I adopted a cat about 2 years ago. I believed that it was really important for my cat to come when I called him, because I was worried if he ever got outside, or if there was an emergency. It’s also useful just to call him to trim his nails or give him a treat (though he knows the sound of his treats anyway).

So I taught him to come when I called him. His name is Halloween Djack (the ‘D’ is silent, so it’s just pronounced “Jack”). When I say “Halloween Djack, come!”, he comes. If he is sleeping, he will wake up and come to me.

I just spent about a week training him intermittently when I first got him. I would walk across the house, call his name, wag a treat around, and then he would come. Once he understood what we were doing, I would stop wagging the treat, and he would come with just the verbal cue. Then, once he was doing well with that, I would only give him the treat every second or third time I call him. Now he’ll come whether I have a treat or not (unless he sees me holding nail trimmers, treats are required for nail trimming).

Then, I taught him to sit. This was a little challenging, because he wanted to walk towards the treat. I basically had to (gently) push his butt to the ground while saying “sit” repeatedly, then immediately reinforce with the treat. After a few sessions of this, he would sit with less force, and after some sessions, I would say “sit” and just give him a second to think. If he didn’t get it, I’d remind him by tapping his butt a few times, and then he’d sit and I’d give him the treat. Eventually, he does it on his own with just the verbal cue.

Next I taught him to “shake” and “high five” (basically the same trick, the only difference is whether I put my hand up or lay it out). He also knows “paw” as a word to cue these tricks (important for me, bc it’s a body part I refer to when I’m trimming his nails). Again, it starts with me having him sit, and then I say “paw” and grab his paw. Then, after he seems to understand, I’ll just encourage him to lift his paw by tapping his wrist. Eventually he does it on his own (though sometimes he is hesitant to actually let me hold it lol, he prefers the high five).

THEN I taught him his right vs his left! He is very good at this now. Basically the same as before, but just distinguishing his right from his left paw.

I also taught him to “sit pretty” (upright) and to jump through a hoop. I think that teaching my cat all of these things has really helped to improve our communication in so many ways. I mean, he’s such a good cat! He is very respectful. Through the process of training, Djack also learned things like “no” and “all done”. Not only did he learn what these words meant, but he learned to listen to what I say through these positive reinforcement sessions.

He never goes on our kitchen counter. He did once or twice when we first adopted him, and then never again, because we intervened immediately (lifted him off the counter) and told him “no”. He doesn’t scratch the couch, because the first time he tried, I picked him up (interrupting the behaviour) and told him “no”. Now, he paws at the couch without using his claws lol. No scratching. When we play and he grabs my arm to nibble, if he bites or scratches too hard, I say “ow!” and he stops immediately and then licks my hand (he may resume after he tends to the wound, but if I say “ow!” again he will stop again, it’s up to me to remove my hand if needed lol).

On top of this, he has become very vocal, but always for a specific reason. He will meow by the bathroom if I forgot to scoop his box. He will meow before he goes in the bathroom (I think because sometimes we don’t see him in his box, and he gets startled if we barge in). He meows if his water gets a bug in it. He meows when it’s time for me to brush my teeth at night (because I brush his teeth at the same time). He meows if he wants us to follow him to play. If it thunders, he meows until we follow him to his “safe spot” (the couch). I wanted to try to teach him to use buttons to talk, but I think I have to do more research on the best way to do this.

I know this is long. I love my cat a lot lol. I was wondering how many other people have trained their cats tricks, what tricks, and if they think it has had any other impacts on their relationships with their cats?

Hi to all,

In April 2020, I brought home a cat that was about a month old—it had come from another family—and six months later, I brought home a second one. We got the latter when it was only a few weeks old; it was a stray, and it seems it had been weaned too early, as I had to feed it kitten formula and stimulate it to help it relieve itself.

For the past six years, this cat has shown signs of excessive, intense attachment. He constantly cries—even though he is in good health—whenever we aren’t around; he wanders aimlessly through the apartment and demands an excessive amount of attention.

He has plenty of toys, and we set aside time to play with him (though, curiously, he prefers watching us move around and toss his balls for him rather than doing much playing himself—he’ll take a couple of runs and then just lie down). We’ve even tried using Feliway; the only thing left to try would be getting a carrier and taking him outside, as he clearly seems to crave freedom.

It’s worth noting that both cats—the first one, a grey European Shorthair, and the one in question, an orange tabby European Shorthair—were neutered before they were six months old, and they don’t get along very well. The calmer cat always hisses whenever the other one approaches, and they often end up swatting at each other—somewhere between playing and actual fighting.

