{"id":4250,"date":"2018-12-20T10:14:43","date_gmt":"2018-12-20T16:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.diamondpet.wearewoodruff.xyz\/?p=4250"},"modified":"2024-04-17T17:00:55","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T22:00:55","slug":"cats-are-untrainable-debarking-pet-myths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/blog\/culture\/myths\/cats-are-untrainable-debarking-pet-myths\/","title":{"rendered":"Debarking Pet Myths: Cats Are Untrainable"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to \u201cDebarking Pet Myths,\u201d our monthly series that addresses common myths, misconceptions and old wives\u2019 tales about dogs and cats.<\/em><\/p>\n

Cats have been living with people \u2014 in our homes, granaries, barns or ships \u2014 for centuries. Yet many of us still don\u2019t understand the feline mind or how to communicate with our cats. Because cats are independent and not as social as dogs, they\u2019re often stereotyped as untrainable.<\/p>\n

Are cats untrainable?<\/h2>\n

The myth that you cannot train a cat is false. Remember, we\u2019re talking about the indoor pet that uses a litter box!<\/p>\n

Cats are intelligent and can learn a variety of behaviors, including tricks. In fact, one of the first scientific studies to highlight the importance of reinforcement in animal behavior used cats.<\/p>\n

The key to training your cat is to accept that they are not a dog. Sounds obvious, but it’s important to recognize that praise from you isn’t the highlight of their day and they’re not easily motivated. But with patience and an irresistible treat, you may find that training your cat is possible. For motivation, you could try tidbits of chicken, turkey or commercial cat treats to positively reinforce desirable behaviors.<\/p>\n

TRAINING CAN MAKE LIFE EASIER FOR YOU AND YOUR CAT<\/h3>\n

Cats learn every day, so why not take advantage of the opportunities? Through training, you can create and direct some of the associations cats make. Training stimulates the feline mind and provides exercise. It not only teaches desirable behaviors but helps prevent unwanted ones, like furniture scratching. You can add training to just about anything cats do \u2014 going into a carrier to jumping up on counters and more. You can even teach your cat tricks, like giving a \u201chigh five,\u201d to surprise your family and friends.<\/p>\n

Like people and dogs, cats learn through repetition. But you\u2019ll need to keep training sessions short \u2014 just a few minutes at one time \u2014 to avoid feline boredom.<\/p>\n

Of course, punishment doesn\u2019t work with cats any better than it does with dogs. A punished cat learns to run away instead of learning what not to do. Punishment also stresses many cats. Stress is one of the most common causes of problem cat behaviors, including eliminating outside the litter box. Stress also has negative effects on the immune system, so your kitty may be more vulnerable to health issues such as feline idiopathic cystitis (inflammation of the bladder).<\/p>\n

What tasks or tricks would you like to encourage your kitty to repeat? The next time someone tells you that cats are untrainable, you and your kitty can show them how wrong they are!<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

RELATED POST: The Five Most Common Reasons for Your Pet’s Behavior<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to \u201cDebarking Pet Myths,\u201d our monthly series that addresses common myths, misconceptions and old wives\u2019 tales about dogs and cats. Cats have been living with people \u2014 in our homes, granaries, barns or ships \u2014 for centuries. Yet many of us still don\u2019t understand the feline mind or how to communicate with our cats. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5956,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Pet Myths: Are Cats Untrainable?","_seopress_titles_desc":"Explore the myth of untrainable cats. Discover insights into feline behavior, the role of reinforcement & the benefits of teaching your cat tricks & essential tasks!","_seopress_robots_index":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[158,275],"tags":[100,134,59,115],"class_list":["post-4250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-myths","tag-cat","tag-diamond-pet-foods","tag-pet-tips","tag-training-and-behavior"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}