Whether you’ve found it on the streets, it strayed to your house, given by a friend or purchased at your local pet store, you would be relieved to know that YES, cats are trainable. And whoever said that “cats train themselves”, is clearly mistaken. For one, they will follow their instincts which dictate that any sandy or soft spot is equals to their litter box, i.e. your soft rug, flower beds and so on. And as we all know, it is not a pretty sight-or scent to be swirling around your house.
Training your cat may take some time and patience. But with the proper knowledge and realization that teaching your cat house manners is helpful for both you and your pet, we’re sure that anybody can pull this off.
To help you start educating your pet to become a house cat, here are a few basic things you could do:
For litter training. We realize this is a priority, so we’ve decided to tackle this one first. Get to know your cat—cats usually start scratching the floor or sniff around when they need to answer a call of nature. This is your cue, pick your pet up and place it in the litter box you’ve prepared for it. Let it sniff the box for a bit afterwards, it will attach the scent with the litter box, therefore telling itself that feces belong in the litter box. Treats or rewards play a key role in disciplining your cat. Giving it small treats whenever it uses the litter box even if you were the one who put it there teaches your cat that going to the litter box for its litters is a good thing.
If you haven’t prepared a litter box, it is important that you do, and make sure it is big enough for your cat to easily get in and out of it. If it is uncomfortable for it to reach the litter box, it will find somewhere more comfortable to do the deed. In some cases that this training fails despite constant monitoring and reward-punishment systems or if your cat has been successfully litter trained before and suddenly fall short in using its litter box, you may want to take your cat to the vet as there exists medical conditions that disable cats from learning how to use their litter box properly.
In the event that you allow your cat inside the house, it is vulnerable to scratching anything in sight that is, well, scratchable. It could be your drapes, furniture, or even carpeting. Since it is their nature to do so, instead of teaching them to not scratch (which would more or less be difficult), teach them what the CAN scratch, that ought to keep their paws away from your beloved house ornaments.
Purchase a cat scratching post. They come in a range of shapes and sizes. There are stand up types, ones you can hang on your knobs and ones that just lay on the floor. To educate your cat as to what it is for, grab its paws and scratch it there—it will soon get the idea.
Cats, kittens and felines of all sorts are independent by nature. But they do want to please their owners or their own humans which is what makes training them possible. As mentioned before, all they need is time and patience, but more importantly your love for them as like ours—they respond to feelings.