How many of you cat owners thought that training your cat was going to be a piece of cake? I hear you loud and clear. When I got my first cat Buddy, I figured that all I had to do was show her where the cat food and litter box was and I’d be done with training. Boy, was I wrong.
Unlike dogs, cats have certain instinctual behaviors that cannot and should not be extinguished. Scratching and biting are two examples. The good news is that cats can be trained to use these behaviors in an appropriate manner so they don’t drive you crazy.
So, what do you need to do for positive cat behavior change ?
You need to:
1. Be patient. During the course of training, whether you are trying to stop cats from scratching furniture or toilet training a cat, your feline buddy will backslide. That’s only natural. So, never strike your cat. If you feel yourself getting angry or anxious, just take a deep breath and stop the training until you’ve calmed yourself.
2. Make time for training. Your cat will learn, but it takes timec. Don’t expect cat behavior change to happen over night. It doesn’t. Depending on what behavior needs work, it could take up to a month
or longer, working with your cat everyday.
3. Use positive rewards and appropriate punishment. When you cat gets it right make sure you give him a treat, a pet, a praise or all of the above. When he backslides, a squirt of some tepid water from a water bottle or a firm, somewhat loud, ” NO “, may do just fine.
Make sure you follow these suggestions or you just might up with a cat who behaves like he’s the boss.
For more information on cat behavior change visit my blog at http://cat-behavior-change.blogspot.com/.
