Clicker training incorporates the use of a clicker as a reward or encouragement when training a cat.

Cats are able to relate with the clicker, displaying good actions and behavior. Clicker training is often linked with conventional condition, where cats associate sound with food and operational condition and where cats execute movements for food.

A clicker is found to be more effective than verbal command because cats can hear clicker sounds more clearly than a voice, as human voice tones change while the clicker sound is always steady or constant.

The click is brief and concise, whereas a voice, phrase or a word, is fairly long in cats’ point of standing. To say “good boy” will take time than a click.

With the use of a clicker, cats can be successfully trained in three simple steps: obtaining the cats behavior, marking its behavior, and reinforcing its behavior.

Guidelines when training with a clicker:

1. To make a sound, push the clicker’s spring end and then release.  Treat the cat.

2. When you notice a behavior that you want your cat to continue on doing, click during while the behavior is being performed, never after it.

3. Click only once, to express enthusiasm towards the act of your cat and add more treats.

4. Note that practice periods should be short.  More can be learned in three brief five minute sessions per day than hours of boring and stressful repetition.

5. Correct bad acts by ignoring and clicking when good behavior is displayed.  Click when your kitten uses the litter box or when it plays on the scratch post, not on the furniture.

6. Click for accidental and voluntary actions nearing your objective.  You should entice the cat into a position, but never pull or push it or hold it.

7. Never wait until your cat performs the perfect act that you told it to do, instead click and reward for little actions towards the correct direction.  When your cat is signaled to sit and it crouches in its back, click.

8. Carry the clicker at all times when you are with your cat, so you can catch good acts.

9. Make sure to put aside the clicker when you are scolding your cat.

The non-confrontational character of a clicker makes it an ideal tool for training your cat.
You too, can be happy with the results, having achieved all positive behaviors that you worked for with your cat.  With lots of understanding, love, and patience, cat clicker training will continue to give you wonderful results that you and your cat will benefit from for years to come.

Cats are trained and encouraged by treats or rewards.  A clear illustration of such behavior is when cats come running when it hears the food bag rustle or the can opener’s sound.  Cats often relate the sounds to food rewards.

Keep in mind that your cat must be closely examined on a regular basis by the veterinarian, to ensure that there are no unknown problems in your cat’s health that could be aggravated or intensified during training activities.

To further encourage your cat to maintain a good behavior, the most effective way is to offer immediate treats, a full tasty meal, or a favorite toy as rewards.

When saying “good” and offering a treat all together, your cat will later relate the word with its positive act, even if later, food is not available and upcoming.  In place of food rewards, you can give your cat an enjoyable playtime or a rub behind its ears.

With the use of positive emphasis and reinforcement, your cat will be willing to learn good behaviors and basic instructions or commands.

Here are training guidelines:

1.  It is best to begin training with kittens.  They will be more open and responsive to training.  Bad behaviors have not yet been formed and not given a chance to develop.

2.  Use positive emphasis and reinforcement at all times.  A gentle hug, caress, or a whisper has a longer lasting effect than harsh or bitter words.

3.  Limit the training time.  Make it brief but frequent.  Cats normally have short attention and interest spans; so it is much more effective to have four to six sessions of five minutes each, during the course of the day than an hour or two of continuous training.

4.  Confine the training to indoors.  This is essential so that your cat will not be distracted by other neighboring pets or be attracted to climbing trees instead.

Discipline should be instilled for a well behaved cat, but tough punishment must be avoided.  In training your cat so to avoid negative acts, you need to approach it positively. Cats generally will not respond to certain punishments like hitting or yelling. They usually correlate the undesirable act with you rather than with their bad behavior. The outcome will be that your pet either stops loving you or will be afraid of you; not the result that will lead to a loving and warm relationship with your wonderful pet cat!

There are several things you have to know before training your feline companion:

•    cats are not very enthusiastic in being trained, and;
•    they are not interested in pleasing their owners.

