Training Methods for Cats
Kittens begin to learn about their environment at a very young age. By the time that your kitten has been weaned and is ready to join your family, his experiences with his mother and litter mates have taught him much of what he needs to know about “being a cat”. Now, as he joins his new home, he will learn about living in a home and playing with his human family. Carefully channeling your kitten’s play toward appropriate toys and teaching him how to play gently and to respond to a few basic commands can prevent the development of behavior problems and will help your new kitten to become a well-behaved family member.
Like all other animals, cats learn through experience. If a behavior results in a pleasant and enjoyable experience, your kitten will tend to repeat that behavior in the future. Likewise, cats avoid repeating behaviors that result in unpleasant experiences. The key to training is pretty simple: Provide pleasant experiences for your cat when she behaves in desirable ways and set up her environment so that undesirable behaviors are not rewarding.
A variety of positive reinforcers (rewards) can be used with cats. These include small food treats (use kitty treats, not human foods!), petting, praise, and an opportunity to play a favorite game. Each cat has individual preferences – experiment and find out what things are most enjoyable to your kitten and use those to reward her for desirable behaviors!
The ease or difficulty of teaching a new behavior to a cat depends somewhat upon the extent to which the behavior is in harmony with the cat’s natural instincts. For example, it is very easy to teach cats to use scratching posts because scratching rough surfaces is a normal marking behavior and also serves as a way for cats to keep their claws healthy. Similarly, it is easy to train a cat to jump up onto a stool or platform in response to a command because cats naturally enjoy sitting on high places within their territories. Conversely, while most cats very naturally chase moving objects such as toys, they do not have a naturally strong motivation to return to their owner with a “captured” toy (i.e. to retrieve). As a result, teaching a complete retrieve to a cat requires a bit more concentrated training for most cats!
Similarly, cats tend to have a selective group of natural feline behaviors that, while normal for the cat, can be objectionable to owners. These may include scratching furniture, jumping on counters and cabinets, and rough (predatory) play. It is important to remember that these are all very normal behaviors for cats. When your cat engages in these behaviors she is not doing so out of spite, revenge, or anger, but rather to satisfy her natural needs. The good news is that cats can be taught to redirect undesirable scratching, jumping, and play to appropriate targets, thus keeping you happy and your cat satisfied!
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