trainable cat

epioletti · Nov 9, 2007

Hi,
I was hoping someone could give me some advice on buying a kitten.
We are looking to buy a kitten for our 7 year old son.
My husband is not a cat person but has agreed to a short haired cat if we can train the kitten.
I was wondering if someone could recommend a breed that is very trainable?
Thanks,
Betsy

goldenkitty45 · Nov 9, 2007

Just about any cat is "trainable" to a certain point. What kind of training are you really looking for.

Perhaps you could attend a local cat show and see many breeds of cats and figure out what you want.

Some breeds tend to be a little more people oriented and therefore may be what you think is trainable - siamese/oriental/rexes/Ocicats/Abys are all very smart cats and may be more interested in connecting to you.

First you need to figure out if you want not only a shorthair cat, but a talkative one, or quiet one. How active is your child? Has your child ever had a pet before? You might want to look into an older cat around 8 months to a year that is neutered or spayed, rather then a young kitten.

I'd recommend you reading a lot of books about the care and basic training of a cat before you go and adopt or buy one.

You DON'T want to buy from a pet shop - the cats are overpriced, poor pet quality and usually come from poor conditions in kitten mills or backyard breeders.

I'd shop around on the net for breeds you think you might like and read up on the personalites - then narrow it down.

lmunsie · Nov 9, 2007

Have you considered adopting? An older cat might be better for a child, and already 'trained' if you mean litter trained etc. I don't know what else you could mean about 'training' your cat........

But almost all breeds are available for adoption and all ages, and you can get to interact with them before you adopt, really get to know their purrrsonalities, not to mention saving a kitty and giving a possibly bleak existence a good loved life.

sharky · Nov 9, 2007

If you want trainable in regaurds to coming staying and sitting .... GET a DOG ... if you mean possibley staying off the counter or not biting that is fairly easy with MOST cats

epona · Nov 10, 2007

There are some things that come naturally to a cat, but that is due to their nature: eg
* will take to using a litterbox easily because they prefer to bury their waste
* will tend to prefer cat furniture for scratching because sisal does the job better and feels better than upholstry or carpet (scratching posts may need to be provided by doorways for territorial marking purposes - scratching and stropping are about marking as well as claw sharpening).

For other things though, cats are not trainable to the same extent as dogs, because they do not have the same innate desire for stable social heirarchy or the desire to please the alpha/you and keep you happy - while dogs ancestors hunted in packs and worked together, cats are solitary hunters and look after themselves - and as domesticated animals this translates into 'I decide what I am going to do' rather than the dog's 'I need to cooperate with the rest of my family'.

My Oriental is 'trained' in that he knows what I am telling him to do, but like all cats, he will only comply if and when he feels like it- if he doesn't think there's anything in it for him immediately, he will just sit and look at me as if I'm insane. For example, he knows that 'get down on the floor' means exactly that. If I am feeding him and give that command, he obeys it because he has learned that I will stop serving his dinner until he is off the counter. If it is not dinner time, there is no compulsion for him to obey my command and the lure of playing in the sink is more interesting than getting off the counter - so he will just stare at me and then go right back to what he is doing.

That's about as trained as you can get a cat really, I would suggest that if you are specifically looking for an animal you can train then a cat is not ideal for you.

urbantigers · Nov 11, 2007

Originally Posted by Epona

There are some things that come naturally to a cat, but that is due to their nature: eg
* will take to using a litterbox easily because they prefer to bury their waste
* will tend to prefer cat furniture for scratching because sisal does the job better and feels better than upholstry or carpet (scratching posts may need to be provided by doorways for territorial marking purposes - scratching and stropping are about marking as well as claw sharpening).

For other things though, cats are not trainable to the same extent as dogs, because they do not have the same innate desire for stable social heirarchy or the desire to please the alpha/you and keep you happy - while dogs ancestors hunted in packs and worked together, cats are solitary hunters and look after themselves - and as domesticated animals this translates into 'I decide what I am going to do' rather than the dog's 'I need to cooperate with the rest of my family'.

My Oriental is 'trained' in that he knows what I am telling him to do, but like all cats, he will only comply if and when he feels like it- if he doesn't think there's anything in it for him immediately, he will just sit and look at me as if I'm insane. For example, he knows that 'get down on the floor' means exactly that. If I am feeding him and give that command, he obeys it because he has learned that I will stop serving his dinner until he is off the counter. If it is not dinner time, there is no compulsion for him to obey my command and the lure of playing in the sink is more interesting than getting off the counter - so he will just stare at me and then go right back to what he is doing.

That's about as trained as you can get a cat really, I would suggest that if you are specifically looking for an animal you can train then a cat is not ideal for you.

A cat will do something if he wants to do it. While you can provide incentives to encourage a cat to do what you want him to do (eg not go onto the kitchen counters) whether the cat actually does it depends a lot on individual personality. My Mosi is like Epona's oriental - he does exactly what he wants. Sometimes that coincides with what I want, sometimes it doesnt'. He still hasn't got the hang of sleeping at night depite my doing all the 'right' things to discourge night time activity. There is a limit to how much you can train a cat and that needs to be accepted by the whole family before you get one.

If by training you mean not scratching furniture - most are happy to use scratching posts if they are to their liking and in the right place, but it sometimes takes a bit of trial and error to find out what they like.

You say your husband will accept a cat in the house if it's trained - what will happen if it's not trained? What if the cat wees on the carpet or scratches the furniture? Neither of those things are guaranteed to happen at any point during the cat's lifetime, but they may and it's important to acknowledge that at the outset.

KitEKats4Eva! · Nov 11, 2007

Er...don't get a dog if you want a cat you can train! Dogs are trainable, yes, but in every other way they're 100 times harder to have as a pet than a cat!

EnzoLeya · Nov 11, 2007

I'm not entirely sure about what you are looking for. Cats aren't exactly made for being trained, not like a dog at least. With a lot of work you can train them to do things if they are willing to do it for you. Enzo will sit, beg, and lay down for treats, and he will listen to me when I tell him no that's mine. BUT the other two cats.......they will come when you call them and that's about it!

If it's about litter training, most cats come by this naturally.

sharky · Nov 11, 2007

Originally Posted by KitEKats4Eva!

Er...don't get a dog if you want a cat you can train! Dogs are trainable, yes, but in every other way they're 100 times harder to have as a pet than a cat!

MY dog is not that much harder than my cat ... I have a rare cat that is TRAINED ...lol... cgc she could pass/// I wanted the OP to think if a cat is really the pet they want when TRAINING is the ?? asked.... Of course my cat was feral which made her MUCH harder in the beginning

trainable cat

epioletti

TCS Member

Thread starter

goldenkitty45

TCS Member

lmunsie

TCS Member

sharky

TCS Member

epona

TCS Member

urbantigers

TCS Member

KitEKats4Eva!

TCS Member

EnzoLeya

TCS Member

sharky

TCS Member

Latest Posts

Connect with us