Posts in category: Training Your Cat

If you have an indoor cat then you might like to train your cat to walk on a leash. Lets take a look at how to leash train a cat. This opens up a whole new outdoor world for them to explore. Going on an adventure outside is also really good exercise for your cat. It can alleviate boredom from being inside all day every day. There are so many new things to see, new smells, and experiences. Not only is exploring outside wonderful exercise, leash training makes traveling and trips to the vet so much easier.

Most cats can be trained to walk on a leash although some cats take to it better than others. It’s not for every cat though, some cats may never be happy walking on a leash, and if yours is one of those who don’t like it, then you should never force them. Just be creative with new indoor adventures for them. It’s easiest to leash train a kitten, they’re at a stage where they are most accepting of new concepts and experiences.

If you’ve decided your cat will love leash training and new outdoor adventures, then now is the time to introduce the harness. Let them sniff it and get used to having it near by. Ensure your cat associates the harness with positive experiences, and treats are a great way to do this.

How to Leash Train a Cat

Mealtime is a great time of the day to slip the harness on, while your cat is distracted by food, or treats. Leave the harness on loosely for a while so they get used to the feeling of the harness. After a few minutes, take it off, and repeat this every day for a number of days. Gradually increase the time that your cat is wearing the harness. Remember the treats! Give the treats to your cat only when they are wearing the harness, not when it is off. Treats and rewards are the key!

Getting Your Cat Accustomed to the Harness and Leash

It could take days or weeks to get your cat used to a harness. Don’t rush this step. Attach the leash, make sure it won’t get caught up on anything in the room. You can let the leash drag behind your cat, or follow them holding onto the leash. Remember – treats and rewards. You’ll need to do this for a number of days or perhaps even weeks inside the house in safe rooms. For leash training to be successful, patience is a must and it’s far better not to rush the process. Allow your cat to get used to the feeling of a bit of tension on the leash. Again, treats and rewards. Always make sure you’re supervising your cat with the harness and leash on. Never leave them alone wearing a harness or leash. As your cat becomes accustomed to walking on the leash, you could try to guide them. With a little pressure on the leash pulling towards you, call them to you. If they move towards you, reward them.

How to Leash Train a Cat When They’re Still a Kitten

The process of training a kitten is much the same as for older cats. You’ll likely find your kitten adapts much faster to wearing a harness. Be sure to select an appropriate sized harness. Pet stores such as Animates sell harnesses that will fit kittens.

Taking Your Cat Outside on a Harness

Ensure it’s a nice day outside, not many cats like the rain and a nice sunny day is better for you too!

Carry your cat outside. This is vitally important for an indoors cat, as you don’t want them to get into a habit of rushing out the door whenever they see it open. Teach them that they are allowed to go outside only when they are carried out the door. Set you cat down in a safe area of the yard, preferably closer to the door of the house you’ve just left. Ensure there is nothing around to startle them, and let them begin to explore at their own pace. Be prepared, if your cat does get a fright they’ll want to run, so keep a good hold on the leash. If this happens and you attempt to pick up your cat it may be worth having a towel to wrap them in to avoid sharp claws. Keep the leash loose and follow along behind them. A few minutes at a time will be enough in the beginning otherwise it can be overwhelming for a cat that’s not accustomed to being outside.

Slowly increase the time and distance

Your cat may be more than happy just exploring outside in your backyard. However, if you and your cat have taken well to walking on a leash you both may decide you’d like to explore further afield. Again, take your time with this and remember the treats and rewards.

Given time, most cats can be trained to walk on a leash. Click here for more about how to leash train a cat. You might like to try teaching your cat a few basic tricks. Check out what I discovered about training cats here.

Despite what some people say, it is possible for you to train a cat to walk on a leash. Cats are extremely trainable and can be taught to wear a harness and walk on a leash. Walking on a leash is a great way for your cat to get outside for exercise and adventure.