Therefore, PATIENCE, consistency, a good reward or positive reinforcement system and an enjoyable experience for your cats are the key ingredients towards successful cat training sessions.

Training your cats for proper toilet, litter box, playing and leash manners and patterns require a good amount of time and patience. The task of your cat is to do the lesson at hand but yours is the patience.

Because of the known independent nature of cats, some owners view them as untrainable which is wrong. Besides, physical exertions and mental stimulation are good for your cat’s health. Your veterinarian may even suggest some helpful exercises and games for your cat.

Behavior and psychology are the things you have to understand before training your cat. You may want to ask your veterinarians or consult books about cat training.

Cats respond to REWARDS or bribery very well. This is how they learn basic tricks. By words of praises, affection from pats, rubs and a loving voice and of course food, they can learn what you want them to learn fast and well done. They, too, have natural instincts and behaviors that help them do the tricks. At times, you would want them to use these instincts and aide them too in their training.

There are some tips you can do to ensure success in training your cats.

•    Keep in mind that cats are not dogs. Their endurance for longer activities is less compared to dogs. Be sure to keep your training sessions to at least 15 minutes maximum per day. They respond very well to trainings before mealtimes when they are hungry.

•    Cats are good in doing tricks especially when they are given rewards like foods and affection. Yelling, beating and force never work for them.

•    If you catch their attention by using distinct sounds and commands, be sure that it is brief and repeated not more than twice. It will lose its effects if overused.

•    Make your training session not only short but an enjoyable experience.

•    Always make use of your cats name when commanding them. Afterwards, praise and reward them.

•    Choose the best reward for your cat training.

•    Cats have this sense of performance, the best time and who to perform for. Do not force them to do a trick in front of visitors.

•    Be consistent in your training. Cats have very good memory.

For all you feline lovers, learn to do the tricks and practice PATIENCE.

Taking care of a cat can both be a rewarding and frustrating experience.

The rewarding part is coming home to a cute, furry little creature whose antics can bring a smile to your face.

The frustrating part is trying to house-train and litter train them.

You can get over the frustrating part by starting them young.

Once you have a  kitten that you plan to take home as a pet, you may start house-training them.  Crate training is one of the most effective ways to do this.

Cats can be your best friend for life if you just care for them properly.

If you will train them at a young age, they will learn to follow “house rules” and not litter on your bed or scratch your furniture with their claws.

A cat needs proper care, time and attention.  Here are some tips on how you can use crate-training work to your advantage:

1. Remember that crate training will take some time.

You need all the time and patience that you can muster as a cat owner to fully train a cat. This is why you have to start out while they are young.

Familiarize them with what they can and cannot do using the crate.

If you take your cat along with you when you travel and you are in a place where pets are not allowed to roam around freely, put them in a crate.

This would let your cat know that being outside is not that safe, so your pet will be content to stay inside the crate.

2. Select the perfect crate for your feline friend.

There are some materials that cats love to scratch with their claws.  This would make the time that they spend in the crate more bearable despite being confined.

There are metal and plastic crates that your cat can fit into.  Make sure that it can move freely when inside.  Also, you can put your cat’s favorite toy in the crate, like a ball of yarn or a small stuffed toy.

3. Crate-train your pet cat slowly, but surely.

Start by spending time with them while inside the crate.  Then you can introduce your cat to eating food inside the crate.  Do not worry if they do not respond positively the first time, as they will get used to it eventually.

Later on, they will learn to spend time in the crate when you are not at home or during the night.

The key here is to not let your cat feel frustrated inside the crate and spend enough time with them to make them feel loved and cared for.

Cats in general are loveable creatures.  However, it is possible that some of them get on the bad side of the household.  Thus, it is necessary to address the situation when the cats are the problem.

Stray cats are actually the problem.  Cats that do not have owners to train them have made the whole neighborhood their home.  They ruin the garden.  They mess up the trash can.  Thus, one should seek for solutions that will keep the cats away.  Repel them.

At the same time, repelling cats should be done in the most ‘humane’ way possible. There are several options to consider in keeping those mean cats away, easily and safely.

