Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hey everyone!

Was just wondering if you have every trained your Cat to stop doing something.. For example stop biting or jumping on the counter?

Easy to train a dog but to train a cat would be an achievement!

Ria was quite "bitey" as a kitten. I used to hiss at her when she bit. She'd look surprised, and change the bite to a lick, which I praised. She stopped biting as she got older, but I don't know if she was trained out of it, or if it was just a kitten trait that she outgrew.

I have had some success with the command DOWN, which covers a fair bit - it is easy to teach because failure to act on it is swiftly followed by a grab and an unceremonious dump on the floor - in a short time the cat knows what is coming and jumps down without any intervention

have never worked out how to stop the getting up in the first place though

Training a cat to do something on demand can be done if the cat has some form of motivation that you can use as a reward, such a a pack of Dreamies, teaching a cat to beg for a food bowl is probably the most obvious of these.

Teaching them not to do something is a different matter, often they will quickly learn they shouldn't do something, but they then realise that it only counts if you are watching them, I learnt to wash my hands while preparing food while looking over my shoulder, if my back was fully turned then it was a sign to one of mine that he could jump on the side and pinch whatever he wanted.

I did read once about a group of Buddhist Monks (I think it was) who taught cats to perform tricks, apparently it was viewed as an excellent way of improving a monk's patience.

Mine are very good about coming when called, and have taught themselves to line up with the dogs and sit for a treat when we get back from a walk. There are some wonderful examples of clicker trained cats on YouTube, too. I think cats are very trainable, but the methods used have to be reward based, or managed so as to associate the Bad Stuff with the action rather than a person - I had a cat many years ago who as a kitten would walk with me along the tow path, running along the tops of front garden walls until we got to the property of a woman who really disliked cats, when he would jump dwn, walk past her house on the pavement, then hop back up onto the wall. She religiously chucked a glass of water at him every time she saw him for weeks, until he got the message. Her aim was so good she could do it from behind the door, and he was convinced that particular house was simply inconveniently wet.

Lol - love the story about the Buddhists!

As for the water-throwing woman ... words fail me (and that doesn't happen very often!) There's always one, isn't there?

I talk to my cats incessantly and somehow they seem to get the gist of what I'm saying ... well, perhaps a little difficult to go on weeing in the corner or shredding a cushion when someone's standing over you and swearing, but, joking apart, they say that cats don't give a damn but I feel most of them are extremely sensitive (which is why it's better to praise than scold - I do try to do this) and prefer to please you ... or is it just for the sake of a quiet life?

... Oh gawd she's at it again, better stop kicking seven bells out of the duvet ...

They're also extremely crafty, intuitive and intelligent and always have an eye to the main chance ...

Emily and Mouse, I must say, scarcely ever have to be told off - if ever! Molly's another matter but the words that always work are - WHAT did I say? Or just an explosive sigh and - RIGHT!

Works every time

More like Blackie has trained us

I talk to him cat a lot .... trouble is, he doesn't take any notice except when I say 'do you want something to eat?' ... and he definitely understands the word 'eat'.