Cat Training - Training your cat

Can cats be trained to do things?

What! Training and cats in the same sentence? We all know that cats are independent, can even sometimes be just a touch aloof, and interact with us on their terms. How can such royal pets be trained? Many just assume a cat cannot be trained to perform even simple tasks.

Cats are actually able to learn some basic tasks, but understanding their psychology is important. Cats respond to praise very well, and will learn tasks that bring them a suitable reward. They also have short attention spans; fetching a Frisbee® or stick might keep a Labrador retriever engaged for a whole afternoon, but a typical feline play or training session might continue for 5 to 10 minutes. Playing "catch the furry toy ball" is of real interest to cats, and this is one simple game that can benefit the cat by increasing their exercise and is of high entertainment value. To reinforce their fetching behaviour, a food treat and praise (words, and petting) can be given each time they return the toy. For some cats, the food treat might sidetrack them, so for these cats, just praise and the next toy toss will suffice. Start with short distances and give rewards each time the cat cooperates. Make play sessions very short so that they are less likely to get bored and march off. End the session as soon as you see the first hint of tiring out.

Cats can be taught to relieve themselves using the household human facilities if the owner wishes. Some cats do not appear to take to toilet training, but most can be successfully trained with a lot of patience. The cat appreciates the clean facility, but may balk a bit because they were taught by their mother to scratch their stool into sand, litter or soil. Obviously, young cats that have not yet got in the habit of going in the box for a long period are easier to transition but cats have been trained even after maturity. One can purchase special potty training kits for cats, but a homemade system works just fine too. Start by putting the box near the toilet. After a few weeks, start to raise it gradually stepwise off the floor, using a solid support system (you don't want the cat to jump in and have it fall off the support and spook him!), and continue this for a few weeks. Finally, place the box on the toilet (lid up, seat down) and when this is comfortable, you are ready to start with the human toilet surface. Take a heavy-duty foil turkey roaster pan, and securely tape it under the seat onto the toilet base. Initially, put a bit of litter in the bottom of the pan under the seat hole. As he gets used to this, you can place a progressively larger hole in the tray, until he needs to stand on the toilet seat. Always leave the seat lid up so he can get at his facility!

Leash training is another skill that takes some patience, but if you are planning to offer your cat fresh air, going for a walk is an excellent way for them to get some exercise, and for you to ensure that they do not get into trouble with strays, or cars etc. Using a well-fitted harness is more secure, and will prevent him from slipping a collar or stressing the neck if the cat decides a sudden dash is in order! Some owners even teach their cat to walk along at the same time as the dog goes for a walk. Remember to keep the walks short, and praise the cat when they move forward when you call their name or another cue such as "walkies". Leash training is more easily done in kittens than with adults. If the cat appears to have tired, it is OK to pick them up to help them home! Don't expect the cat to stay neatly by your side (as you would with a trained dog). They will want to meander a bit, and may make periodic stops to gnaw a bit of grass. A walk with a cat is not a cardiovascular workout, but rather more of a parambulation!

Your veterinarian will likely have some excellent basic pet training books, and sometimes they will allow clients to sign these out. Even if they focus on dog training, the basic principles are similar.

Reprinted with permission from www.animalhealthcare.ca

Petting your cat - Something to Purr About

And you're right. Heck, yes. A few granules short of a litter box. If your cat were a person, he'd be holding in-depth conversations with giant, walking tacos.

But we have some small consolation for you--so is everyone else's cat. At least, that's the conclusion researcher Penny Bernstein is reaching.

Dr. Bernstein, an associate professor of biology at Kent State University's Stark campus, has begun collecting information for a study on cats and petting. She came across the topic during another study about cats in the home.

"When I get these surveys, people apologize for how strange their cat is," Dr. Bernstein said. "It turns out a lot of cats are like that, so they shouldn't be embarrassed to report what's going on."

The information she's collected so far hasn't been well-documented, but it won't startle cat owners. Cats like to be petted on certain areas--the top of the head, the cheeks, the face, under the chin, on the chest, on the stomach, and at the base of the tail.But many owners also said their cats preferred a certain order to the petting.

" One person said the cat didn't like him to move his hand--he would like him to put his hand out, and [the cat] would move under it," she recalled.

The degrees varied--some fairly democratic cats could be petted everywhere but on the stomach. Others took a totalitarian view--"Only the head and nowhere else. You had to stop at the neck or it would bite you."

And then there were the cats that only like to be petted in a certain place--no, not the head, not the back. These cats preferred a certain location. Think "location" in the sense of "Finland."

Those cats would lead their owners to the appropriate spot in the house--the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom--where it wanted to be petted. "Some cats will only be petted in the bathroom," Dr. Bernstein noted.