Just think about how your cat reacts when you shake the bag of your cats favorite treats. If it’s anything like my cat, it’ll come running from a mile away when it hears the sound. Although there may be the odd exception to the rule, most cats can be trained to react to a signal, gesture or sound.

Clicker Training Your Cat

Many cat lovers use clicker training. Cats will react to a spoken word. If you used the word ‘dinner’ every time you filled their food dish, they would over time come to know what ‘dinner’ meant to them. You can train your cat to come, sit, stand up, hold a paw up, or roll over. Whenever your cat does the action you request, you reward them with their favorite treat.

Train a Cat to Walk on a Leash

You can also train a cat to walk on a leash. The key to training your cat is plenty of rewards and treats. It’s important to introduce leash training slowly. First of all, purchase a suitable harness and leash and get your cat used to them. Let them see the harness and leash and sniff them. After some time you’ll want to loosely place the harness on your cat and let them get used to wearing it. You can then attach the leash. This entire process may take a couple of weeks or longer. It’s important not to rush your cat and remember to use plenty of rewards and treats to reinforce positive behavior. If you’re serious about training your cat to walk on a leash, check out our in depth guide about how to train your cat to walk on a leash.

Some cats take to training faster than others. Don’t be discouraged if your cat takes a long time to respond to training. It’s generally easier to train a kitten than an older cat, although older cats still respond well to training. It’s never too late to try training your cat and every cat is different. If you’re cat is small or you’re training a kitten, be sure to select an appropriate sized leash. Pet stores like Animates sell harnesses that will fit a kitten. Using the correct size harness is important to train a cat to walk on a leash.

Tips to Train a Cat to Walk on a Leash.

Reward good behavior with treats

Cats love treats. That makes treats a great way to reward positive behavior and reinforce behavior you wish to encourage. Rewarding behavior is the best way to train your cat so ensure you have a good supply of your cats favorite treats on hand. Training before meals is a great time, a hungry cat will do almost anything for more of its favorite treats.

Don’t punish bad behavior

Punishing bad behavior is not helpful, it doesn’t work and can lead to stress and anxiety for your cat. If you see your cat engaging in unwanted behavior, such as scratching your favorite furniture, the best option is to distract them. A short sharp noise will distract and stop them. Use the same noise every time. Take your cat to an item that it is allowed to scratch, buying a purpose built scratching post is a great idea that your cat will love.

Keep the training sessions brief

Cats don’t always have the longest of attentions spans, and they prefer to do things how and when it suits them. Don’t let this discourage you though. A couple of shorter training sessions is better than trying to persevere with one long session. Pick a time when your cat is in the mood and interested in the training, and continue for as long as their interest lasts.

Have a focus for the training session

It’s best to focus on one thing at a time. You don’t want to confuse your cat, so go into your training session knowing what it is you are focusing on. It could be anything from using the litter box or scratching post, to teaching your cat to sit, roll over, or other new tricks. Let your cat become a master of this one objective before moving on to the next.

Be consistent

Make sure you use the same signals and cues every time, and ensure that they are varied enough for each command that your cat can recognize the difference.

Eliminate distractions

Training will be most effective when there are no distractions. Eliminate background noise such as TV and radio and train in a quiet place free of distractions.

Given time, most cats can be trained to walk on a leash. Click here for more about how to leash train a cat. You might like to try teaching your cat a few basic tricks. Check out what I discovered about training cats here.

Can you train a cat? The simple answer is yes. Cats are naturally smart and clever animals and can learn to do things you train them to do. No doubt your kitty can use a litter box, and was probably trained from a young age to do so. The key to successfully training a cat is to reward the desired behavior, and this usually means dishing out the treats. Kittens are easier to train but there is no reason why you can’t successfully train an older cat. It may simply take a little longer.

Decide What You Want to Train Your Cat to Learn

You’ll need to decide what it is you want your kitten or cat to learn. This can be learning to use the litter box, a scratching post, learning to walk on a leash, teaching them to sit or shake hands. Only pick one training focus at a time and ensure your cat masters this before trying something new. Decide what commands you’re going to use. Will it be a verbal command, a visual command or a combination of the two? You need to be consistent with the command you choose, and ensure it’s something that is only going to be used for the desired action.

