Cat Behavior Training
The following article lists some simple, informative tips that will help you have a better experience with cat behavior training.
Training your cat can be fun and a rewarding experience. Patience and time is something that will be necessary with training. You can train your cat do have good behaviors so that when you are gone you will know they are safe.
A cat can jump and lands on its feet as this are a natural instinct for a cat. When a kitten is first born, the cushion in a kittens paws are not developed with the cushion to land on its feet. It takes about 7 weeks to develop the cushion in a cats paw for landing. A cats bone structure is unique to other animals as the bones are flexible , cat has no collar bone, which enables them to be able to twist and bend their bones A cat can jump from short distant with out sustaining any injuries.
With this behavior, you will want to teach the cat to jump hoops, sticks, or off the scratching tree. Letting a cat jump from extreme heights will cause injury to the cat.
Cats have a unique hearing ability; they are able to hear high tones and pitches, like opening a door or a can of food. Cats also have unique smelling abilities. The reason a cat will scratch or urinate on the floor , rub its self up against a door or furniture, is the cat is leaving their scent in that areas so they will be able to come back and know they were there, in other words marking its territory. In addition, if another cat or animal comes along in the area a cat will know this. Cats can also smell with their mouths. There is a gland call 'Jacobson's organ', it is a sac in the cats upper mouth filled with blood, as the cat smells the scent and the slightly opens their mouth and upper lip, this allows the scent to be carried in and to the sac, which it will carry the scent goes to the cat brain. This mostly happen to male cats when a female has urinated.
With these natural instincts and behaviors this can give you some insight to help you train you cat. With behavior training you will want to make sure that you allow your cat the ability in some way to play out it natural instincts and behaviors.
When training a cat for behaviors here are some things that you need to look at and take in consideration when training. Aggression especially in older cats, this can be cause from illness, other cats in the home. This you may want to contact your vet to have the cat check out to see if it is all right at this time to train a cat.
Depression and anxiety could play another part with trying to train your cat. If a cat is separated by it recent owner the cat can become depressed. Stress on a cat can be common effect on a cat. If you think that your cat has depression or high anxiety, this would be a good time to take the cat to the vet. Vets can talk to you about some of the things that may be causing this and a help list to help the cat. There are medications that a vet can prescribe for the cat to help with depression and anxiety.
Never hit a cat for a punishment the cat will learn to fear you, and fearing will be a behavior you will not be able to control or retrain. When they do something that is not right. Ignore the problem or if you catch them right a way you can associate a noise with that behavior on what you do not like or just in a stern voice tell them “NO”.
If you base what you do on inaccurate information, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences. Make sure you get the whole cat behavior training story from informed sources.
If a behavior is becoming impossible you may have to resort to the baby proof home, all containers that have food in them have a lid on it. Make sure that the counters are clean and have nothing that a cat would want to play with.
The day that you get your cat or kitten, you will want to start training at this point. This will keep many unwanted behaviors away, and hopefully not let any new behaviors to start.
Healthy cats need healthy relationships with their owner. n is like a child and we have to teach them the right and wrong. With the older cats, it is not easy as they are set in their ways, but they are still trainable.
Some of the reasons you might want to train your cat is not to scratch the furniture, jump on items, and climb the drapes or the counter top, to use the litter box and not your favorite chair. On the other hand, have your cat pulling the stuffing out of pillows, and most to use the kitty litter box and not that favorite rug that you have. A cat may do these a few things and you would like to change the behavior.
One of the first things you want to train your cat to do is come or get the cat's attention when you call the cat's name. A clicker can be use and is efficient as to help with training a cat. We have to remember that all cats have their own personalities so there could be a chance that your cat will not act as quickly or to the clicker.
First you will want to call the cats name click the clicker, if the cat responds in any way, you need to give the cat a small treat. Small treats are great rewards for cats and cats love liver. You do not want to make a full meal out of the treats. Once the cat does respond you will want to use this till, the cat does come to you when called. The next step is to stop using the clicker for calling and reduce the treats until the cat does come once you call them. The clicker and treats can be use then for other training.
The next training should be litter box training. In addition, if the cat or kitten is not trained already. Purchase a litter box, as boxes are very inexpensive. You will want to make sure you do not get one that is too tall for the cat to get in. You want the cat to be able to comfortable get in the box and not have to climb. Kitty litter should be about couple of inches in the litter box. Putting to much in will just be all over when the cat uses it and digs. Kitty litter comes in all kind of form, scents, and prices.
This will be up to you and your cat as to which one is the best. Purchase kitty litter that will absorb the smell and the poop from the cat. If it does not do this for you or the cat, the cat may not want to go back in the little box to use. The litter box needs cleaning daily, with removing the waste. Once a week the litter box needs cleaning, you will need to throw out the old litter, was the litter box and replace the litter in the box.
Set the box near the place that the cat is going. When you see the cat going or needs to go pick the cat up and place in box. Then give your cat a treat, you will need to watch for this, as you will want to get the cat to use the box. Once the cat is using the litter box, you can start moving very slowly day by day the litter box to the area that is set up for your cat to use. Moving the litter box to quickly, or all once will not work, as the cat will not know where the litter box is. Continue the treats and once your cat has successfully used the box in the proper area, then you can decrease the treats.
Researching and using the internet for more information on training your cat will help you with training and successful relationship between you and the cat.
Hopefully the sections above have contributed to your understanding of cat behavior training. Share your new understanding about cat behavior training with others. They'll thank you for it. James Mahony is the founder of Cat Care Handbook - A site dedicated to Cat Care
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