She calls it the "leading ritual." The cat would appear and solicit petting. The owner would put out a hand, and the cat would move away, occasionally glancing back to make sure the owner was following. When it reached the appropriate spot, it would flop down on the floor, a signal for the petting to begin.

This, by the way, is the point at which we begin to use the term "owner" loosely.

But it doesn't seem an uncommon behavior, although Dr. Bernstein and other behaviorists are at a loss right now to explain it--which would be why people do studies in the first place, of course.

It could be a simple conditioning process, said Dr. Petra Mertens, assistant professor in behavior at the University of Minnesota. The cat begins to associate a certain action with a certain location--if the two of you cuddle often on the couch, the cat heads for there because it knows that's the place where that happens.

In that case, the behavior could be altered with effort. You'd start by petting the cat just briefly in other locations--a stroke on the head in the living room--in addition to giving the new place pleasant associations, Dr. Mertens said. Maybe the living room is where the cat gets a treat, or where the two of you play with a cat toy. Make it a good place, and gradually change the cat's attention to that location.

The preference for certain sensitive spots is well-known, behavior experts said. Many cats have a strong dislike for having their bellies or feet touched, Dr. Mertens said.

Some of it may have to do with the way their mothers interacted with the kittens, some of it may have to do with the way the cat was introduced to people, said Dr. Kathy Gaughan, an assistant professor with the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine clinical sciences department.

Kittens that are handled gently by people early in life tend to develop motor skills more quickly and open their eyes sooner--it's possible that social skills come along with that gentle handling.

Alternatively, if the kittens experience something negative--like getting a tail pulled, or being petted too roughly, it may make them averse to having that spot petted, she said.

Generally, cats much prefer the head and back for petting. But owners, um, may not want to hear the theory why ... "There is no proof, but it definitely makes sense that they like to have areas petted that have [associations with] sexual and social behaviors," Dr. Mertens said.

Part of it's a grooming function--horses will chew on the upper part of each other's necks, a place they can't reach. This also strengthens the social bond, as you know if you've ever had someone scratch between your shoulders or give you a massage.

Sometimes they bond a lot. "Cats definitely like to be petted around the area of the ears and neck--the area a tom will lick and bite when they mate," Dr. Mertens said.

As part of the mating/heat behavior, female cats will crouch down with their rears stuck up in the air--similar to the behavior they exhibit when their back is petted, Dr. Mertens said.

The explanation could be simpler--it could just be those are itchy spots that cats like scratched, Dr. Bernstein said.

As for the insistence on only petting the head, or the back, and never out of order, that can be frustrating. Some cats nip when they're overstimulated, Dr. Mertens said. Cats bite each other after mating. But sometimes they're just cranky.

"Cats are sometimes very opinionated," she said. (Sounds like a cautious employee evaluation: "The supervisor can be very ... opinionated.") "Some like total control over interaction with others, and they're very despotic that way."

And they do tend to warn before they bite--the eyes dilate, for example. The tail twitches. It's when people ignore or fail to notice the warning signs that they may get bitten. If a cat is really frustrating in its refusal to be petted, behaviorists can help owners develop a program in which they gradually desensitize their cat to its dislike of petting.

But most cat owners know their pets likes and dislikes, and accommodate them. "Older cat owners appreciate the individuality of their cat," Dr. Mertens said.

Dr. Gaughan has had clients warn her in the exam room not to touch the cat's belly, or stroke his back end--but they don't complain about the restrictions, she said. "They modify their behavior around the cat's behavior."

And perhaps that's the key--the real reason your cat wants you to pet him, head to tail only, in the bathroom, on the floor near the sink, except on Sundays during a full moon if the temperature is below 65 degrees, in which case you need to move to the porch, on the glider, and the petting should be ears only ...

It simply the way we interact with them, Dr. Bernstein theorized. "It may be this is this nice, interspecies interaction that's designed for cat and human," she said. "We're always thinking that it's something they do with another cat--maybe it's not. Maybe it's just something they do with people."

Reproduced by permission

Written by: Tracy Vogel

Vetcentric.com

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Aggressive cats

Tim Cuthbertson has a long scratch down his arm, now nearly healed. It's the latest reminder of his cat's favorite game—wrestling.

"Once a day, he'll come up and bite me on the arm," Mr. Cuthbertson said. "The only time it's really annoying is when he'll do it when I'm trying to sleep. He'll come up and bite me on the face."

Cat aggression falls into several categories: play aggression, defensive aggression, misdirected aggression, and territorial status aggression.

Aggression toward people is a problem most commonly associated with dogs, but cat owners also deal with this issue. Though it's not one of the top 10 reasons for turning cats over to shelters, it plays a significant role in the number of cats turned over for behavioral reasons. A 2000 study of 12 shelters by the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy, published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, found that about 14 percent of owners turning in their cats for behavioral reasons only listed aggression toward people as the basis, with about 9 percent citing biting. The numbers dropped only slightly, to about 11 and 8 percent, respectively, for mixed behavioral and non-behavioral reasons.