The Best Way to Train a Cat

The best way to train a cat is to reward it for performing the desired behavior. Never punish a cat. Punishing a cat will be detrimental to training and can cause anxiety and stress in your cat. Have a good selection of their favorite treats on hand and be ready to reward with treats whenever your cat does what you’re asking. You may want to try clicker training. The instant your cat does what you’re asking, click the clicker and giver them a reward. This ensures they know exactly what they’re being rewarded for.

The Best Time to Train a Cat

The best time to train a cat is often before meals, when they’ll do almost anything for treats! Keep their training session short, or limited to the amount of time that your cat remains interested. Training a cat takes time and being patient is important. Some cats will respond faster than others.

Can You Train a Cat Like a Dog

You can train a cat like a dog. Training a cat is not much different to training a dog. In both instances you’re using positive reinforcement for correct behavior. Whereas a dog often responds well to praise and cuddles, a cat will respond much better to food. You could train your cat to walk on a leash, fetch, sit, roll over, and more. All things that you could train a dog to do.

Can You Train a Cat to Sit

You can train your cat to sit and there are a couple of ways to do this. The first involves using a voice command such as ‘sit’. When your cat comes up to you and naturally sits down say ‘sit’ and give them a treat. Start using a hand signal such as your hand held up like a stop signal as well as the voice command. They’ll become used to the verbal ‘sit’ and seeing the hand command. Remember to reward them with treats and they’ll soon get the idea.

Another method involves holding a treat just out of reach above their head, where they can see it. Start in front of them and move the treat back towards their tail. They’ll look up and as their gaze and head follows the treat, they’ll naturally go back into a sitting position. Say ‘sit’ and give them the treat.

Can You Train a Cat to Sleep at Night

Do you get woken by your cat in the night, or have to sleep with one eye open from fear they will pounce on you while you sleep? You’re not alone but the good news is that you can train your cat to sleep at night and not wake you up.

However, it’s important to first rule out any medical or health reasons why your cat might be keeping you up, or waking up during the night. Just as a sore tooth, anxiety, or other issues can keep us awake, stressed and restless at night, your cat can suffer the same problems. Take your cat to a good veterinarian and have them checked out.

Once you’ve ruled out any health problems with your cat, you can focus on getting them to sleep through the night.

Ensure your cat has plenty to do during the day. Cats love to nap, and they’ll do this during the day if there’s nothing else to do. Create a cat friendly environment for them. If you’re out during the day ensure they have toys to play with, you can hide their favorite treats for them to find, or leave the TV on, perhaps with their favorite cat programme.

When you’re home you can try to keep them awake longer during the day, cats love to play chase or stalk outside. Get them running around the yard and exercising. Invest in toys and a laser dot pointer and play with them in the evening so they don’t go for an evening nap.

A little bit of food before bedtime can help them to sleep longer. Cats tend to relax and sleep after a good meal. It’s best not to respond to a cats demands when they wake you at 4am. Otherwise the cat is training you. There’s nothing wrong with setting up a separate room for your cat to sleep in, with a warm bed, litter box, bowl of water and some food for the night. That way you’ll both wake up refreshed and ready to do it all again.

The key takeaway is to keep your cat busy, entertained and active during the day. Don’t respond to them waking you in the night or they’re training you and will keep doing this. Put them in a different room away from you for the night. For more, check out our in depth guide about getting your cat to sleep through the night.

Can You Train a Cat to do Tricks

Cats are really quite trainable and you can teach them to do tricks. As well as being a lot of fun for you, it’s a great way to keep your cat entertained to prevent boredom and keep them active during the daytime.

So, can you train a cat? The short answer is yes. It may take a while, but given plenty of time and lots of treats, you should be able to train your cat. You might want to start by teaching your cat to walk on a leash.