Can cats be taught?
 

Whenever my wife and I argue these days, it has something to do with the damn cats. Today we bickered over how often the cats should be fed. She feels that they should be fed at least 3 times a day...which I guess is an improvement from when she would be putting down cat food whenever the cats so much as opened their mouths.

I grew up differently... to me, first come people, then dogs (because they're actually good for something), and then waaaaaaaaaay later, come the cats. And the last thing I'm about to do is kiss a cat's ass. It's the other way around, as far as i am concerned.

This is what I believe. It's not the God honest truth or the best way to do things, but fuck it, it's what I believe. I believe that you feed the cats twice a day. You feed them once in the morning, and once in the evening. Now, if the cat wants to first whine in your face about how hungry he is, take a sniff and a disappointed look at the cat food that is being offered, and reluctantly eat a few bites before walking off just to come back five minutes later, then TWO FUCKIN' BAD. Wait for the next feeding if you're not hungry when the food is being offered.

I've heard people say that dogs have owners, cats have staff. I've also heard them say that cats cannot be taught things. I disagree with both. For one thing, a cat will walk all over you quite eagerly - if you let him. If you put the food bowl down for every meow, or give a bite of food from your dinner plate, then you accept your role. Cats can and do learn things, but they cannot be, for the most part, taught with treats and rewards, like dogs. Because of cats' stubborness, the only way to get them to learn is to be rough and clear-cut about where things stand.

Princess will still try to bite or scratch my wife if she does anything that her highness does not like. This is because she's let the cat walk all over her since the beginning of time. That kind of behaviour really irritates me, partially because it undermines what i try to get through those cats' skulls. The old grinch never tries to scratch or hiss at me anymore. Why? Because she knows what will happen if she does.

Pets are pets, but they're also animals. While there is no need to be unnecessarily cruel to them, I do believe it is just to put them in their place.

Do you believe that cats can be taught to mind their manners and fit in, instead of trying to take over? If so, what is your secret?

my cat eats canned food generally once a day, in the morning. occasionally a 2nd can at night, if he complains & his plate is indeed empty.

when i had 2 cats, they'd get fed a 2nd time in the evening, cuz well, there was 2 of them sharing the food.

the dry cat food bowl is always full, so if my cat doesn't dig on the can flavor du jour, well too bad, there's the dry stuff.

cats can be trained somewhat, such as learning to stay off of the cabinets & dining table or whatever. sometimes just repeatedly saying "no!" does the trick, other times a spray bottle of water will work.

rest assuredly though, as you seem to know already, your cat is always training you as well. ;)

I know a spray bottle will help "train" a cat, when they do somthing undesirable, give them a couple of good sprays..

LOL.

I believe you're supposed to spray the objects you do not want the cat to go on top of, and somesuch....as opposed to spraying the actual cat. But whatever works, I s'pose.

Our cats are indoor cats. We put out a bowl of dry food, and they eat on it until it's empty. When it's empty we fill it. Rarely have to do it more than once a day.

Can cats be trained? They can be taught that certain actions have consequences. I taught a cat not to bite me when he was mad. Everytime he did, I acted like a maniac, picked him up and yelled and so forth. So he stopped doing it; when mad at me, he would _pretend_ like he was about to bite me, but always stop short. And I would take from that that he was pissed about something or overstimulated or whatever, and act accordingly. So bad behavior actually morphed into a form of communication.

Cats can be trained to do certain things that fit with their instincts: use a litter box, use a scratching post. But aside from those few things, all that you can expect them to do is behave themselves _when you're around._ Because all they learn is that certain actions have consequences _from you._ And if you're not around, there are no consequences; they're smart enough to know that. Which is why nobody I know has ever been able to train their cats not to walk on the kitchen countertops at night, short of closing off the kitchen.

I fill my cat's bowls (Water and Food) every night before I go to bed. They never are empty by the next night when I add fresh food and water, and I have a fairly big cat.

Rodney is right about cats learning about consequences. And that doing certain acts will either get them in trouble or rewarded with a treat or affection. But don't kid yourself for a second if you think they will keep the same behavior when you are gone or asleep. :)

Twice a day should be plenty - most cats in the wild only eat once a day, and it's a mouse or some other small critter, so they're not going to starve if they don't get three square meals. Putting it down and taking it back up regardless of whether they've eaten it or not is the preferred method - free-feeding tends to lead to obesity. You can train cats to some extent, but it usually takes more energy and more consistency than most people are willing to put in.