Dog bites are a community problem, affecting a larger group of people, while cat attacks tend to be a personal problem, affecting only the owner, said Dr. Kerry Muhovich, animal behavior education coordinator for the Dumb Friends League.

But cat bites can be the more dangerous injury—cats' saliva can contain particularly harmful bacteria and can cause serious infections. "I might not think of seeing a doctor for a dog bite, but I can't think of any cat bite I wouldn't think of seeing a doctor for," Dr. Muhovich said. Cat scratches can also transmit bacteria.

Cat aggression falls into several categories: play aggression, defensive aggression, misdirected aggression, and territorial status aggression.

Playing rough

If a cat begins scratching or biting out of the blue, with no previous indication of violent behavior, the owner should bring it to a veterinarian. The cat may be engaging in pain aggression—acting up because of a medical problem or injury.

But the most common violent behavior is play aggression. The behavior usually occurs as a result of the owner's actions. Owners find it nearly impossible to resist wrestling around with a tiny, playful kitten, behavior experts said.

They'll put their hand on the kitten and roll it around as it bites and claws at them, or use their fingers or feet as toys, tapping them around, letting the kitten pounce on them.

"The kitten loves it, because it's like playing with another kitten," said Betsy Lipscomb, president of Cats International. "Everyone is happy until the kitten starts to grow bigger, and suddenly it really hurts, and it starts to draw blood, and the owner thinks they have a vicious cat."

One family called Cats International after their cat bit a sleeping child on the face. They'd take the cat to a shelter for quarantine, but they wanted to know if there was anything they could do to fix the behavior and bring it home.

During family time, watching television, the children would sit on the floor, wrap blankets around their arms and encourage the cat to play, Ms. Lipscomb discovered. The bored cat had obviously decided to wake one of the kids up for a romp session.

When Mr. Cuthbertson first took his kitten to the veterinarian, two years ago, the vet noticed the scratches down his arms. He asked if he was playing roughly with the cat, Beaujolais. Mr. Cuthbertson admitted it. The veterinarian warned him against it, but like many owners, he ignored the advice.

"We got the front claws removed, and he doesn't do as much damage as he used to," he said. But the cat expects 10 minutes of wrestling a day. When he signals for playtime with a nip, Mr. Cuthbertson, if he's in the mood, will get down on the floor and let the cat pounce. "Ninety-nine percent of the time he's totally gentle," he said. "It seems to build strength in him—he's an inside cat, and if he's not doing that kind of thing he has nothing to do."

But because of the dangers of cat bites and scratches, it's best to end such playful attacks, behavior experts said. First, owners need to stop using hands and feet as playthings. Some people put on an oven mitt or puppet to play, Ms. Lipscomb said. That doesn't make a difference—the cat still understands that it's attacking you.

Instead, owners need to transfer all play activity to toys: soft toys they can throw, pole toys that put distance between the handler and the object of the attack. Cats are especially fond of pole toys, which resemble fishing poles and come with fluttering objects, like feathers, on the end of a long line. (Always supervise your cat while playing with pole toys.) Hands and feet need to be off-limit.

Becky Schultz, coordinator of the animal training and behavior programs for the Animal Humane Society, Golden Valley, Minn., recalled how her young sister would always have her feet attacked by the cat. If the cat likes to lie in wait for you as you round a corner, be sure that you have an ample supply of toys that you can toss to redirect the play activity, she said. If your child has a problem with cat attacks, let him or her wear a squirt gun on a string around the neck (assuming the kid is mature enough to use this device properly). A squirt of water can be an effective deterrent, and the kids usually love taking on that responsibility.

Other deterrents include shake cans, behavior experts said. But Ms. Lipscomb doesn't recommend those, simply because you may not always have them with you. "It has to happen the moment the cat goes after you," she said.

When a cat tries to attack, make a loud sound unlike anything that usually comes from your mouth, she said: "Your voice is something that you always have with you."

Cats International recommends an "Eek!" noise, loud and shrill enough to startle the cat and make it back off. Follow that with a sharp "No!" and then ignore the cat for 10 minutes. Don't look at it, talk to it, or touch it. "Often what it wanted when it attacked you was attention," Ms. Lipscomb said.

Getting your pet a companion can also cut down on play aggression, since it suddenly has another animal to play with. Owners can help prevent play aggression by not removing the kittens from their litter before eight weeks at a minimum. While the kittens are with their littermates and mother, they wrestle among themselves, learning through corrections from the other animals not to attack too hard or too aggressively.

