If you want your cat to be able to sit, stay and heel, then perhaps you should consider a dog for a pet instead. Additionally, if you want your cat to use your toilet, this article cannot help you. This article is for those of us who would be content to simply train a cat to use the litter box, and a scratching post, as opposed to any other objects in the house that the cat currently deems suitable for its bathroom and nail file. A cat cannot be trained to do stuff other than what a cat does. The only purpose that cat training serves is in controlling its behavior. The cats learn by experience. If the experience is good, they will try to repeat it. If the experience is unpleasant, they will try to avoid it in the future. They enjoy raking the furniture with their claws, so they continue to do it. But it’s quite a shock when they stick their nose in a candle flame, so they won’t do that again.
When conducting cat training, remember that reprimands are completely ineffective. If you catch you cat doing something wrong and reprimand him, he will act up when you’re not there. If you punish your cat after the fact, he won’t associate the punishment with the act. Many cats misbehave because they believe you’re not giving them enough attention; give them attention and they will continue to act in ways that you don’t want.
Many owners become frustrated because they can’t catch the cat in the act of the crime, so instead they show the cat the evidence, usually a wet spot on the carpet or pieces of shredded drapery and discipline the cat at that time. However kitten training is pretty straightforward and easy. Provide them with a litter box and show it to them, they’ll use it. Put their little paws on a scratching post and watch them go to town. A common malpractice in cat training is grabbing the cat, pointing out the wet spot, then dragging him to the litter box and forcing him to dig in the litter.
What the cat is learning is that being reached for by the owner is a bad experience and that the litter box is a torture chamber. Behavioral problems in cats can be eliminated with the help of these resources, and a program of gradual retraining. Common problems such as litter box avoidance, excessive howling, biting, or destructive scratching should first be addressed by eliminating any potential physical causes.