The real issue isn't the cats but your respect for your wife's feelings. If the cats are very important to her, what does it matter to you whether they're fed three or two times a day? It is better for their health to be fed fewer times, and to have to eat it when it's put down, but in the long run, what's more important to you: being right, or having your wife be happy?

Cats most certainly CAN be taught. They're animals, and ALL animals, right down to amoebas, respond to classical conditioning. That's all you're doing with a dog (or a child.... oh wait, did I say that with my outside voice?) when you train it. You associate certain behaviors with reward, and those behaviors increase in frequency. That's called positive reinforcement, and it's the most effective training technique.

Picking up a cat and throwing it around when it does something unattractive is negative reinforcement, and while it works, it tends to foster less than sympathetic feelings for the trainer on the part of the trainee. Think about how cadets feel about their Drill Sargeant; boot camp is a classic example of negative reinforcement. And your little recruits have very sharp claws and teeth, and have access to you while you sleep. Think about THAT when you're showing the cat who's boss. :D

I know a woman who has clicker-trained her cat, just like she did with her dogs. It took longer, because a dog has more desire to please built in as an instinct. It took a lot of patience and consistancy, but it worked.

My cats eat 3 or 4 times a day. Yes, they're in control.

Damn, my cat eats at least 5 or 6 times a day and still is meowing for more. I think part of the problem is the dog is around to finish it off if she doesn't.

My Aunt microwaves the cat food so they won't have to eat it cold. She's got it all timed out to the second and she always waits for the cats (She's got three) to start eating so she knows its just right. She does it for her dogs as well, which leads me to the conclusion she's nucking futs.

My cat knows how to use the litterbox and that's about it. My relationship to the cat is comparable to Inspecter Closeau and "his little yellow friend." (Was his name Kato?) We like each other enough, but were always trying to out smart each other.

For instance, she wants to be outside. Can't go outside, wants to be outside anyway. I spray her; block her with my foot; make threatening gestures with my heels; yell; make loud animal noises; catapult her with the top of my shoe across the room; I even sprayed the door jamb and such with a nasty tobasco combination (It works for dogs, why not cats, eh?) all to no avail. It's been a little over a year here and everytime I open the door it's an invitation to the cat to try and sneak out.

Maybe it's just the cat. This summer I couldn't open any windows while she was around. She found out she can bite and scratch through the screens to freedom. Good cat, just convinced she's a prisoner of war.

Oh yeah, the cat eats at my mercy and discretion. :) She's got me setting food out once a day.

Set out dry catfood 24/7 and let the cats eat as much as they want. As for wet catfood on top of that? Twice a day is fine. Just remember that you are your cats servant... Owning a cat is like electing a dictator. If you can't live under a cat's rule, then don't get a cat. Cats can be trained though. If you live under the cat's rule, then you and the cat will get along just fine...;)

I just leave a bowl of dry out for my three, it has to be refilled once a day. I have one cat who is on special food - she has kidney disease, so I try to feed her when they other two aren't around - otherwise they will eat her food.

i8one2 has done wonders at training my cats - he has that dominant hiss that cays give each other down pat.

so long as you don't have to feed them or pick up the cat shit.. what do you care how she takes care of the cats? it makes her happy, leave her be. And when she gets mad because you leave your socks on the floor, tell her it makes you happy to take care of your socks like that.

Well, I wouldn't care, if the cats didn't try to stick their faces in my dinner plate because she's taught them that it's okay to do that while a person's eating.

Cats cannot tell when they're full, so therefore will keep eating as long as there's food around.

That being said, I leave out dry food and water for them all day. At night, if they're whining, I'll give them some canned stuff. Other than that, they pretty much just lay around and scratch stuff.







Lucky bastards :P

I don't know if you can teach them - but well, here's a cat story:

My friend and I hanging out drinking water (real real hung over) and the cat just staring at us. My friend sets his water down, and the cat walks over to it, wraps his paw around the glass to the other side, and bites the edge of the glass. It was the wierdest thing - he actually tried to take a drink like a human would.

Yes.