Stopping play aggression can occur fairly swiftly, sometimes within a week, if owners make the necessary changes, Ms. Lipscomb said. The family whose cat ended up in a shelter brought it home, and checking in a month later reported no problems. When she caught up with them again, two years later, the cat was still doing fine. "It's just a matter of training people," she said. "If you act like another cat, it's going to treat you like another cat."

On the defensive

Cats have a tendency to become overstimulated during an activity owners think should be very relaxing—petting. When this happens, they can lash out with teeth or claws. "Different cats have different levels," Ms. Schultz said. "One cat you can pet twice and it's had enough, others are at the other extreme, where they won't let you stop petting them."

Owners need to transfer all play activity to toys: soft toys they can throw, pole toys that put distance between the handler and the object of the attack.

It's important for owners to figure out their animal's tolerance level, and to watch for signs that the cat is growing tired of the stroking. Twitching tail, laid-back ears, a sudden pointed stare—all are indicators that the cat has grown tired of the attention. In those cases, the owner should just stop petting, stand up, and let the cat go.

It's possible to increase your cat's willingness to spend time with you, but that takes time and effort. Owners need to build up a tolerance for petting by giving the cat treats for good behavior. As long as the cat stays calm, it gets treats. Gradually, over the course of days, lengthen the time between treats. When the cat wants to get down from your lap, let it, and give it a good, long break before you try again, Dr. Muhovich said.

Cats can also engage in defensive aggression if they feel cornered, or if they encounter a smell—like the scent of a veterinary office—that disturbs them. Cats don't necessarily have to have experienced a traumatic event to react badly, Dr. Muhovich said. A cat that dislikes men wasn't necessarily abused by a man. "If it's foreign to a cat's experience, it's a form of 'better safe than sorry,'" she said. "If the character of the person is different than what it's used to, it may just decide to play it safe."

In those cases, it's best to let the cat adjust gradually to the newness, using treats and play sessions to convince it of the harmlessness of the stranger. Don't force the issue.

Other types of aggression

Redirected aggression occurs when a cat becomes disturbed by an event or object separate from the target of its attack. A cat might see another cat out the window, and lash out at its owner. The best way to deal with that type of aggression is to remove the object of the cat's hostility—close the blinds.

Few cats fall into the territorial or status aggression category, at least toward people. Cats often vie for position among themselves, but it's generally understood that the person providing the food shouldn't be messed with.

But it happens. Breeds like the Siamese or Burmese seem particularly susceptible to this kind of aggression, Ms. Lipscomb said.

One woman called Ms. Schultz to say that her cat was a fine pet until it got angry—then it would chase and attack her. The woman could see by the cat's body language that an attack was coming, and would grab it and hastily deposit it outside, where it would hop up and down, trying to open the door. The cat would also chase dogs and bikes.

A cat that's being play aggressive won't make any sounds. A truly hostile cat will growl or hiss as it advances.

Ms. Lipscomb's daughter once baby-sat for a family with a hostile Siamese. The cat was sitting on top of the television, glaring at her as she tried to change the channel. When she accidentally touched the cat, it went after her. She grabbed a cushion off the couch to keep between her and the cat, and had to finally wake up the children to put the animal in the basement. When she mentioned the incident later to the owners, they said they'd been told as much by other babysitters, but hadn't believed them.

Another cat wouldn't let a caretaker get too close to her injured owner, Ms. Lipscomb recalled. The caretaker was patient enough to work with the cat until it grew accustomed to her presence, and the therapy could proceed. Cats can also guard their food, litter boxes, or sleeping areas.

Owners can tell the difference between real aggression and play aggression by listening to the cat's vocalizations, Ms. Lipscomb said.

A cat that's being play aggressive won't make any sounds. A truly hostile cat will growl or hiss as it advances.

Status or territorial aggression will often need to be dealt with by a professional behaviorist who can assess the cat's behavior, identify the triggers, and work at modifying them, behavior experts said. Behaviorists will use desensitization (repeated exposure to the trigger) and counter-conditioning (reinforcement that changes the perception of the trigger) to lessen the cat's aggressive behavior. Some will teach commands to enforce the status of the owner, using rewards and clicker training.

Owners should never hit their cats to discourage aggression, behavior experts said. The cat doesn't understand the correction, and striking it can make it fearful and more defensive than it was before.

Any kind of aggression needs to be dealt with as soon as possible, behavior experts said. Cats given to shelters because of behavior problems, according to the NCPPSP study, are usually relinquished one to two years after they're obtained. "It erodes the relationship between the owner and the cat," Ms. Schultz said. "The owner isn't sure if its going to get bitten, the cat thinks it's going to get smacked, so whenever they come together there's a lot of tension."

Reproduced by permission

Written by: Tracy Vogel, Staff Writer

Vetcentric.com