Posted by Jeanne on February 11, 2009
Other than a cat bed
, the only other article of furniture an indoor cat needs is a litter box. There are cats who, by some stroke of fate, have learned to use the human toilet, but yours probably isn’t one of them. Buy a litter box. It should be large enough for the cat to maneuver in comfortably, but the sides should be low. It should be kept in one location.
A house-trained mother cat will teach her kittens to use the litter box, but if you should by chance acquire one that never got the word, it is easy enough to set the kitten straight. First, show it the litter box. Second, after each meal, traipse the kitten over to the litter box and keep it there – without using undue force, of course – until it performs. You will feel that you are devoting an awful lot of time to this chore, and so you are. But very shortly you will be able to gauge when (it’s usually under a half hour after the kitten has eaten) and for how long your assistance will be needed.
Don’t clean the litter box until it has been used two or three times; eventually, a bright little cat will get the idea and trot to the litter box of its own accord.
Cats are tidy creatures. When they have the opportunity to deal with matters in their own way, out-of-doors, they select a spot that offers some privacy, dig a small hole with their forepaws, eliminate, and then neatly refill the hole. Indoors, a cat will feel much better about using a litter box if the cat litter in it is ample for her to paw around and approximate her normal procedure.
In cleaning the litter box use warm water and soap. Steer clear of powerful disinfectants. They are unpleasant and very often harmful to cats and almost surely will persuade them never to use the litter box again.
Posted by Jeanne on January 22, 2009
There are two popular methods of training a cat: target training and clicker training. Here is a brief rundown of each:
- Target training is where you attract your cat’s attention and then obtain desired behaviors through the use of a designated tool. For example, during the ‘beg’ command, a particular target training tool called a training wand is used to attract the cat’s attention upwards and to encourage the cat to rise up on his haunches and beg.
- Clicker training is a form of operant conditioning, which is where the animal is taught to form a conscious association between a specific behavior and a result. A small mechanical noise-maker (the clicker) is used by the trainer to create a short, distinct noise. The clicker is clicked at the precise moment that the cat performs a desired behavior. For example, during ‘sit,’ the clicker is clicked at the very instant that the cat’s bottom touches the ground. Directly after the click, the cat is fed a small and tasty treat. With repetition, the cat grows to associate the click with the food and recognizes his own ability to earn treats by performing the desired action on command.
- The clicker is a particularly valued training tool because it allows the trainer to pinpoint the exact behavior that’s being rewarded. Without the clicker, it’s too easy for the cat to form associations between the treat and a completely unrelated behavior (since it’s impossible to feed the cat a treat at the precise moment that he’s performing a trick.)