by Sandie Mcgary

Created on: October 29, 2010

The word Obedient is described as obeying or willing to obey; complying with or submissive to authority as stated in the Webster's dictionary. While I do believe that cats can be trained to do many things, I'm not actually convinced that you could call it obedience training. Obedient suggests that you can train them to sit, roll over, beg on command, no jumping on the couch, many things that you would train your dog to do. It is very obvious that a cat is nothing like a dog, so the question should not be whether they can be trained to be obedient but whether they can be trained to perform certain acts that are useful or just things in general that they should be doing. 

If your cat is an indoor kitty, you have already trained them to use the litter box, although you aren't really "training" them to use something that they are naturally drawn to. It is a cats nature to bury their waste, so litter training shouldn't be a true issue provided your cat is spayed or neutered. Unaltered cats are more likely to leave presents through out your home  to mark their territory. 

When training your cat, providing a reward system is key. Cats are very self involved, all about me little creatures. If they aren't going to get anything out of it, then there is absolutely no reason for them to submit to your whims. It is suggested that you keep your cats favorite treat around at all times while in the training process. Next you need to decide what exactly it is you would like for your cat to do. Would you like for your kitty to come to you when you call it's name? Come to you when you make little kissy noises? How about not scratching your favorite recliner and using its scratching post instead. Whatever the outcome you are looking for is, it is usually best to do everything in stages. One activity at a time, we don't want to overwhelm kitty.

Repetition is what makes the kitty training world go round, well that and treats. When your cat does what you are asking of him for the first time, be sure to praise him. Make him aware that what he has done is something you like, something that makes you dish out the yum-yums. Cats are very intelligent, they will put together all of this information and before long will be doing it on their own with no pushing from you. Although training may be over, continue to reward your kitty when he does the good things, if not he will eventually resort back to doing what he wants and not caring one bit about what you want. 

Learn more about this author, Sandie Mcgary.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.