My sister taught her cats to play "fetch" among other things, also they learn pretty quickly to use the catbox. They can be taught, they just arn't as inclined to please as dogs.

My cat gets half a can at five, and all the dry food she wants. I didn't make the system, but it seems to work. One thing that I still haven't figured out is how the cat gets water...

we had a cat that would play fetch with this little squeaky toy.

run and get it,bring it back,run and get it,bring it back

she'd play shake a paw.......sit.....stay.......

she used to climb the ladder when i was up on the roof......

she walked around with a cigarette in her mouth......funny as all hell

loved to fight with me and understood what NO was.

no water spray or hitting her.....just NO .



i miss that damn cat:(

Cats can be taught very easily, actually, if you start when they are kittens. My cats have been taught that when I snap my fingers, they had better stop whatever it is they are doing. Now, I am still working on getting them to stay OFF certian furniture, but when they get on it, all I have to do is snap and they get down and run into the other room. They are actually getting on the furniture less and less.

They have also been taught that when the TV goes off in the bedroom, it is time to sleep. Otherwise, they get kicked out of the bedroom until we wake up.

As for the food- don't make it so diffucult. Just put a bowl of food out, not a big one- big enough to hold 1 to 2 cups of food, and when they you see it is empty, fill it. I don't usually mess with the wet shit. It is messy, they get it all over the place, and it usually gives them the shits. They each get a pouch of it on the holidays- Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, but that's it. It just makes them fat and can really upset their stomach.

Trust me, I consider myself something of a cat expert- I took care of a mentally retarded cat with FIV for 8 years.

For those of you I've seen mention that they can't get their cat(s) to stay off of countertops and such try lining the edge of the countertop or whatever with double-stick tape. It works great. Cat's hate it.

I would think that any cat that gets fed 3 times a day will end up fatter than is healthy for cats. Try and get a book or advice on cat nutrition to help. You could feed them 3 times a day I expect as long as it was a small portion.

guthmund - we actually named one of our cats Kato, because she used to jump all around as a kitten and looked like she was doing karate moves. Kato liked baths - weird - she seemed to like the warm water in the tub, and once dry she would be so fluffy and clean - it was nice.

I don't have cats anymore, and I don't really remember how often we fed them when we did.

I have 3 cats, they have dry food and water all the time. They get 1 can of wet food between the three of them at night. And they tend to follow my wife around and mope until she feeds them too!!!

I have also taught my cat to shake hands, just like a dog. People who see it think it is the coolest thing. It was just something I did when I was bored. He sits on his back legs and holds the paw out waiting for you to shake it. I even taught him to switch hands.

From my experience with cats: no, they cannot be taught.

However, you can batter-fry them!

Just a suggestion - it'll also stop the arguing over the cats....

I taught a cat to fly once.
It lasted all of 5 seconds in the air and made a purrfect landing.

I just have a bigass bowl of dry food sitting in the garage for my cat. He can eat whenever he feels like it and its way easier for me, unless the damn racoons get in there.

just get dogs. they're easier. and more fun to play fetch with.

Just sat here and read all the responses in this thread. I think most everybody has the right attitude. Cats are trainable, They are also very intellegent and like child know how to push the limit they are allowed...
Lest we forget they can get mad at us as well, and taking their anger out on the drapes or your favorite chair.

two phrases really I think explain a cat..
1) Dogs view themselves as part of our family,,, cats view us as part of the help.
2) Dogs Drool... CATS RULE!

It always amazing how guys who dislike cat, always love their dogs... I figure it is because, while a cat does not need constant reassurance, Dogs need to show their affection all the time and constantly have it reinforced. So this can be quite gratifying for the more insecure or emotionally handicapped individual

I subscribe to the "put food out in the morning and let them be" school of feeding the cats and both of mine seem pretty OK with that.

I think all animals need to be shown who the alpha's in the house are. Don't get me wrong, my kitties do what they damn well please, but they also respect me as the leader of the house...

(wish my wife did!)

I taught one to run like hell the other day---he was a slow learner, and only made it to the fence line---damn that ground was hard to dig...

My sister's cat knows how to roll over

I've always preferred dogs for the simple reason that they'll love you unconditionally. It's what we all look for in a relationship, right? So why shouldn't it be the same way with a pet, I ask you?

