Training Your Cats III - Teaching Your Cats to Do Tricks

Cats are not only capable of learning simple commands: they enjoy interaction with their owner too. So as not to confuse them, work with one command at a time.Be consistent and patient, letting your cat work at its own speed. Reward the cat enthusiastically at the first sign of understanding. You may also teach them other tricks include:

Come
With a food treat in hand and preferably when your cat is hungry, call 'come'. As it comes to investigate, praise it and give it the treat. The cat will quickly learn to associate the food with the command. Never call a cat to punish him or to do something that he does not enjoy.

Shake-'hand'
Not only that dogs know how to shake paw, cats can do that as well. With your cat sitting in front of you, touch his paw and say 'shake'. As soon as it lifts the paw, shake it and give him a treat and praise.

Sit Up 
With your cat in a  sitting  position, hold a treat over its head and say 'sit up'. Do not give him the reward if it stands or grabs at the treat but repeat the command and try again. When it sits up, give it the treat immediately.

Playing Fetch
To teach fetch, it helps if your cat has an oral fixation. It should like carrying things around in its mouth. If you notice a kitten walking around with a toy in its mouth, give it plenty of praise. The more excited your cat is about the fetch object, the more likely it will 'grab' it and carry it away. Throw the toy and command 'fetch'. Unlike teaching other tricks, a food reward is less effective in encouraging a cat to fetch. The reward is that the object is thrown again. The cat must enjoy the game of fetch or else it will simply chase the ball without returning it to you.

Agility Training & Competition
A new competition offered at some cat shows is called cat agility. Similar to dog agility, a cat and its handler negotiate an obstacle course designed to demonstrate the cat's athletic ability, speed, coordination and the quality of the animal's training relationship with the owner. The event is timed, with points taken off for obstacles missed or incomplete. Typical obstacles include ramps, platforms, tunnels, jumps, hoop, weave poles and steps.  

Zafiro (282) - Cool

Training Your Cats II - Ways to Get Rid of Unwanted Behaviors

Cats often show a few undesirable behaviors. Following are some of the way to train your cats：


Biting
Unwarranted biting is not acceptable from your cat under any circumstances. If it happens again, pinch the cat's tongue and hold on for a few seconds.

Jumping Up On Counters
Jumping on kitchen counters can be very dangerous - your cat could walk on a hot stove top. If your cat jumps up when you are there, keep a spray bottle handy and spritz the cat as it is in mid-leadp. If it jumps up only when it thinks you are not looking, watch unobserved and just as it is thinking of jumping up again, blow a whistle.

I often have this problem with all my cats. Worse, my table top is in black, I could clearly see their hair sticking on top of the counter. I often handle this by raising up my voice by saying either 'No' or 'Harrrr' when they are on my table top (harrr... works better for me). They will quickly move down from there then.

Digging In the House Plants
A cat may be tempted to use the dirt in a plant pot as a little tray. Simply fill the top of the container with small stones.

Scratching On Furniture
The best thing you can do for your furniture us to train your kitten to use a scratching post. Place several scratching posts conveniently around the house. Praise the cat when it uses them. If a kitten starts to scratch in furniture, say 'No' loudly and take it to claw furniture, spritz it with water or startle it by tossing a newspaper or car keys toward it. If you cover up a favorite scratching spot with aluminum foil or double-sided tape, a cat will often be discouraged. In fact, you may get the special double sided sticking tape from Diso (selling for RM5 only). A mild menthol, vinegar, or citrus scent also repels some cats. Once your cat realizes that these places are not fun to scratch, it will prefer the scratching post.

Inappropriate Urination
If your cat is urinating or defecating outside the litter tray, a veterinary checkup is necessary to eliminate a possible medical reason. If there is no health problems, confine the cat to a small room with a car bed at one end and a littler tray at the other. Praise your cat for using the litter tray. If you happen to catch your cat in the act of urinating or defecating outside the tray, startle it by tossing a can with a few coins inside it toward the cat (but not at it) to make it stop. You could also use a whistle or water gun. Clean the area where the cat spray before with klorox so that the smell and the stain is completely remove. If this spot is not cleaned properly, the chances where the cat will return to spray at the same spot again is very high. 



