but it's not rocket science either. If you have trained another animal before, you have probably noticed that it's not easy, but it's not difficult once you look back on it. With training a cat, you have to stay focused and willing. Though it might take a little more effort, you can train your cat.

2. Know your cat

Your cat is different from any other cat. You must know their personality to know when you are moving too slow or too fast. You need to know when your cat has had enough training for one day, and when it needs time alone. You don't want to stress them out! The training process needs to be a pleasant experience to be a successful training program. Learn what your cats body language means. As soon as you do this training should come a lot easier.

3. Know when to train your cat

When you are training your cat, you want to do it at the proper time. You shouldn't have to wake up your cat in order to train it. If you do, the cat probably won't listen to you. Also make sure that the time you do use training the cat is short. Don't drag out training sessions for hours at a time. The cat will get bored, and you will probably end up frustrated.

4. Use Positive Reinforcement

This is the key behind training your cat. All you have to do is reward your cat each time he/she does something that you like. When your cat does something that you don't approve up, don't reward the cat. In fact, don't do anything. If your cat does a trick, you give him/her a treat. If the cat doesn't, you don't praise it for doing nothing.

5. Small steps

The smaller the steps the more likely it is for your cat to pick up the habit. Since, you already know your cat from step 2, you should know when they are ready to move on, or when you need to spend an extra day reviewing what they've learned. A baby doesn't pick up how to talk one day, crawl on day 2, walk on day 3. Well cats are the same way. This is a process, a training program. You need to know your cat got one step before you move on to the next. And most importantly you must go through all the steps associated with that certain training program. If you are trying to teach your cat to be toilet trained (Yes, this is definitely possible) then you can't jump from step 1 to step 5 and expect your cat to know what's going on. Take it slow, hit every step, and be persistent. Your cat will respond positively to your efforts.

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Published September 5th, 2008

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