Training Your Cats or Kittens With Positive Reinforcement.
Pets make our homes complete by being there to greet you after a hard day's work or snuggling up to you while you sleep. Cats are known as the most fickle creatures; however, they are sweet, lovable creatures if you train them from a young age. Most cats recognize their owners by the sound of their voice, the car they drive, and who spoils them the most. Like dogs, cats can be trained. A cat can be trained to come when you call, to bring her toys when she wants to play, and even domestic things like using the litter box. The key to training a cat or kitten is reinforcement.
Cats can behave in odd manners at times, which can easily confuse their owners and make it really hard to determine what the cat wants. As much as cat behavior can be confusing, there are some ways that you can solve common cat behavior mysteries.
A common behavior that almost all cats do is push their heads into any type of object that will allow them to do it. You’ve probably seen your cat do this before, probably against table legs, TV stands, or another object. This can be noticed more when you have other people who own animals or those with allergies over at your house. When a cat notices this, he will rub his head against the person. In doing so, he will put a touch of saliva on the individual. In a cat’s mind, he owns what he puts his saliva on.
By putting his saliva on something, that object or person will have a familiar scent. Although this can be very annoying, you have to understand that other people in your home are seen as odd or weird to your cat. When a cat does this, he is simply trying to make the visitor belong. When he brushes up against them and puts his saliva on them, he is trying to put his scent on them – which in his mind will mean that they belong in his territory.
Even though marking someone or something with saliva is beneficial to the cat, saliva is one of the most common forms of pet allergies. When someone wipes the saliva off of them, the scent will be gone and the cat will go back and attempt to do it again. Even though it may appear that cats target those with allergies, cats are actually just trying to make the visitor belong at the house. If the guest simply cannot take the saliva, allow the cat to rub himself on their pants leg a few times. Normally, this is all takes for a cat to leave the person alone.
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Those of you who an indoor cat should expect the cat to spend quite a bit of time lying near windows. During this time, you may hear your cat make very strange noises or weird movements. You shouldn’t fear though, as he is simply acting out his hunting instincts. Whether it’s another cat or object outside moving about, the cat will see it and simply go into his native hunting instinct.
As most already know, cats love to play. They love to played with, especially with toys. They will pounce on things on occasion, which should always be expected. If you try to prevent this type of behavior, your cat will take a very negative approach and you’ll end up with a lot of broken things in your home. You can always play with your cat using a string, as he will love to chase the string around the room.
The longer you own your cat, the more odd behavior you’ll see him exhibit. Cats behave in strange ways, although they always have a reason for behaving the way they do. If you can understand why your cat behaves like he does, you’ll have no problems keeping him healthy and happy. If you simply pay attention to your cat and the way he behaves at times – you’ll be able to understand him better than ever before.
Training Your Cats or Kittens With Positive Reinforcement.
Reinforcement starts at any age, but it is usually advisable to start with a kitten. Cats can't distinguish words, but they are very astute at distinguishing sounds of your voice. They will know they have done something wrong just by the tone of voice you use. That's why it's important to use your upset voice when they've done something wrong, otherwise they'll get confused. Let's go back to reinforcement again. Reinforcement is either positive or negative. Water is a negative reinforcement for a cat or kitten because they usually loathe getting wet. Positive reinforcement can be hugs or full body petting, treats or playtime.
To train your kitten to respond to your call, repeat her name while she looks at you. While doing this, look her in the eye while using a pleasant tone of voice. Another way to call your cat is to make a different sound, such as snapping your fingers or clicking noises with your tongue. These usually get your cat or kitten's attention so that they learn to come when you call them.
Litter box training is perhaps the easiest part of having a kitten in your life. It is best to keep them in one room, the room where you will place the litter box, to train them. They learn by putting them in the box and letting them become familiar with the smell. Cats naturally understand the feel of kitty litter and associate it with dirt. If they are new to the litter box, you may need to pick them up when they first go and put them in it. Occasionally, a cat will not like the litter you use. They show their displeasure by using the floor. This is the time to try something new. Most female adult cats will train their kittens, so it is important that they do not leave their mother's care too quickly. It's a similar story with food. Once you show them where their food bowls are, they will continue to go there. Cats are creatures of habit.
Through habits, you will train your cat to bring you toys. Some cats will simply meow when they want to play and casually bat their toys around. However, if you positively reward them every time they carry a toy mouse or stuffed animal, they will bring the toy even without the reward of a treat. For example, my cat, Spooky, is two years old. She brings me a stuffed animal every afternoon or evening when she wants to play. She puts it down near the end of my couch and meows until I recognize the good deed and start playing with her.
Cats are trainable, maybe not to the extent that a dog is trainable with vocal commands, but you can succeed in training them in some ways. Cats liven up any home and if you give them lots of positive reinforcement, they can be just as much fun, if not more so, than other pets. Especially when they give you comfort by climbing onto your lap, kneading and purring. These moments can make you forget a bad day at work in a matter of seconds.
Enjoy!
great info!
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