Midnight Crazies
Some cats come to life at night (most actually). The cat stampedes through the house, playing with toys among them (if you have more than a cat) or by his own. They often jump up to your bed, hoping the owner will wake up and play with them. My Zafiro is exactly this kind of kitty! If your cat is too disturbing and you are unable to sleep well all night, you may think of confining him in a room during night time. You may also try to change his activity pattern by cutting down his sleeping time at day time. 

Chewing
Cats chew in inappropriate objects such as clothing, sofa, electrical cords or even papers. Make the object taste unpleasant by spraying Tabasco, chili, vinegar & ect.

 

Kusky (281) - On the Bar Top

Normally cats are not allowed on my table top and bar top, special exceptional for Kusky. :)

Kusky will meow and waiting for me at the table top when he wants to have his cat biscuit. There are plenty of cat biscuits in the cat bowls, however he loves those kept in the container as they stay fresh and crunchy. When he has request for fresh cat biscuit, he will sit quietly on the bar top to wait for either hubby or myself to open the container and give him some food (the food container is also on the bar top). 

After living with Kusky for almost 2 years (1st Dec 14 will be the complete 2 years), I get to understand some of his body language and habits. :D
 

 Posting handsomely on my bar top, waiting for us to feed him fresh and crunchy cat biscuit from the container. 

 Hah! Finally you noticed I am here!

 So... what are you waiting for? You know what I want!

 Kusky is truly a handsome cat! He is so photogenic from all angles! 

Zafiro (280) - Acting Cute

 

I know, many commented I have fierce face....

 

 Please tell me what I could do to be more cute?

 Does hiding make me look cutter? 

Do I look cute enough now?

Kusky (279)

 Kusky is a 2 year old boy starting from August 14. We do not know his actual birth date, but we roughly predicted based on the age when he first joined us as part of the family.

 His current weight is around 4.6-4.8kg. The heaviest he once reached was 5.1kg. Although the weight may be so much lighter than other house cats, according to the vet, Kusky is still abit fat and best to reduce the weight a little bit to keep him healthy. Well, to me, he just look nice now. Due to he is consuming premium cat food with high crude protein, he is now a very muscular adult cat, looks tough and strong.

 

 Although he is big, he still prefer to sleep at the top of his cat tree. Look at his bossy face....

Stay flat on coffee table... he must be really bored...

Zafiro (278) - Yawn, Lick, Rest, Smile

 I yawn...

 I lick....

 I show you my fierce face...

 I look to my right...

 I rest on my cat tree...

And I smile to the camera....

Zafiro (277) - Green

I had a feeling Zafiro never get in touch with the real green plants before. He was reacting strangely, with lots of curiosity and he kept on exploring the same plant and same place for so long.

 Snif snif** Oh... so this is the so call 'plant'! It smells good!

 Climbed to find out more... he looked very masculine in this picture...

 After finding out what a plant was, he was learning what soil was.

Zafiro (276)

Zafiro (275) - Naughty Little Devil

Picture speaks thousand words..... what a playful and naughty little devil!

Kusky (274) - Hiding Under the Car

As mentioned in my previous blog before, I let my cats out to loiter in the car porch every morning before going to work. Sometimes, if the weather is not too hot and I came back a little bit early, I will let them go out again for the second time of the day.

I used to trust Kusky a lot when letting him out to the car porch. Unfortunately I can no longer trust him, he has 'escaped' from our house compound for twice! He jumped on the 6 feet gate and run away to neighboring houses instantly. The worst thing is, he will never want to return if we try to call him back. Twice, we ended up sweating like hell just because we had to chase him and followed where ever he went, at least we still know where he was hiding. 

Since then, we have to safe guard the car porch whenever they are let out. In order to avoid being caught, Kuksy loves to hide himself under the car. He is very smart. He knows we can't reach beyond under the cars!

Zafiro (273) - Head Spinning

Have you ever seen a cat in action with spinning head?

 Spin and spin and spin like a helicopter....

 Now I management to see better!

 Although he is still young, he is very serious about self-cleaning, especially after each meal.

 Looks blurr, I think he just woke up!

 

 He looks fierce, isn't he?

 But I know he is a cute, gentle little kitty! :)