We show different ways to educate a cat. With these practices you will see immediate results and will facilitate living with your pet.
Cats are characterized by being very independent, intelligent and very clean animals. If you have decided to adopt one of these little ones, you may have doubts about how to educate him, if you are reading these lines you have already taken an important step because you are showing that you have something very important to achieve it: intention.
Normally a cat’s education is simpler than training a dog to do certain basic tricks, but like everything, it is a matter of patience and perseverance. Cats tend to follow orders very quickly and when it comes to cleaning they don’t usually give much trouble, as they are very agile when it comes to learning where they should go to relieve themselves, so don’t worry, if you continue our advice you will do very well.
A cat is not a dog
Before starting to educate a cat, you must keep in mind that a cat is not a dog, it is a common mistake in people who have had a dog before and have never had a cat. So forget to try to teach him how to do tricks like: give you the little leg or bring you the ball.
Cats are independent animals, they will learn certain behaviors such as that they should not scratch furniture and use their scraper, that they should not climb through the curtains, bite cables or get into certain places, but do not ask them to do tricks for you, although this type training has been achieved in some cats with a lot of training, it is not something that is consistent with feline psychology.
A cat won’t greet you when you get home, either, it will sometimes, but only if it really wants to see you more than napping. Don’t demand of a cat the same as a dog.
Teach a cat to use the litter box
Overall they learn virtually alone to use the sandbox or sandpit, but if your cat is still very small or street you can probably have some trouble understanding you should use the sandbox to your needs. If you want to check best cat scratch post, then must visit here for more details.
You should buy a litter box that is the right size, in general the bigger the better, if it is too small your cat will not use it as it will not feel comfortable. On the other hand, keep in mind that if you have a puppy cat, the box cannot be very high because it will not be able to access it easily.
Pour in the litter enough so that your cat can cover the droppings, but don’t spend too much time as if you fill the litter box excessively, when your cat tries to bury the litter it will remove a lot of litter out of the box. As a basic task, you will have to keep the sandbox very clean by reviewing it twice a day.
Now that the fundamental aspects of the litter box are clear, we can now teach our cat to use it. Follow these tips:
- Place your cat in the litter box and show him with your hand (don’t use his own paws to teach him) that he can dig in the sand. Surely you are encouraged to dig and then relieve yourself.
- If your cat does his business outside the box, collect the feces and put it in the litter box.
- Don’t scold your cat if he doesn’t relieve himself in the right place.
- Reward your cat with petting when he uses the litter box correctly.
- If your cat does not bury its feces, use a little litter and cover it yourself, it will learn to do the same.
- Teach your cat to use the scratching post
One of the most common problems that cat owners have is that cats scratch furniture. Cats need to scratch, so if you want the furniture to not destroy you, you should provide a scratcher for your kitten.
There are many models on the market, some of them can even serve as a bed for your cat or as a play center. Buy the scraper that you like the most and spray it with catnip. Catnip is an aromatic herb that attracts cats as if by magic, due to this it is marketed in the form of a spray, ideal for spraying in places where we want kittens to be, such as in their scratching post.
If you catch your cat scratching a piece of furniture or another place that is not its scratcher, take it immediately and take it to its scratcher, if you always act like this, it will soon associate that this must be the place to scratch.
Teach your cat not to climb on sites
If you want your cat not to climb on the kitchen table or bed, whenever you see him in those places you should throw him without exception, because if one day you let him stay and the next day you throw him out, he will not understand what really you don’t want it to be there.
To reinforce the training you can use a spray bottle, fill it with water and every time you go up to where it should not, spray water on it, in this way it will associate that the “punishment” it receives from the water and not from you. You will understand that you should not get on those sites if you do not want to receive a jet of water.
How to Punish a Cat
Many times we cannot educate our cat because we do not know how to punish it. You should not yell at him and it goes without saying that you should never hit the animal or be aggressive with it.
When you catch your red-blooded cat doing something you don’t want him to do, you should scold him in the moment, use a specific word so that when you say it he understands that this should not be done, for example, you can say “No” in a serious tone or a “That is not done”. You should not let time pass between the action he has done and you’re scolding, because if you let time pass he will not associate it.
During the next 20 minutes from the fight, you should not pet your cat or feed it, because if you do any of these things, you can consider these gestures as a reward on your part and will associate their bad actions as something positive that you must repeat.