Whatever animal you are training, it is necessary to find a way to motivate it. As reward-based trainers, we find something the pet enjoys using as positive reinforcement.
Food works to motivate cats just like for dogs, and is therefore an excellent choice to use in training. Small pieces of tuna, shrimp, chicken, freeze-dried meat or fish, and cat treats are all good ideas.
You can also use wet cat treats that come in a tube or use a plastic syringe to administer a meat paste. Experiment to find out what your cat prefers.
There are a few issues to keep in mind.
Use the Right Size Treats When Training Cats
One is the size of the food reinforcement. It’s very common for people to use pieces of food that are too large (especially if you’re used to training dogs). Cats are small, so only use small food rewards.
Many cat treats are too large to use during training and unfortunately, some of them are also quite difficult to break into smaller pieces. Whereas if you use small pieces of tuna or chicken, it is easy to reduce them into small pieces.
When I spoke to Dr. Sarah Ellis about her book The trainable catshe gave some advice on the size of food rewards for cats:
“I often recommend, if you’re using commercial cat treats, to use freeze-dried or semi-moist treats because you can break them up into much smaller pieces. If we think of a shrimp, not a king shrimp, just an average normal shrimp, I would divide it into maybe four or five parts at least.
Offer treats when training cats
Besides the size of the treats, another problem concerns the method of delivery. Sometimes cats can be a little finicky when it comes to taking food. Most of them have not been trained since childhood to gently take treats from our hands, the same way puppies learn this.
So cats can be a bit… biting. Or they can reach it with their paws and, depending on the cat, these claws are not necessarily sheathed. Anyway, ouch!
It may be helpful to use a spoon, wooden spatula, or ice lolly/popsicle stick to offer the food to your cat. This way no fingers are involved!
Wet treats that can be licked straight from the tube or syringe also help protect your hands from scratches.
If you are working with a fearful cat and need to keep your distance, you can put treats on a long stick or target stick to deliver them to the cat without having to get closer.
Feline body language
Cats may find training very exciting, and when they are excited, they may be even more hungry for food or active with their claws. Pay attention to your cat’s body language so you can recognize when she’s excited, and stop training before she gets to the point where she’ll swipe or grab you.
Dr. Ellis says:
“There are many warning signs, such as eye dilation. Often we see a flattening of the ears or wrinkling of the skin, and the tail may start to quiver or thrash, or their movements may become a little more irregular or jerky, a little more jerky.
Training cats with positive reinforcement
Food isn’t the only thing you can use for positive reinforcement. Depending on the cat, it may be possible to use play or brushing as a reward. Of course, some cats will run away as soon as they see the brush, so it won’t work in this case. But if you have a cat like my Harley who loves to be brushed, a short brushing stint can be an effective reward.
Always consider the calories used during training when feeding your cat at meal times.
And remember, every cat is an individual, so the important thing is to learn what motivates your cat.
If you want to try training your cat, I recommend starting by teaching him to love his crate. You can find a training plan in my book Purring: the science of making your cat happy, available in all good bookstores. Modern Cat magazine states that “Zazie Todd has created an indispensable guide to improving your cat’s life. »