Dogs aren’t the only furry friends that can learn tricks. Tim Falk looks at some fun and easy tricks you can teach your cat.
When you think about training a pet to perform tricks, dogs are the animals that immediately spring to mind. When you combine a dog’s desire to please his owner with his love of food or play, our canine companions are famous for their ability to learn a huge range of tricks and jobs.
How to train your cat
Let’s start with a statement that might surprise some cat owners: all cats can be trained, no matter what their breed. But Dr Kim says that kittens are particularly easy to train because they are looking to learn things.
Certain breeds can also be simpler to train than others. “Some of the oriental types like Burmese and Siamese, and the very human-oriented ones like Rexes, are easier to train.
Really, it is about finding what motivates the individual cat,” Dr Kim explains. Interestingly, while dogs are more commonly associated with a love of food — you’d be amazed what tricks a Labrador will learn just to get a tasty treat — Dr Kim points to several studies that have shown only one third of cats are motivated by food. But if your cat is motivated by food you can train some pretty complex things.
You can also provide some much-needed mental stimulation for your furry friend, allowing them to interact with another living being (you) and spend some quality time with you.
How-to guide: Top training tricks
So, what do you need to do to start training your kitty to perform some basic tricks? Let’s examine three easy tricks and what you need to do to teach them to your pet.
1. Coming when called
Coming when called is a great trick to begin with. “Most cats will ‘come’ when you shake the dried food box,” Dr Kim says, “so if you say their name before shaking the box and give them a bit of the food when they run to you, pretty soon you can stop shaking the box and call them by name. Remember to call their name before shaking the box, though.”
The complete article was published in PETS issue #59. Get more cat advice and care, tips and tricks and subscribe to PETS magazine here.
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