How To Train A Cat
Not long ago I asked our cat if she could tell me anything about how to train a cat. She said she couldn't, and furthermore had no particular interest in the subject, finished grooming herself, and walked away. That spoke volumes on how difficult it might be to teach kitty to do tricks or even something useful. If there is one thing that cats do particularly well, it's watching us do things. Whatever they learn from that they seem to keep to themselves.
Yet there's little doubt that cats are extremely intelligent. It's not that they can't learn. With the cat it seems to be more a matter of inclination. We can teach a dog to heel or fetch the newspaper, and once they've figured out what we want, they are happy to do it and happy to please. We can teach a horse to start, stop, turn and do a few other things, mostly associated with riding. A horse won't meet you halfway like a dog seems to. You have to do things on a horse's terms, let the horse think it's doing what a horse should do, and it will do it. In other words, you've tricked the horse into thinking the thing learned was its idea. You won't trick the cat. The secret in knowing how to train a cat is one of making whatever it is you want the cat to do, pleasurable and rewarding.
It isn't to difficult to train a cat to use a litter box in the house, as a box of kitty litter seems like a very natural place for the cat to do its thing. Training a cat to sleep all night on a pillow you've set out for it is a different story. There are many places a cat would like to sleep, and unless you give it no other choice, it can just as easily find another spot to sleep, even if it's beside the pillow. More often than not though, when we are attempting to train a cat, we're trying to get it to stop doing something it shouldn't. Reprimands won't work. Spending a little time with your cat often will, at least to the point where the cat is going to be more attentive when you're trying to teach it something.
To get a cat to stop doing something it shouldn't, you have to make the activity unpleasant for the cat. This is different from punishing. If you don't want the cat on an upholstered chair, place some aluminum foil on the cushion. Cats don't like the noise and feed of it. Sticky paper, or tape, can be used to keep the cat away from some things. A piece of cloth that claws will get caught up in can keep a cat from scratching a piece of furniture. A cat won't do what's unpleasant for it to do. That can be the basis for some very affective training.
Rewards help as well. If your cat got a piece of salmon the first few times it used the litter box, it's going to make the association between the two. Eventually of course you'll be able to dispense with the salmon handouts. The point is, cats will respond to rewards. Want to teach your cat to bring in the morning paper? That's a whole different situation. Good Luck!