How to educate a cat

Before explaining the basic points of how to educate a cat, it is convenient to clarify that, even if it seems obvious, it is not always taken into account: a cat is not a small dog.

Do not try to teach your cat to sit, lie down or give you a paw to receive a biscuit. Don’t be offended if they don’t come to greet you when you get home; most cats do this because they are really happy to see you, but others will continue to rest or eat or carry out the activity they were doing and you will be the one to greet them. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you, just that he was busy with something important. Some cats love to be petted and can spend hours on your lap, but others will just let you touch them for a few minutes and then leave. Don’t insist, because somehow he will show that he wants you to leave him alone until the next pampering session.

How To Educate A Cat

Knowing how to educate a cat is to get him to do his business in the sandbox, to sharpen his nails on the scratching post and not on the furniture or your stereo. Some cats learn to use the toilet, but this isn’t for everyone and you can’t force them. You can also teach them not to climb on the kitchen table or curtains.

The way to learn from a cat is by experience. He has no interest in following your orders to make you happy. If an experience is good, he will try to repeat it, but if it is bad or unpleasant, he will avoid it in the future. The key to knowing how to educate a cat is to make it feel very comfortable every time it does what you want and, on the contrary, to associate actions that are not good with something unpleasant.

We often do everything backward without realizing it. For example, the kitten wakes up during the night (which is not good at all!), and what do you do? You get up and offer him milk or food or let him out. What did you learn? That waking you up has a reward and will do it again. Another example is when you realize that he has urinated on the rug, you call him and when he arrives you pick him up roughly, scold him and take him to his box in annoyance. What’s the lesson? Don’t answer when they call you because they will scream and take you to that horrible box to torture you. How do you perceive the complete opposite of what you wanted?

How to properly and effectively train a cat

Don’t punish him:

To correct bad behavior or educate a cat, start by suppressing reprimands and punishments. Dedicate a moment a day to play or caress your kitty; interact with him in the way he likes best. This makes him feel good and he doesn’t do mischief to get your attention. In addition, this way he won’t get bored and he won’t play inappropriate games that end up spoiling any decorations in the house.

Prizes: 

The other key point in how to educate a cat is to reward it every time it does something right. For this, the best thing is to create an environment or situation for him to do what you want. For example, always feed him at the same time so you can anticipate when he will need to defecate. A moment before, stay with him in the room where his litter tray is and wait until he uses it (if he doesn’t like you watching, do something else while you wait). Then shower him with caresses, give him something tasty or some toy if he likes it.

To educate a cat effectively, you can do the same when it just wakes up until it urinates. Another way to get him to like the litter box is to take him there and pet him or play with your fingers with the absorbent pebbles. Which must always be clean. In case you want me to use a scratching post, you will have to place a reward on the post: it can be a little catnip or a few drops of oil with a fish flavor. You can also place the pole close to you and pet him each time he uses it.

Creates unpleasant experiences: 

The third point is how to educate a cat to make sure that inappropriate actions are unpleasant experiences. Here the clearest example is scratching on furniture. You must use your power of observation and patience to determine what you do NOT like. Some cats hate having their nails hooked while sharpening them, so you can cover the piece of furniture in question with tulle or a net. You can look for unpleasant odors, such as pepper, mint, and insect repellent (not poisonous), or put on a two-phase adhesive tape so that its paws are sticky, this sometimes has good results. Another thing that is usually effective in educating a cat so that it doesn’t scratch where it shouldn’t is to look for a texture that is unpleasant, such as plastic, aluminum foil, or sandpaper.

If you are at home, you can observe, without him realizing it. Water pistols for children or some loud horn that is unpleasant for them are very useful. When you find him doing something he shouldn’t do. Trigger them to scare him, but without letting him see. That it was you because he won’t learn to do these things when you’re not around. Here you must experiment because what may be very effective for one cat may not be so for others.

Specific Products To Educate

There are also specific products to educate a cat so that it does not scratch furniture. Such as repellent aerosols or an innovative automatic spray that is activated. When it detects movement for example when the cat climbs on the sofa or the counter. And sprays a cloud of spray harmless that pushes you away. There are also similar deterrents for the care of plants in the garden. If you put these tips and a good deal of cunning into practice. Your cat will soon realize that scratching furniture is unpleasant and that, on the contrary. It receives rewards every time it uses its pole and will learn the lesson.

After having explained how to educate a cat, it is worth mentioning a comment. The main reason why a cat doesn’t use his litter tray is that, at least for him, it’s dirty. This includes changing the absorbent material you don’t like or changing the location of the tray. Another less frequent reason is that you do it in response to something. That generates stress, such as a new member of the family. The absence of someone from the house, some uncomfortable noise, a new cat in the neighborhood, etc. Finally, any disease in the urinary tract can also cause disorders in hygiene habits. If your cat suddenly stops using its tray, analyze all these possibilities. If necessary, consult your veterinarian before starting training sessions.