Make the impossible, paw-sible: How to train cats

Ever wondered how to train cats or if even training a cat is possible? Well, you’ve come to the right. Here’s everything you need to know about how to train a cat, along with some top tips on basic trick training.

Key takeaways

• Teaching a cat tricks or desired behaviors comes down to understanding how cats learn and think - get to know your kitty more before you dip a paw into cat training.
• Keep training sessions packed with plenty of treats, and mental and physical stimulation, and (most importantly) make sure they’re short.
• You can start training your cat at any time or any age at home - try with some simple trick training like sit, shake, or to come when called.

Can you train a cat?

Yes! The cat brain is intelligent and more than capable of learning almost as many tricks as our pup pals. Now, we’re not here to debate whether cats are smarter than dogs but there is more going on behind their beautiful eyes than simply plotting their next mischievous mission.

Cats are clever, curious, and crafty - they love mental stimulation as much as physical exercise, so training a cat can benefit their overall welfare. Like playtime, they need a variety of things to focus on in short periods as they get bored easily (too easily…) So, how do you train a cat? 

How to train cats: the best cat training methods

Understand how cats learn

Like dogs, kitties can learn tricks and boundaries through a reward-based style of cat training. With amazing hearing and eyesight, you can start to train your cat to understand visual cues with hand signals, as well as audible cues such as a clicking sound.

When it comes to what tone of voice to use, all chose calm and gentle. While emotionally intelligent, cats will translate aggressive or loud commands as a threat which can scare them. Not only can this damage your bond with them, but it can undo all of your good cat training work.

Positive reinforcement

Always reward your cat for a successful trick or good behavior. Cats only ever respond to positive reinforcement and it needs to go hand-in-hand with any type of cat training. Negative reinforcement or scolding won’t stop a cat from doing something, nor will it help them to learn something new. They’ll see it as a threat and risk becoming afraid of you. Plus, if you’re teaching your cat to do something like not scratch the couch, they’ll simply wait until you’re out of the room to do so. Petty? Yes, but understandable.

Keep training sessions to short periods of time

As we mentioned, the cat brain is a wondrous thing, but it also has one of the shortest attention spans in the animal kingdom. For any seasoned cat carer, this won’t be news to you - do we dare think about how much money we’ve spent on new toys, desperately trying to keep them entertained with them for more than five minutes? Obviously, not every toy, but they’re selective with their time.

So, if they’re like that with playtime, imagine how it can be with training a cat. Along with the usual patience needed for any type of training, make sure you do quick bursts of training with your cat each day. Incorporate it into their playtime and make it as fun and rewarding for them as possible.

Tips on teaching cats a few basic tricks

Get your cat to come when called

Hear us out first! Outdoor cat parents will know how hit-and-miss calling their cat can be, but it can be done. When you start this type of cat training, they simply won’t always come when you call them. But, if you call their name and they come, reward your cat with a treat, snack, or their dinner. If you shout something else and they come, don’t reward them so they understand which sound they need to listen out for to be rewarded. Make sense? Good, off you go!

Simple trick training

Did you know you can teach your cat to sit, shake, and roll over? Really! You can train a cat to do all kinds of neat tricks, it just requires a lot of time and patience from their carer. Start with a bag of treats or bits of their favorite snack to hand (but out of sight), sit on the floor with them, and begin…

Let’s use training a cat to sit as an example. With dogs, you can train them by pushing their butt down when they’re standing, however, with cat training this often won’t work. Call your cat over (now you know how to do that!) and wait for them to approach you. Have a treat ready between your fingers, say ‘Sit’, and hold your hand over their head while they’re focused on the food. Keep saying ‘Sit’ with the treat raised until they sit, then reward your cat with said treat. Repeat this for a few minutes each day, and soon you’ll have yourself a rather talented kitty!

Refining cat behavior at home

Cats and humans sometimes differ in opinion on what is meant by ‘good manners’ in the home. By teaching your cat boundaries of where they can and can’t go, what they can and can’t scratch, and when they can and can’t scream to demand food. It also establishes a clear pecking order in the home - teach your cat who’s in charge and praise them for it.

Okay, let’s use stopping your cat from jumping on the kitchen counter as an example. Cat jumps on the counter and glares at you, ignore them. Don’t interact with them, walk out of the room and pretend you haven’t seen them. When they jump down, give them a treat and some love - they’ll begin to associate being on the counter as a no-reward zone, so won’t bother jumping on it. Basically, convince them that being on the floor is way better than being on the boring old countertop.

Don’t let all your cat training efforts be undone - find an experienced sitter who can keep teaching your cat even when you need to be away from home. Click the button below to find out how.