Cats, on the other hand, will love you only so long as you keep them happy and they feel like loving you.

So yes, I'm primarily a "dog" person. But that doesn't mean I don't like cats....you do the batter right, they taste just like chicken!

I would say conditioned rather than taught. They can certainly be conditioned to act predictably under certain circustances, but I don't know if I would call it 'being taught'

My old (sadly departed) cat stopped crapping inside after it learnt that it didn't like having it's nose rubbed in it..

Always works for me.

AS far as cats being able to be trained - I belive they can be to some extent. When I was younger, I thought it would be funny to get my cat to drink out of a running faucet, so I taught her to do it. Ever since then, it's the only way she'll drink. So while it is amusing, it also makes taking care of her more difficult, so be careful what you teach your cat to do! :p

Cats simply tolerate our existance... ;)

idk about that, cats are pretty light...

Why bother? ;)

<--Likes Dogs :D:D

I knew a cat that would fetch once. :) It was odd to say the least.

My cats eat like pigs, they definitely own the place. Hey, their life is short and boring, they should be treated like kings.

My 4 cats eat out of a huge bowl that is always full of food. One of them has a bit of a weight problem, but it might just be genetic.

all i know is that i haven't been able to train my cat, and he's pretty darn smart too. i just don't think that cats WANT to be taught. they have the capability to, but just don't want to.

thay cannot be taught...just eaten!
Meow!!!

My cat drives me crazy I use to like cats I had one previously that was respectful and quite but now I have this little annoying kat that pisses me off. The spray bottle worked for a while but eventually she stoped caring I could empty the bottle on her and she would just look at me. It got to the point where we had to grab her up tell her "no!" then smack her back side once and put her in her room. I think its a little much but thats about the only thing that gets through to her.

Oww yeah any one want a cat...j/k

Has anyone ever tried either the "scatmat" or the "stayaway" products from here?

http://www.scatmat.com

They seem like they may work since they're there when you aren't.

I had a cat that I raised for about 3 years from the time she was a kitten. I showed her the same attention most dog owners show their dogs, and she acted a lot like one.: fetched and brought things back, followed me everywhere, sat and shut up when told to, etc.

I think the problem is most people mistreat cats and because of that they never see what they're capable of doing as far as amusement goes.

naw, we like dogs because they actually give a crap about you. Cats wouldn't care if you left 'em for 3 weeks as long as you arranged for them to be fed and watered. Dogs actually like just knowing you're around.

Shakran: my cat I spoke about above actually waited by the door all day while I was gone, only to follow me around constantly when I was home. When I moved out and got my own place, she sat at my old bedroom door for weeks expecting me to come out. Again, it's all about how you raise them.

One of my buddies got a book called "how to train your cat" or something along those lines for his girlfriend. I don't know how well it worked, as she had to get rid of the cat soon afterwards due to pissy roommates.

My cat follows pretty much the same orders. I've had her since she was 2 months old and she is now 17 years old. She comes when called, listens when I ask her to, and though she doesn't fetch, she shows loyalty uncharacteristic of a cat. She follows me everywhere and talks back to me. I firmly believe she has clung on to life because of her love for me, as she suffered a great battle with flea-induced anemia this summer. My parents refuse to take her to the vet as she is 17 years old. I have told them that I will pay her vet bills, but they ignore my pleas as I live 200 miles away. :( Unfortunate, but true. She is my darling girl, and though she may be old she may not show it.

As she tells me, cats can be taught. One just has to love them enough.

Cats are very intelligent, you can teach them a lot. But they also have a mind of their own, because they are that intelligent. So in the end, depending on the personality of your cat, that's what you have to work with.

I feed my two cats twice a day, dry food mainly (because it's healthier) and occasionally some fresh fish.
They meow for more food but generally I'm good about putting my foot down. Sometimes when they climb on counters and stuff though I'm too tired to get angry and just leave it. But I will find a way to stop them...

The vet told us our girl cat was too fat. She said - feed them dry food only, with raw meat /chicken etc as a treat (maybe once a week). She also said once a day and about 1/2 cup each is all they need. Their bowls are often empty when we fill it in the morning, but they are certainly not starving - the girl has lost a lot of her "pudgy" tummy as well.

Our boy cat will fetch a tennis ball (carries it back in his mouth) - not all the time but pretty often.

