Do you teach your cats tricks?

[thembcat]

Tasja, a cat at my parents house, can do quite a few basic tricks. She can sit and jump up on something on command. She can also give high fives and she'll jump into a box or bag on command. Of course with her being a cat, she ultimately decides if she's going to cooperate.

I've been trying to teach Chacho some basic tricks, as I did with Tasja but he's not as polite as she was.

In my experience, you have to encourage traits that they already show. Like Tasja, she would sit to wait for a treat, or jump up on a stool for a treat and if I held a treat in one hand and held behind the other that was in a high five position, she touch my hand her paw. I would just keep having her do those things for a treat and then it got to the point that I didn't need the treats to get her to do those things.
Playing fetch is a different story though because the cat has to figure it out on its own. My grandparents have a cat that plays fetch but only with my grandpa. He had a massive stroke a few months before we got the cat for them, he couldn't move very well because of it. The cat loved chasing his little foam ball but my grandpa couldn't get up to get the ball to throw it again, so one day the cat started to bring the ball back to him and would either place it in his lap or in his hands. The cat named Fritz, was never taught how to play fetch. It was his love for chasing the ball once he realized that my grandpa couldn't get the ball once it had been thrown, he figured out if he wanted the ball thrown again he'd have to bring it back.

Best advise is to observe your cat and focus on encouraging, trick-like actions that your cat may already do.

 

[pami]

I havent ever really concentrated on teaching them tricks, but mine can do some really cute things.

Kiko will fetch a bottle cap. It wasn't something I taught him, though. When he was young, he would just bring me the cap in his mouth and I would throw it, and he would bring it back.

Kiko will kiss me, when I say "give me kiss" or when I pucker my lips to him. Although, he will also do it when I don't ask him or when I am sleeping.

Easy and Laura will kiss me, too, although they usually only do it when I say, "give me kiss".

Tino will put his paw in my hand when I say, "want to hold hands".

Tino and Ducky will roll over and show me their tummy when I say "let me see your belly".

They all will come to me when I call them.

Cats are wonderful little babies

ETA: I forgot one really sweet thing that Laura does. About 90% of the time, when I am holding her or she is sitting on me and I say "you want to give me loving?" she will rub her cheeks against my cheeks

 

[callista]

Just useful stuff. They answer to their names--does that count? I just always call them by name when I'm going to give them a treat. 'Course that means I can't call them to stuff them into the carrier for the vet's, or they'd stop coming altogether, the silly things!

Tiny practically trains himself. He helps me get out of bed when the alarm radio goes off, and when I'm stuck in a mental loop he'll jump onto my lap and nudge me out of it. He's a very perceptive sort of cat. I wouldn't call it a "trick" so much as something he does because we know each other very well, just like I tell him when a thunderstorm's over and he can stop hiding.

 

[Draco]

I've been working on the "pavlov" experiment with my cats. I have this bellhop bell. I ding it whenever have treats in my hand, they all come running up most of the time when I ding the bell. Almost there

 

[ljn]

My cat Marco (who's 15 btw) has always fetched. Out of curiosity one day when he was younger, I wrapped a bouncy ball in yarn and tossed it down the hall. He meowed, ran after in and brought it right back to my amazement. I guess it's cheating since there wasn't any "training" involved.

I did train him to come when he hears his name and he's been pretty good for that up until last year. Now he'll just come when he wants to. I figure it's because of his age.

 

[speakhandsforme]

I'm working on simple commands with my one year old cat, Kramer. So far he's made great progress with "sit" and those moist treats.

My little 4-month kitten is still too much of a spaz to learn tricks right now.

Both of them are also in the process of potty training, and doing well, but I don't know if you'd consider that a trick.