Learning cat behaviors before you start training them would be
an good idea for anyone that is going to train a cat's behavior.
A cat can jump and lands on its feet as this are a natural
instinct for a cat. When a kitten is first born, the cushion in
a kittens paws are not developed with the cushion to land on its
feet. It takes about 7 wk to develop the cushion in a cats paw
for landing. A cats bone structure is unique to other animals as
the bones are flexible , cat has no collar bone, which enables
them to be able to twist and bend their bones A cat can jump
from short distant with out sustaining any injuries.
With this behavior, you will want to teach the cat to jump
hoops, sticks, or off the scratching tree. Letting a cat jump
from extreme heights will cause injury to the cat.
Cats have a unique hearing ability; they are able to hear high
tones and pitches, like opening a door or a can of food. Cats
also have unique smelling abilities. The reason a cat will
scratch or urinate on the floor , rub its self up against a door
or furniture, is the cat is leaving their scent in that areas so
they will be able to come back and know they were there, in
other words marking its territory. In addition, if another cat
or animal comes along in the area a cat will know this. Cats can
also smell with their mouths. There is a gland call 'Jacobson's
organ', it is a sac in the cats upper mouth filled with blood,
as the cat smells the scent and the slightly opens their mouth
and upper lip, this allows the scent to be carried in and to the
sac, which it will carry the scent goes to the cat brain. This
mostly happen to male cats when a female has urinated.
With these natural instincts and behaviors this can give you
some insight to help you train you cat. With behavior training
you will want to make sure that you allow your cat the ability
in some way to play out it natural instincts and behaviors.
When training a cat for behaviors here are some things that you
need to look at and take in consideration when training.
Aggression especially in older cats, this can be cause from
illness, other cats in the home. This you may want to contact
your vet to have the cat check out to see if it is all right at
this time to train a cat.
Depression and anxiety could play another part with trying to
train your cat. If a cat is separated by it recent owner the cat
can become depressed. Stress on a cat can be common effect on a
cat. If you think that your cat has depression or high anxiety,
this would be a good time to take the cat to the vet. Vets can
talk to you about some of the things that may be causing this
and a help list to help the cat. There are medications that a
vet can prescribe for the cat to help with depression and
anxiety.
Never hit a cat for a punishment the cat will learn to fear you,
and fearing will be a behavior you will not be able to control
or retrain. When they do something that is not right. Ignore the
problem or if you catch them right a way you can associate a
noise with that behavior on what you do not like or just in a
stern voice tell them "NO".
If a behavior is becoming impossible you may have to resort to
the baby proof home, all containers that have food in them have
a lid on it. Make sure that the counters are clean and have
nothing that a cat would want to play with.
The day that you get your cat or kitten, you will want to start
training at this point. This will keep many unwanted behaviors
away, and hopefully not let any new behaviors to start.
Healthy cats need healthy relationships with their owner.
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