Also - the mother cat teaches the kittens to go in the litter - no other training necessary. We used a spray bottle on the cats when they were kittens to keep them off stuff we wanted them to stay away from - and they have (by and large) learned it.

I've had cats my whole life, but it wasn't until I got the two I have now a little over a year ago that I really worked at understanding them. They are amazing cats. I agree with what many people have already said. People think cats are independent and take care of themselves so they leave them alone for the most part. If that's how you treat a cat, then yeah they're not going to respond to you the every-so-often you pay attention to them, and they may act out because of boredom. Cats like routine....makes them feel comfortable and in control. They need stimulation though. I got two at the same time so that they could keep each other company, entertained, and excercised. On top of that I hold them, pet them, play with them and talk to them very regularly. The more you talk to them the more they learn what your tones are, and that you are communicating with them. You will see them respond more to you the more you respond to them. Also, cats don't scratch to be asses, they scratch because it's instinct, and it's marking territory. If you give them a couple of good scratching posts in popular areas of the house, then they will use them and feel like they belong and won't tear your stuff up.

For training purposes, the squirt bottle is great. A couple of tips though. Don't yell when you squirt them, and if possible don't show them you're doing it. Stupidly enough, the cats don't always realize where the water's coming from. They just know that when they do that one activity they get wet and they don't like it. If they know it's you, and you're yelling at them, then they sometimes will withdraw from you and also act out more to get back at you. Once you lose a cat's trust or respect, good luck getting it back. Another product is called the TattleTell. It's a motion sensing little box. Set it on furniture, or in plants, and when the cat moves it in any way, it sets off a loud, high pitched beep that they really don't like. My male cat has learned to open the doors in my house, so to train him not to open certain doors I tied this device around the handle. Leave it on for a week or so, then leave it on but turned off. Finally take it off and typically the problem is solved.

As for feeding, growing up we let the cats free graze which is typical. With these cats after a couple of vomitting instances from eating too fast, and noticing the bellies growing quickly, I went to twice a day feedings no ifs, ands, or buts. Again, they like routine and after trying a while to feed them when I felt like it, I gave up and feed them on their schedule which is 6 and 6 (or as close to it as I can). This does a couple of things. One, it makes the cats need you and respond to you more, because your their feeder. If there's a big bowl of food out all the time, they really don't think they need you. It's a healthier set up for them too. In the wild their bodies are set up to eat, get very hungry, then eat. It's programmed into them. Also, I can control the amount they eat better which keeps their weight in line. Also, never give human food. I don't even give treats. People think they're being nice and the cats will like them more. In reality, it's just something else to eat, and you train them to beg.

Last thought....if you or anyone you know wants to get a cat avoid the kitten idea. I thought I wanted kittens too, but I stumbled onto this amazing not-for-profit no kill shelter group and went to a foster mother's house. She had 6 young cats for adoption. 5 were a few months or more old, and only one was a true 8 week old kitten. I ended up leaving with two six month olds. Lots of reasons for this. Most of all, they're through the tear everything, get into everything stage. They've also developed their personalities, have been around more people and other cats, and because of all of this are typically better adjusted. Also, you take cats that a lot of people are overlooking just becauase they're not the tiny kittens. Shelters have a terrible time getting rid of the bigger cats, so you do the world a better service. Please adopt and save the life of a kitten. It's makes owning a pet ten times more rewarding.

Okay, there's my book. I didn't mean to ramble on so much. I just love animals and especially cats, so if I can share knowledge or help someone understand them better that makes me feel good.

Excellent post, screamincheetah. I can see you know your cats.

I've had cats my whole life, and I've found that many of them can be trained. It depends on how smart they are and how stubborn they are, and my observation has been that there's a pretty wide range in both of these. The smarter cats won't be completely instinct-driven, so they'll be more able to modify their behavior based on whatever fuzzy reasoning they can manage. I've taught cats how to open doors and windows, to fetch, to roll over on command, to jump on my shoulder, to get down off the counter/table/desk on command, and to sit quietly to the side while I'm eating my dinner. Some of these (fetch, roll over, jump) were basically me building on things the cats tended to do already. In my experience, Siamese cats are the least trainable because they're too full of themselves (before all the Siamese lovers start yelling, please know that my family used to raise them so I have experience). I once witnessed one of them running off with an entire roast, our holiday meal! :eek:

