How to Train a Cat

Ok, I am not really going to teach you how to train your cat, but I am going to talk about our adventures in training our sweet guy, Jack. However, based on the minimal work we have put towards these actions in our house, I have no doubt that cats can be trained given the right amount of devotion and immense patience.

It all started with the fact that Jack was becoming more friendly than desired when someone was eating. While I love that sweet black and white face, seeing it hovering over my plate left a lot to be desired. To combat this I just started directing Jack away from the plate by pushing him away with my arm and saying, "no". This almost always forced him into a sit position. Then we began adding sit to the routine. Now, as long as there is food involved, I can almost always get him to sit. The execution of this is not perfect. He often uses those front paws to bat at me. Hard to get mad at him though because he is still sitting. That being said, there are certain foods that almost make you wonder if his bottom is on a spring. Cheese or any food with cheese inevitably means that we will be asking him to sit repeatedly.

So sweet when he's sleeping!

The newest training goal has revolved around sleeping at night. Jack has his own room in our house. Since he has lived with us (yes, the last six years), he has slept in his room at night. We round him up (the difficulty of this varies from night to night) and put him in the room with the door closed. Early on we found him full of energy at night. This, of course, meant that we didn't sleep. The easy way out was leaving him in his room. About two weeks ago, I decided to explore leaving him out at night. I had hoped that he would come in and sleep in our bed without circling our heads and walking all over us. Didn't happen. He might pop in once when we first go to bed, but after that we don't see him. Once morning rolls around, Jack comes in crying, ready to eat. Sometimes he will even stand up beside the bed and cry in my face as I lay in bed. This is where the training piece comes in. Initially this started around 3:30 in the morning. I would get up, he would run out the door (getting excited, because he thought it was time to eat), and I would shut the bedroom door behind him. This tactic really works. He now won't come in to the room until he hears me get up in the morning. I am so pleased with his progress. 

All this to say, it can be done! Cats are trainable too. We spend time training our dogs, but maybe it's time we train our cats too.