Cat Training. Effective tips on training your cat to use its litterbox or to teach your pet to stop scratching the furniture. Simple tried and tested cat training advice.

Some people describe cats as untrainable. Of course a cat is trainable. What makes a cat appear untrainable is the fact that it will perform what it was trained to do on the basis of whether or not it wants to do it.

Because the cat is not a pack animal, there is no inherent need or desire for the cat to comply with anyone's wishes but its own.

Cats learn best through the use of rewards, praise and positive reinforcement. Set kitty up to succeed. Set yourself up to succeed with your cat. It works. And it's a lot more fun when training succeeds for both of you.


Before we start training our cats to do something or to stop doing something, we need to look at how cats learn. They learn by experience. If the experience is good, they will try to repeat it. If the experience is unpleasant, they will try to avoid it in the future.

Some cats misbehave just to get attention and the attention is enough of a reward to cause your cat to continue in its ways. So what do you do? If you want to prevent problems from occurring, or reform your cat's bad habits, the answers are the same. Here's a three point training plan:

1. Stop all reprimands. Concentrate on making your relationship fun, rewarding, playful and interesting. Sometimes this change alone will solve your problem.

Cats are known to become overly active and destructive when bored. Daily play sessions and relaxing massages help calm kitty down. Cats that feel neglected will often stop using their litter box.

If you schedule regular sessions to give kitty your undivided attention and to play games with it, even litter box problems can disappear almost overnight.

The key to training is to make sure that whatever you want your cat to do is exceedingly rewarding and pleasurable. Whatever you don't want your cat to indulge in must never be rewarding or fun, in fact, it must be unpleasant.

Let's take a look at litter box training as an example. A cat's physical system is very regular. Your cat should be on a regular feeding schedule so he/she will have a corresponding regular output schedule.

Adjust the feeding time so you can be present when your cat needs to go. About 15 minutes prior to when you know your cat will need to go, take it to its litter box room.

When your cat uses it, praise it! Until you're sure that litter box training is successful, don't give your cat free access to the rest of your home when you know its bladder and bowels are full.

3. The third step is setting up the cat's environment so that misbehavior is not a rewarding experience. Let's take a look at furniture scratching as an example.

While making your cat's scratching post fun and rewarding, the training process also requires you to make the furniture unattractive as a clawing item.

Each cat is different. However, most cats don't like to snag their claws when scratching, so you might try draping some netting or tulle over the furniture. A mild menthol or citrus scent repels some cats.

Once your cat realizes that these places are not fun to scratch or sit on, the problem of inappropriate scratching will disappear.