I feed our cat once a day about 3/4 of a cup of dry cat food in the evenings. She's content with it and if I happen to forget she'll go and sit beside her cat food bucket (I put it in t an icecream bucket cause she'll tear open the cat food bag otherwise) and whine at me. Once in a while I'll give her a treat of some specialty canned food or quality tuna or salmon. Otherwise we rarely even give her our food. If she's begging and we want to feed her out food we try to take it to her dish. She's still eating from her dish then and not from the table. It helps to teach them NOT to eat from the table. It worked for my parents cats and it works for ours.

She mostly stays off the diningroom table and the counters. I don't have many limits for her. When she gets pissy or tries to get into my food I'll either flick her nose or put her in the bathroom for a while. She is the type of cat that wants to be around people all the time and doesn't appreciate being locked away for a while. It's what works for her. She's always very glad to get out of the bathroom even if she's only been in there for 5 minutes. Mine stays off the counter mostly cause she got up there as a kitten, investigated a pot of boiling corn, and singed her wiskers off. She's not interested in the stove except from a distance to sniff the smells. She's not really interested in outside anymore now that we moved. She's gotten used to her new home and learned about the next door dogs. If she does sneak out she finds a corner to hide in and just watches the door next door.

She HATES when I leave. If I get my purse, or coat, or shoes on she'll start attacking my ankles and post herself between me and the door. When I get home she'll be at the door rolling, mewing, and literally groveling. She's a disgrace to independant cats everywhere.

My parents taught their cat to stay off the table and counters. They did this with more than one of their cats. One of them was difficult to train but Mom did it. Eventually the cat wouldn't even get on the counter while we were gone. She accomplished that by smearing a thin layer of vasoline on the edges of the counter all the way around every time we left. It was a wide enough edge to it that more than once we came home to find paw prints that landed on one side of the counter and just SLID all the way across to the other side and off. The cat would be licking her fur religiously.

Get creative and don't get worked up. Figure out what matters most to you - sounds like you want her out of YOUR food - and defend that religiously. Don't make an issue of how many times wifey feeds the cat but ask that she work to cooperate with your goal. If you don't worry about her babying the cat then she may be willing to help teach the cat to leave your plates alone. It really isn't sanitary to have their feet that were in the litter box on the table or counter. It's not so much an excuse but a reason. Hopefully she can see that.

http://www.unca.edu/housing/images/s...he-parents.jpg

Asta!!

Cats can be training

I had a cat that use to fall to its side and play dead when I made a shooting sound. Wouldn't get up until I scratched her head.

This same cat would ring the chime at the back door when it wanted in.

This cat would follow me around the house when I got home from work and would sit down next to me when I settled in front of the TV.

This cat was extremely loyal and different than most cats.

I have one cat. When it's cold outside, she's an inside cat. When it's hot outside, she's an outside cat. I've left her outside for two-three days a few times, and she feeds herself with birds and mice. She's a huntress. We love her, and feel that she's part of the family, so we're always giving her food from our plates whenever we feel generous, but if we don't want to, all we have to do is say, "No!" and she walks to her own food dish. If she pisses us off for any reason, we say, "Outside!" and she runs right outside.

She's a very independant cat, but she's also very loveable just as long as you treat her with respect.

My cat is so smart she understands when I'm giving her discreet signals to come get a treat in the kitchen alone so the other cat won't gobble it all down. I make eye contact with her and motion her over with my hand and she quietly jumps down from her perch and joins me in the kitchen. She also understands when I'm about to do something that bothers her, like grind coffee or turn on the shower. I tell her, "Watch out Heidi!" and she leaves the room. She will also leave areas where I don't want her to be (like the bathroom closet) on command, without giving me any trouble.

Thats pretty awesome. Used to have a kitty named Amber. She was sweet. She used to climb up my mothers body when she was sitting on the chair all the way up and sleep on her chest..haha...my mom would get the funniest looks on her face then she was just like "Ah what the hell" and then keep on watching T.V. n stuff. I think someone stole her from us! :mad:

Asta!!

my wife has trained our cat to stand on its hind legs and catch treats with its front paws. thats about all the cat is good for however. :D