How to Train Your Cat to Respond to Your Call

Training your cat to respond to your call is not just convenient, it can come of use if your cat goes missing. Dogs being pack animals, look for a pack leader, and are easier to train that way. Cats are more independent, and cannot be entirely domesticated, making it difficult to train. However, training your cat to respond to your call is not completely out of the question. We take a look at how it can be done.

Does your cat come running into the room every time you pull out our a can of her favorite food or box of treats? Then you have half the job done in training your cat to respond to your call. The trick to training felines is using motivators; food happens to be a favorite in this category. Once you figure out what motivates your cat to come running up to you, you want to use it as a training aid. Start by taking five steps away from your cat, and calling out to him. You can call out to your cat by using a phrase, whistle or clicker, as you please.Hold out a treat in your hand, and your cat will most likely run up to you, to gobble up the treat. Then take, about ten steps away, and repeat the same. Once your cat has got a hang of it, you can proceed to calling out your cat from a different room, or outdoors. It is best to have these training sessions when your cat is hungry, so he/she is more likely respond to treats. Gradually, your cat will associate being called with being rewarded with treats.Be patient, it may take multiple training sessions before your cat starts responding to calls. You may also want to alternate the treats that you use as rewards, so your cat does not get bored.

Do not make your training sessions too long, ten minutes is ideal. If your cat seems disinterested, try again, after a while. Do not try and discipline your cat with scolding. Cats in the wild are not accustomed to responding to calls, which is why training them to do the same is quite the task. Also, they prefer treats to disciplining, and the latter will only discourage them from training in the future.During the initial few training sessions, you want to just reward your cat with treats when they respond to your calls. You do not want to get him to respond to your calls when it is time to take him to the vet, or other situations that would make him associate it with something negative.