Cat Training

[Umbran]

...and the rest of the time he is scratching and biting at our ankles and knocking over any object the stands vertical (bottles, cans, shampoo, medicine bottles, etc.). Can anyone recommend a good book or website or anything else that might help? I'm being good natured here but its really getting to be a problem.

Not an animal expert myself, but my wife is a veterinarian. As others have mentioned, for a boy, neutering may help.

The clicker training that P-cat mentions is good stuff, and worth looking into. However, I have a few other notes, which amount to, "negative reinforcement is often ineffective".

We must remember that our pets dont think as we do, and don't make associations as we'd expect them. For example, let's take a look at freyar's "Pick 'em up by the scruff and shake gently" idea. That may work. But it may also translate in the critter's brain as, "If I bite, I get attention."

The trick to positive reinforcement training is to not try to stop an animal from doing something wrong, but instead to encourage them to do something right. If your pet gets rough in play, being rough back isn't usually a good answer (that's just more rough play). Instead, the better answer would be to stop playing. This isn't negative - it is lack of positive. The animal learns he gets something good (play) when he does something good (plays nice). Playing rough will then usually fall out of Fluffy's lexicon as a bad idea that doesn't get him anything.

There's also a major fact many folks with new pets (even if they've already had pets for a while) forget - you will have to change how you do things. The animal will not be 100% moldable to your will. Don't even try. Pick your battles - change the animal for things you really need, and change your own habits some for other things.

Consider - how hard would it be for you to rearrange some things, so that there were no major breakables where the furball could reach? Knocking over things you are worried about gets a rise out of you - that's attention for the furball. However, if you can ignore him knocking the things over (because the only available items are not breakable) he gets no rise out of you, and knocking them over may then cease to be a priority.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I'm no vet, but I've dealt with a few kittens. I've noticed (ie anecdotal) that kittens just like to knock stuff over. I think it's part of their learning process, and they seem to grow out of it after a year or so. I know that does nothing really to help you right now, but it's light at the end of a tunnel.

 

[ObiAndy]

Upon seeing the words "cat" and "training" used in the same sentence sent me into hysterical laughter.....

But, seriously, I've found cats to be very...um..."individually minded", meaning each cats personality will dictate how it behaves.

My wife and I lucked out, and our 20-year-old cat is a joy to have. He even gets along with the half-shepard/half-lab we own (11 years old). You can train them to a certain extent, but only some things may end up sticking.

Best of luck, tho!

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

As for biting and clawing, I recommend claw trimmers for the claws. Cats have very good control over how much pressure they are putting on their teeth and if the cat isn't breaking the skin, that means that they think they are playing, even if it hurts you. If they are breaking the skin, that means that they are scared or angry.

Oh, yeah. Fluffy was good about not breaking skin or anything, so he was definitely playing. I didn't even mind having my finger gnawed on, but my parents did.

Brad

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

The one thing that I'm aware of that it's easy to train a cat to do is to use a litter box.


This one that we were litter training, we swiped her paw in the litter, and she got this look in her eyes that almost said "OMG HOW COOL IS THIS?!"

Brad

 

[Pbartender]

If you're serious, buy and read this book. It's possibly the best book on training anything - dog, cat, boss, spouse - out there!

Don't Shoot The Dog, by Karen Pryor.

This will teach you how to use positive reinforcement to clicker train your cat. And clicker training is a thing of beauty.

She's also got a specific Clicker Training For Cats book.

 

[Pbartender]

Oh... Here's another good one along the lines of Umbran and John Morrow's advice to help with claws and teeth during wrestling.

This has worked with both our cat and our dog, both of whom like to wrestle and rough-house. While your kitten's still young, go ahead and wrestle with him. Whenever he gets too rough with his claws or teeth, say "ouch" several times and then stop playing with him. You might be surprised how quickly he gets the idea.

When playing, if our dog hears "ouch", she immediately stops playing, backs off three steps and then patiently waits. Our cat does much the same, except unlike our dog he tries very hard to not look so eager to get back to playing.

Also, he's learned to be very careful about when its okay to use claws... He really like to pounce on ankles as people walk by. He never uses claws -- only paws -- on bare legs. He only uses a little bit of claw, if you happen to be wearing thicker pants like blue jeans -- he likes to hang on for a bit. In return, if he's not quick enough, we playfully tag him back.

 

[John Morrow]

The one thing that I'm aware of that it's easy to train a cat to do is to use a litter box.

Often, yes, but not always. In fact, I've read that a cat not using a litter box all of the time is one of the biggest reasons why owners give up or abandon pet cats. One of our pet cats had that problem. You can train a cat to stop having accidents but it's not necessarily quick or easy and many people don't have the patience for it. You also can clean up cat urine and spray with the right cleaners (buy the stuff designed for removing pet odors from a pet store).

 

[LightPhoenix]

This has worked with both our cat and our dog, both of whom like to wrestle and rough-house. While your kitten's still young, go ahead and wrestle with him. Whenever he gets too rough with his claws or teeth, say "ouch" several times and then stop playing with him. You might be surprised how quickly he gets the idea.

I inadvertantly trained my cats to do this too. Any time I say ouch they immediately stop playing with me.

 

[Merkuri]

This has worked with both our cat and our dog, both of whom like to wrestle and rough-house. While your kitten's still young, go ahead and wrestle with him. Whenever he gets too rough with his claws or teeth, say "ouch" several times and then stop playing with him. You might be surprised how quickly he gets the idea.

The dog we had growing up was like this. He went through several homes before he got to us so we don't know when he learned it, but he knew what "ouch" meant, which is good in a house with two little kids who like to roughhouse with the dog. The first time he bit too hard, one of us kids said, "ow!" the dog went from bitting to licking and seemed to know that playtime was over. It was pretty cool to realize our new dog had a safety switch.

Saying, "nice, nice" in a calm tone got him to calm down, too.