[Our Kids Are a Bunch of Animals]

Originally Posted by attagirl

Are there things that you can teach your cat? Can they learn how to stop doing certain things. Can anyone tell me if they have the information or have done this before.

Yes, I taught my cats to come when I call their name. I did this by having something positive when they got to me, a treat or just a petting..I taught Gigi to retrieve a ball by praising her , I made her think she was bringing it to me when really I just went to her and got it from her mouth, then little by little she did bring it to me and now she is crazy for the game, she'll not let up!
You just need patience.
Another is to notice a behavior they already have and then make a game of it so they are doing something naturally anyway.
like my ChaCha, she would snarl if I put my finger to her and said "NO!" about something, so I started to do that and say "Smile!" and it became a fun game. I would show people and say watch, she smiles! And put my finger out and she would show her pearly whites, it was cute as ever.

As far as teaching them to stop doing something like jumping on the counter, which my cat Sophie does...arg...find something they dislike and associate the two. I put plastic wrap along the counter tops and she stays off now.
hope this helps, just remember, to teach takes patience.
So there's my 2 cents worth! Hope it helps.

[Chris]

I believe teaching a cat to respond to his/her name is simple and comes with repitition.

As for having them stop doing something bad (biting, jumping, etc) it seems more difficult. My sister did train one of our cats not to bite by associating it with bad things (like a tap on the nose when she did it) and eventually she learned. She never bites now, even when provoked, which is not a good response.

[sanju123]

I have found that cats are slow learners.when compared to dogs.But if you take up this job at early stages you tend to have better results.My cat learnt so many things like shaking hands,how to ask for food and how to handle food.

[sanjay]

yes of course ,i think any pet can be taught but it need some efforts and patience from your side.I had a dog and he learned many things like where to sleep,eat or play.

[anmiller86]

cats can be taught many things. they are very intelligent creatures. depends on what you want to teach them. they have been known to be taught to use a human toilet to dispose of waste, play fetch, and you can train them not to do certain annoying things like jump on the table. if it is a disciplinary thing buy a squirt bottle and squirt them in the face with water when they are naughty and they will eventually stop doing whatever it is they are doing. treats will help you accomplish goals of doglike tricks but are not guaranteed. it's a cat, not a dog, so it may or may not happen.

[ladylovesrock]

my cat knows when im about to feed her because she hears the cupboard open lol and she can also smell when i open a packet of quavers, she really enjoys a quaver lol.