Honestly, I’m at my wit’s end; I don’t know what else to do. It’s affecting my sleep and my daily life—even with earplugs—and after six years of this, day in and day out, it’s truly maddening. I’ve even considered rehoming him so he could have more freedom in a larger house or one with a garden, as that seems to be his true nature.

They are also polar opposites: one is extremely calm, while the other is overly dependent and constantly craves action. I would love to be able to retrain him to stop this behavior, but there are three of us living here, and I realize that unless he receives consistent input from everyone, it’s unlikely his behavior can be corrected. Is anyone else in—or has anyone ever been in—a similar situation, or do you know of any comparable cases? I feel like I need some peace, and this cat is doing nothing to contribute to my well-being. Best regards.


I just adopted two 4-month-old kittens (both fixed) & I'm having trouble litter training them. They seem to be eating and drinking normally, but when I place them in the box after meals or playing or waking up, they will just kind of play around for a moment and go back to what they were doing. I live in a 1-bedroom apartment that's pretty spacious, but it's very open concept and the only proper room I could shut them in doesn't have space for them and their things so I've just been letting them free roam since I brought them home. They like to play and hang out in whatever room I'm in, but I haven't seen them go potty at all even if I go sit near the litter box after meals and stuff. They made a total mess of my bed while I was at work yesterday using it as a potty. Is there anything else I can do to encourage them to use the box? I feel like they might be a little nervous/shy about the box, but I'm nervous to leave them alone again if they don't get the memo yet.

I brought home a 3-month-old kitten last Sunday, and my 3-year-old cat and kitten have been separated for 6 days. I’ve been doing scent swapping and room swapping, but they’ve both been scratching and meowing at the door a lot.
Today was their first face-to-face meeting. The kitten completely ignored my cat and just explored, ate his food, and played with toys. My cat slowly followed her, sniffing her ears and tail, but never rushed or chased her. He crouched a little while following her, so I got nervous and ended the meeting after 1–2 minutes.
Afterward, my cat seemed completely relaxed, while the kitten kept meowing to come back out.
For people who’ve introduced cats: Would you have let the meeting continue? Am I being too cautious and interrupting them before they can get to know each other?

I adopted a 7 year old female cat from the SPCA about a month ago. They warned us that she was anxious and her most recent history was being surrendered because her owner of 7 years had a medical emergency and could no longer care for her. She is afraid of strangers so hid in the owners house for a week until she was able to be trapped and brought in. She came in with injuries to per paws (fully healed now), likely from running away. In her rehoming notes, it says she lived with a dog and enjoyed visits with other cats.

We have a resident boy cat, 10, who has always been very sweet and very friendly with other cats. He's lived with 3 others before — most recently, his adopted sister of 7 years who passed from cancer in June. He's a very good boy, but can be a bit jumpy sometimes.

To try and cut a long story short, we had to wait nearly two weeks to get the all clear on FIV/FelV from our vet before we could start the intros in earnest. During that time, she was set up with her own safe room with a Feliway optimum plugged in, and we tried the usual sniffing between the door, food on either side of the door, scent swapping, then baby gates. Then he had to have dental surgery, which ruined the scent work we did, so had to start all over again. She's still hissing, and now he seems just less curious and more anxious, and I feel like I'm failing at this whole thing. I've scaled back to scent swapping, trying to feed them on either side of a barrier, and site swapping (she's making slow progress, still hisses and growls at stuff, including seemingly nothing, and he gets quite anxious in her room, even with the door open). I end the site swaps when they signal that they're anxious.

He is highly food motivated, but she isn't. She seems to like toys a tiny bit more, so I try with those sometimes, as well as some treats I've noticed she likes a little, but she's very finicky. I've managed to play with them a little bit over a barrier and they seem to have fun with that, and there's no hissing. But

I'm feeling at a loss and it's so hard not to think that they will never get along, or that I've done something to profoundly wrong to ruin all of this by taking so long. I just want to do right by both of them and make sure they can both be happy and feel safe in their home.

They are both perfectly healthy, have been fully checked out by our vet and show no signs of any issues. She's clearly had some stress that's showing up in her system, but other than that they are both okay, so no potential health issues impacting anything (minus his dental appointment, of course).

Any advice would be so appreciated — I'm feeling so dejected right now.

