Training Your Cat To Come When Called

Many people will tell you that training your cat is difficult if not impossible. While it is true that training a cat may not be quite as easy as training a dog, they are, nevertheless, able to be trained. If you are persistent and consistent, training your cat to come when you call will be relatively simple.

Since cats, unlike dogs, rarely do things merely to please their owners, you will need a feline-based system of positive reinforcement to train your cat.

Training Your Cat. Have you noticed that your cat magically appears when you open the fridge door at or near his mealtime? He relates the opening of the fridge door to his meal. Do you tap the side of the bowl with the spoon as you dish up his meal? He will come to know that sound as well and will be there looking for his meal. You have unconsciously been training your cat to come for his meal. If you can do that well without trying, think of what you can do if you put your mind to it!

Next time you feed your cat, call his name as you prepare his meal and call his name a few times as he eats. He will soon learn to associate his name with his mealtime. Training your cat takes patience and persistence and after a week or so he will come when you call his name, even if he is outside. Cats are like humans in the respect that some learn quicker than others and so it may take longer than two weeks to train, but if you are determined, training your cat to come when called will succeed.

Continue to call his name a few times when he is eating to reinforce the training.  When training your cat to come when called it is also a good idea to feed your cat at a set time each day. In that way you will be training your cat to appear, most times, at meal time without calling. How handy is that?

After you have trained you cat to come for his meal, try calling him, but give him lots of cuddles and praise instead of his meal. As long as he has a pleasant experience – praise or a meal – when he arrives, you will find that he comes when called most of the time. Don’t expect a cat to come every time. Cats are independent animals and are frequently too busy, most probably having a cat nap, to be bothered all the time.  

For further information on training your cat, visit http://www.howtodothings.com/pets-animals/how-to-train-your-cat-to-come-when-you-call