Training Cats- The One Thing You Must Never Do

Training a cat can be very frustrating at times, and your patience can be sorely tried. Sometimes it may feel as though she is deliberately acting to annoy you, and you may feel tempted to smack her.

However, one thing you must never do when training cats is to use any form of physical punishment. Cats’ thought processes are somewhat different to ours. A cat will simply not equate the punishment to the act which she is being punished for. Also don’t forget that to a cat, certain behaviors will be perfectly natural to them, such as scratching furnishings. They are not able to comprehend that you find certain actions annoying or destructive.

If you hit your cat, all this will do is to make her afraid of you, and she will stop trusting you. She will learn that you may sometimes attack her without warning, which could make her very wary of you. This would be a great shame, and could severely damage your relationship with your cat; there are far more effective ways of managing unwanted behaviors.

Cats hate loud noises, so try clapping your hands or shouting ‘no’ when you see her about to do something you don’t want her to do, such as scratching the sofa. Or try filling a container with gravel and shaking it as soon as she goes to scratch. The aim is to startle her so that she stops the unwanted behavior.

Cats also hate water, so giving her a spray when she is about to start the unwanted behavior may work; one of the plastic plant sprayers on the ‘mist’ setting is very effective.

The best way to train a cat is to reward good behavior- this way you are making it the preferred option for her to stop the unwanted behavior. For example, if you want her to use a scratching post rather than your sofa to sharpen her claws, every time she uses the post make sure you give her lots of praise and maybe a small treat. If you are trying to train her to use a litter tray, praise her and give her a treat every time she uses it. She will associate the good feelings from receiving praise and rewards with using the post or tray, and will be naturally drawn to repeat this.

Another effective technique is to make it uncomfortable for her to indulge in unwanted behaviors; ie if she urinates in inappropriate places, put tin foil in that spot as cats hate the sound and feel of urine hitting the foil. Scatter orange peel around the area or use a spray containing citrus oil, as cats dislike the scent of this. If she jumps onto the work surface, arrange cooking tins that may fall off and clatter as this will startle her.

With a little imagination and patience, you should be able to train your cat and keep your relationship with her intact!

For more information on training cats and overcoming problem behaviors, see our new ‘Solving Common Cat Behavior Problems’ guide.