Kitten Class Ensures Well Trained Cats
Just over a decade ago, Dr. Seksel began offering classes for kittens from Down Under, which she called Kitty Kindy. The one hour to 90 minute course meets twice (over the course of two consecutive weeks), and it’s exclusively for little kitties.
Legendary veterinary behaviorist Dr. Ian Dunbar developed somewhat similar sorts of classes for puppies back in the 1960’s, and he calls these sessions for kittens, “potentially far more valuable.” And there may be one hundred reasons why kitties should attend school. Here are a few:
For starters, cats and kittens visit veterinarians far less than they should (on average less than once a year), that’s notably less often than dogs do.
One reason why cats don’t see veterinarians for wellness exams is exhaustion. Take out the carrier and watch what happens. The cat bolts. You might as well join a health club for the calories you burn attempting to snag the cat and then stuff him into the carrier. It’s exhausting.
A kitten’s mind is a terrible thing to waste. “It all began when my clients in puppy classes wanted equal attention for their cats,” says Dr. Kersti Seksel, a veterinary behaviorist in Seaforth, New South Wales, Australia. “Kittens have potential, and kittens deserve an education too.”
Once inside the carrier, the situation gets no better. Cars are enemies of cats. Cats learn a trip in the car means they’ll be poked and prodded by a person in scrubs. Also, being in cars takes cats away from their territories– something most cats aren’t accustomed to.
Of course, it doesn’t have to be this way. An objective of kitties while they’re still most impressionable (from eight to 15 weeks).
Instead of being forcibly chased around the house, and stuffed inside the carrier, owners are taught to properly desensitize kittens to the carrier. Cats actually can be taught to voluntarily jump into a carrier just as dogs can be taught to go inside their crates.
In fact, cats can be taught a whole lot of things. Cats can be taught pretty much anything a dog can do (and often they do it better.) Of course, the question may be, why would you bother training a cat in the first place? Just as owners who work with dogs (those who train dogs for agility or obedience, who do search and rescue work, or those who teach their dogs tricks) seem to have stronger bonds than those who don’t, the same logical assumption may be made for people who train cats. No one knows why more cats are relinquished to shelters more often than dogs, but perhaps people don’t have as strong a bond with cats as they do with their dogs.
Also, learning is actually fun for the cats; just as teaching can be fun for their people.
“Cats may sometimes take more patience to train than dogs,” says Karen Thomas, who trains animals for TV and the movies. “Cats will want to be paid for their work, but I think that’s fair.”
Purchase a clicker (available on the Web and at most pet stores). Click the clicker as you feed your cat. Click and treat. Click and treat. Click and treat. Soon cats associate the clicker with something good.
There are two ways to begin. One is simply to wait until your cat does something you like. For example, when your kitty happens to sit. Click the clicker and offer just a pinch of tuna or salmon from a spoon. Sit and wait, and odds are your cat will sooner or later re-create what he did for getting that yummy. Your cat will soon understand that sitting means “I get paid.”
Another method is to shape the behavior. Hold that spoon with the moist food just a tad above your kitty’s head. If it’s too high, he’ll want to bat for the food with a paw or jump for it. But if it’s just the right the height, kitty will lift his head up just a tad. When his head goes up, his rear-end will go down – and he’ll be sitting, it’s feline physiology.
It’s not always easy to teach a cat to come by name, but it’s absolutely possible. Most cats are trained to come to “calling” when the refrigerator opens or the sound of a can opener; you can simply pair the cat’s name with the mechanical device. And absolutely offer a treat when he comes running. Of course, you can do the same with clicker training. Veterinary behaviorist Dr. Karen Overall, Center for Neurobiology and Behavior University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Glen Mills, PA says, “As cats age they typically get bored because we don’t ask anything of them, and we have a problem with obesity in cats. Enriching their lives is necessary, and training is one way to do that.”
In the kitten classes, kittens are passed around the room (so they become accustomed to meeting strangers and being handled by novel people), they also meet dogs (at some point in their lives around a quarter of all cats will have a canine roommate). Family members are taught how to teach their kitties to scratch in all the right places, and there’s a lecture on Litter Box 101. There are also basic care demonstrations, such as clipping nails and brushing teeth; and a discussion about how to enrich the indoor environment.
A few years back when Dr. Illona Rodan heard about Dr. Seksel’s tutoring for tabbies Down Under, she immediately imported the curriculum to her feline practice in Madison, WI. “I’m sure people thought I was a little crazy,” she says. “But I knew these classes would save lives. The number one cause of death in indoor cat’s isn’t heart or kidney disease, or cancer, it’s people who give up on their cats’ bad behavior. These kitten classes are great fun, but they also teach people how to prevent behavior problems, or if they occur they offer a resource for help.”
The hope following the kitten classes is that families continue to socialize their cats, bringing them outside safely in kitty strollers or allowing them to play in the yard in safe cat containment systems. When they learn young, most of these cats enjoy being on a leash and harness, and going places and meeting new people isn’t so traumatic.
Also, by training their cat, perhaps family members will be more tuned into their cat’s needs, even if the signs of illness are very subtle to pick up (as they often are with cats). Without hiding and running from the carrier, expressing disdain about car rides or minding handling by veterinary professionals, the hope is that people will more often take their cats to the vet.
Most of all, imagine how impressed Uncle Buddy and Aunt Sally will be when they see your kitty will sit on command, and offer a high five.
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