Cat Powder
Easy to apply to the garden, these cat powders appeal to the instincts of the cats.  These contain the scent of a predator, usually a coyote.  Cats recognize the territoriality of animals, thus having such scent in the house would keep them away.

One only has to sprinkle this in the desired area.  The ones available in the market are usually not harmful to children and to the plants in the garden.

Sound Repellent
This creates sounds that are extremely annoying to a cat but remains undetected to humans.

Cat Scatmats
Some use the scatmats for the more stubborn ones.  These are thin mats that can be situated on the floor, garden furniture or window sills.  They are battery-charged.  Any animal that would walk on it will receive an unpleasant shock.  Cats are found to be sensitive to the mild shock, enough to discourage them from returning.

Water Sprayer
The market offers this very helpful repellent.  It is connected to the garden hose and has a sensor for movements.  Any unwarranted movement of a stray cat will result to a blast of water to fright the cats.

Liquid Repellent
It can be sprayed on any surface that cats may or constantly claw on.  It has a terrible taste that would be noticed by the cat when it grooms itself.  The cat will automatically avoid such locations.

Air Repellent
Some repellents use a blast of air to keep cats away.  Cats will find this scary.  The tools come with a distinct sound that will be helpful in scaring cats away.

Odor neutralizer
Cats often leave lingering scent trail on the garden that only attract more cats  The odor neutralizer will use enzymes that will rid of the odor and bacteria.  Just make sure that this is applied directly to the scent trail.

With these aids and tools at hand, the cat problem is resolved. These defenses are sure way to secure the household and get rid of the headache.

A cat whisper is somewhat similar to a dog or horse whisperer, although cat whisperers relate quite well with cats.  These types of people are unusually lucky and very successfully with cats.  In most cases, a cat will be abandoned or just show up at someone’s door.  In this event, the cat will adopt this individual as the cat whisperer.

Often times, alley cats and black cats will show up at someone’s door and decide to move into their homes.  This can be a result of abandonment, or the cat’s family moving away and simply leaving the cat behind.  Sometimes, the cat may decide that he likes someone else’s home better and decide to move there instead of staying with his owner.

A lot of people will tell you that a cat whisperer can be thought of as a therapist for cats.  Almost all cat whisperers haven’t have any type of training, what they know just seems to come to them naturally.  These types of people understand the way a cat thinks and knows how to work with the cat to achieve the results they want.  Even though many think of a cat whisperer as a therapist, it actually couldn’t be further from the truth.

Cats who have been abused or mistreated, often times won’t respond to anyone but a cat whisperer.  Although others may have tried to help the cat, it will only make matters worse by making the cat feel scared and afraid.  In most cases, these cats will end up in a pound.  This is very tragic, as the cats have already endured more than they ever should have.  A majority of the cats who have been abused were once loved pets.  Along the way, they were abandoned, mistreated, attacked by dogs, and in some cases tortured.

Cats who have been treated unfairly often times won’t trust anyone. They are often times confused, in a lot of pain, and not sure what they should do.  Like humans, cats feel pain.  Those that have been physically abused are a sad sight indeed.  Emotionally damaged cats may appear to be in perfect health on the outside, although their emotions are a wreck.  Emotionally abused cats are much harder to get through to, especially if they were stray cats to begin with.

Cat whisperers on the other hand, can communicate with physically and emotionally abused cats.  Cats know who they will choose to be their cat whisperer, which is normally an individual they sense trust with.  Cat whisperers are common with cats, although most people have never heard of them before.  Even though a cat whisperer may be able to communicate better with cats, it will still take time to heal a cat that has been abused.

When you decide to add a new cat to your home, it’s normally more exiting for you and your family than it is for the cat you already own.  Although most cats are solitary by nature, most will also come to accept or eventually tolerate any additions.  Cats can be very territorial, which is why you should always be careful when you introduce a new cat to your current cat.

