Please don't do what I hear you say. Well I will explain.
The reason I have felt compelled to write this article is that, as a big fan of the feline, I am staggered by the number of people that
have problems training their cats, despite following very good training guides. It just seems to be something built into human nature and something everybody overlooks.
I'm not going to waffle on about general cat training and kitten training methods. There are loads of great books, DVDs and, more recently, downloadable eBooks available from the internet on this subject. All I will say is that, whichever method you prefer, make sure you get hold of 'good quality' training materials.
But while you are training your cat, please bear this in mind;
"Do not praise or reward your cat for exhibiting behaviour you don't want to see".
While this sounds really obvious, people still do it! Perhaps it's because cats are notoriously devious in their seemingly endless number of ways of manipulating humans and often catch us off guard. But more likely we just haven't got this idea fixed strongly enough in our mindset.
Let me illustrate with an example.
You finally make it to bed after a hard day at work and you feel your eyes begin to close. Now guess whose eyes are, at that very moment, starting to do the exact opposite. Cats are naturally nocturnal and, without training, will remain so. Now when your wide awake moggy jumps on your bed, attacks your toes & nuzzles your face, there could be any number of things on its mind. What do you do as a cat loving person in this situation?
Well I'll tell you what most people will do. They'll get up and give their adorable pet some food or even treats. Or they'll stroke their cat lovingly for a few minutes until it 'seems' like they might actually leave you alone. Anything to get their cat out of their bedroom in the hope it will give them a good night's sleep.
So now, what does your cat associate with this behaviour you really don't want? Getting rewards! If your moggy has this state of mind, don't even think about resorting to more extreme tactics like locking them out of the bedroom, not if you want any paint left on the door that is.
Cats have to associate unpleasant things, things that bring no satisfaction or benefit to them, with inappropriate actions. It's the practise of being cruel to be kind. But you don't have to be really cruel to your cat like throwing it off the bed or shouting at it (unlikely to work anyway). Just ignoring it will soon work wonders! If your cat is particularly persistent, keep something nearby the bed that you can use to remind your cat not to do this in future. How about something your cat really hates the smell of? Or something to make a sound they hate? Or my personal favourite, and much more entertaining, a small water pistol. Now I don't mean jet-washing your moggy out of the door. I've yet to meet one cat that likes even a small amount of water being sprayed onto them. Just a quick squirt and they'll be off and, very soon, won't keep coming back expecting anything else. And better still, you can apply these techniques to just about any 'bad' behaviour your cats exhibit.
I hope this advice helps some of you out there to enjoy a more 'co-operative' relationship with your cats.
Best Wishes,
Dave