If you are introducing kittens to one another, the entire introduction process can be short, lasting as little as 10 – 15 days.  Introducing cats to each other all depends on their temperament and their personality.  When you introduce a new cat to your current cat, you should always make sure that you give your current cat plenty of love and attention.  This way, your cat will feel secure and know that he isn’t in competition with your new cat for affection.

When you bring your new cat home, you should let him stay in a safe room until you have finished introducing the cats.  Your safe room can be any small room in your home, such as a bathroom or spare bedroom.   The key here is to use a room that your current cat doesn’t go in.  In the room, you should leave your new cat a scratching post, bed, water dish, litter box, and food dish.

At first, your current cat may howl and hiss when he stands at the door, trying to tell the other cat that he doesn’t belong.  When this happens you should ignore it, as punishing your cat for his behavior will only lead to more problems.  After a while, the first cat will start to act calm when he is near the new cat’s door.  As he starts to act calm, you should pet him and give him praise.

When your first cat starts to go by your new cat’s door and doesn’t howl or hiss; you can start introducing them to each other.  The best way to do this is to get them used to each others scent.  You can start letting them eat out of the same food dish, although you’ll want to feed them at different intervals at first.  This way, the scent of each cat will be present at the food dish, and each cat will get the scent when he eats his food.

Once both cats have got used to the scent, you can begin to feed them closer together.  To do this, you should keep your new cat in the safe room with the door closed, and your first cat on the other side of the door with his food dish.  This time, feed both cats at the same time.  After doing this a few times, they should start eating without any hissing or growling.  At this point, they are ready to be introduced to one another.

When you introduce them to each other in the same room, a bit of growling and hissing is to be expected.  Although they may be used to each others scent; your first cat will still feel a bit awkward with your new cat being in his territory.  You should play with them both at first, so they can smell one another and greet in their own way. If they start to fight you should break them up, and give them some time apart.

It may take some time to get them fully used to one another, although once they do – they will become playmates for life.  Cats love to be social, although it may be a bit rough at first, especially for your first cat.  Cats can be very territorial, especially if you have a kitten around.  If you get both of them used to each other early on – it will be a lot easier to add future cats to your home.

Anytime your cat backs himself up to a door or other object in your house, lifts his tail, and releases urine – you have a problem.  This problem is known as spraying, and is very common with cats kept indoors.  Even though it is a very annoying problem, it’s a problem that can be solved.

Contrary to what many think, spraying isn’t a litter box problem, but rather a problem with marking.  Cat urine that is sprayed contains pheromones, which is a substance that cats and other animals use for communicating.  Pheromones are much like fingerprints with humans, as they are used to identify the cat to other animals.

When a cat sprays something, he is simply marking his territory through his urine.  The spraying is simply the cat’s way of letting others know that the territory is his.  Even though it may make you mad and annoy you, getting angry with your cat will solve nothing.  If you raise your voice or show angry towards your cat, it can very well result in more spraying.

Cats that are in heat are easily attracted to the odor of urine.  For cats in heat, spraying is more or less an invitation for love.  Often times cats that spray while in heat results in a litter of kittens that are born in just a few short months.  Keep in mind that cats not only spray during heat, as some will also spray during encounters with other cats, or when they are feeling stressed.

Although spraying is a way of communicating for cats, the smell for people is horrible.  The good thing here is that most cats will do a majority of their spraying outdoors.  If you have an indoor cat that never goes outside, spraying can indeed be a problem.  If you’ve noticed spraying in your home, you should take action and do something about it immediately.

The most effective and also the easiest way to stop spraying is to have your cat either neutered or spayed, which of course depends on the sex.  Most male cats that have been neutered will stop spraying the same day they have the surgery. If you don’t want to get your cat neutered or spayed, you should look into other options.  If you hope to one day breed your cat, you certainly don’t want to have him neutered or spayed.

The best thing to do in this situation is to talk to your veterinarian.  He will be able to give you advice, and possibly even solve the problem without having surgery.  There may be a medical problem present that is causing the problem, which your vet can identify.  You should always do something about spraying the moment it starts – simply because cat urine stinks and it can leave stains all over your home.

Cats are very lovable creatures.  They are tame, cuddly and are indeed beautiful.  Most cat owners want them to be indoors, to keep them safe and clean always.  However, keeping cats indoors poses the problem of dealing with their wastes.  Thus it is necessary to toilet train the cat.

Toilet Training Essentials

1. Cats should be trained early on.  It should start when the kitten is around 8 weeks old.

2. Before starting with the toilet training, make sure that the cat already responds to its name.  This will be very helpful in responding to the behavior of the cat.

3. Cats generally are not difficult to toilet train.  For one, they have the instinct already to bury their wastes.  Thus all that is needed is to provide a litter tray.

This can be bought in pet shops.  A litter tray usually is made of plastic or enamel.  The container should be filled with soil, sand, sawdust or commercial cat litters.

4. Generally, a kitten that is raised together with a mother that uses the litter tray will learn to use the tray itself eventually.

5. For kittens or cats that still have to be trained, it is best to acquaint them with the litter tray.  The cat should be placed inside the tray after being fed, after play or when it wakes up.

6. Make sure that the litter tray is placed in a quiet and secluded place.  Cats would not like to be seen when they use the litter tray.

7. When the cat uses the litter tray, make sure that you praise it for the good behavior.

The best way to praise the cat is to pet it or pat it on its head.  Food rewards are also good tools to praise the cat.

8. However, a cat or kitten being trained that failed to make use of the litter tray should be reprimanded.  The cat must be corrected immediately.  A loud and sharp “no” or squirting the cat with water are the usual ways to reprimand the cat.  Never use physical punishment. It is not a good practice. It also affects the relationship of the cat to the owners.

The cat has to be constantly praised or reprimanded for its toilet behavior until it finally learns to go to the litter tray by itself.

Owning a toilet trained cat can be very rewarding. Attention and consistent effort will be greatly needed at the toilet training stage. Just be patient always.

Should a cat attend obedience classes?  Actually, there is no need to. Cats can develop good behavior with the proper training aids.

Cat Training Aids

Food Tray
The cat must be taught to eat only in their food trays to avoid begging constantly or having them steal food from the dining table.  These must be situated far from the dinner table.  It will also help to feed the cat before dinner.  They sleep after they eat.

Scratching Posts
It is part of the nature of the cat to claw, however this should not be tolerated.  It can be very damaging to the furniture.  This can be easily resolved by providing scratching posts for cats to claw on instead of the furniture.

Repellent
Liquid repellent can also be used to keep cats from scratching on certain furniture.  The taste of such repellents is so terrible that the cat will learn to stop from scratching eventually.

Yarns and Balls
Cats also need exercise.  They are generally playful.  Kittens like to play with just anything.  To avoid having them tinker with delicate things, it is good to give them yarns or soft balls to play with.  Older cats can be trained to use harmless leads.

Treats
Cats can be taught tricks.  They can be taught to shake hands or fetch something. However, to properly train cats, it is important to give them rewards when they successfully accomplished a task.  Treats are good rewards.

Litter Trays
One of the drawbacks of keeping a cat indoors is dealing with their dirt.  Litter trays will come in handy at this point.  This is a must in toilet training an indoor cat.

Water Spray
Fighting with other cats and caterwauling are also problematic cat situations.  Spraying the cats with water when they do these things will eventually keep them from doing them. The water spray is a helpful deterrent for other bad behaviors.

Cat Grass
Plant eating is also a habit of the cats.  They do this to induce vomiting and sometimes just out of curiosity.  Cat grass is a good substitute to keep your plants safe.

Nesting Spot
Cats enjoy going to elevated spots to see more.  It is their way of seeking company.  To keep them from jumping on furniture, it is best to get a nesting spot.  This should elevated and comfortable.  Rub a treat into the spot to attract the cat.

Training the cat with these aids will still require patience and consistency.  Still, this is worth all the efforts. The good behavior of the cat is reward enough.