Hello ive had my girl for one and half years rescued she has all of her shots but i just rescued a boy hes 7 weeks now. They’ve played together a few times and i tried to get his shots but i had to wait till hes 8 weeks so ive kept them apart now. Do i have to wait till he gets every shot for me to then bring them together? He has 3 total visits and it would be another month or two until he has them all and i feel bad that hes in the bathroom for most of the day. Thank You!

Four years ago we got gifted a cat of family friends. My dad never wanted a cat because we live in an apartment and he wouldnt be able to go out nor did he want us to get him a friend. He also didnt allow us to get him castrated. Since then I trained him to go out on the leash so he could at least get to explore the nearby neighborhood safely. We‘ve been going out with him daily since 2-3years now. Recently he started being more vocal about wanting to go out and he does not stop sometimes even after we already went out with him. Today he even peed into his bed after meowing the whole time. He always starts after it gets dark because he only goes out by that time because the traffic and noise dies down by then. I tried not giving in and only going out after he stops meowing but now that he peed his bed I dont know what to do now. I do still go out with him but I dont want him to be focused on the door the whole time. I‘ve heard bringing them out in a carrier and not showing them what door they go out, they stop fixating on the door but I feel like its too late. Does anyone have suggestions?

Hi. I’ve had my cat for a little over 2 years. He showed up on my front porch one day & he stayed. For a very long time he wanted to be outside- so that’s where he lived. I even got him a cat house. Now, he has learned that inside life is better. Problem: he doesn’t use a cat box. When I got him a cat box he played in it or slept in it. He did not urinate in it once. I can’t find any evidence that he urinates or goes #2 inside the house. He WILL meow to go outside to go do his business.
He hangs out inside as much as he wants.
I make a joke that he’s a house trained cat but I don’t want the joke to be on me when he starts peeing everywhere inside. He IS fixed.
What do I do?!

TLDR: One of my kittens has food aggression, and I want to know how to help them get keep getting along in the future.

Dear cat lovers, I have two female kittens, Navi and Zola, who are now about 4-month-old. I got them from the shelter 1 month ago together, but they are not related.

One of them, Navi, really loves food, and on occasion she has even made some angry sounds if she thinks the other cat, Zola is close to her food. She's also done the same towards me a couple of times when she had something random in her mouth.

At the moment, there is always kibble available to them, and I give them wet food twice a day. Navi will gobble the wet food down very quickly, and when she's done with hers she'll run to Zola's bowl and start eating that too. Zola is a very gentle cat and she will just step aside and let Navi eat her food.

I think that this could cause two problems. The first is that they might stop liking each other in the future when there is no unlimited kibble available. Now Zola is happy to eat more of the dry food, but I'm worried that in the future she will start retaliating against Navi because she's taking her food.

The other thing is that if Navi keeps gobbling all this food down, she'll eventually get all chubby. That is obviously something I would like to avoid, so that she doesn't develop any health issues related to cat obesity.

I've tried keeping them in different rooms at times to let Zola eat her food in peace and stop Navi from having double portions, but I wonder if this is not a good tactic. I've also thought of getting these bowls that help slow down eating, but I think she'll just run to use Zola's bowl again because it would be easier to eat.

They are getting along quite well so far. They play with each other and sit together sometimes. I want to do everything I can to keep it that way and prevent unfriendly behavior in the future.

Are there any tips for things I could try? Any suggestions is welcome.

I adopted a 2 year old boy cat three weeks ago from the humane society. They told me someone had returned him already because he wasn’t a good fit. I’m thinking I see what they meant.

He is always biting me. I will be walking in the apartment and he’s biting my toes. When I’m laying down he bites exposed skin he can see. If my feet are sticking out he’s on them going at it. He doesn’t just do this to me, he’s done it to everyone who’s come in my apartment(mom, sister, etc). He just…bites. It’s not breaking skin, but it still hurts. I play with him multiple times a day for at least 20 minutes at a time.

At night he is constantly waking me up. He’ll poke my eye with his paw, get under the covers to bite me and scratch me, chew on my hair, and run across me on the bed. I know nighttime zoomies happen, but it’s all night long. He wakes me at 5 am every day and harasses me until it’s time to eat.

I don’t want to take him back, because sometimes he is a sweet little guy, but I’m getting fed up with this. What should I do?

USA, male, 3 years old, neutered, vet care is available and i’m able to afford it, and i’m in my early almost mid twenties. (including the last two points on the list bc the rules said to include it).

hello,

i’m losing my mind every single day. my cat was a stray, i took him in, and now he is in an indoor/outdoor cat. i’ve tried to keep him inside all day to only be an indoor cat, but he will get super anxious and meow at the door to be let out. he’s like that after him being inside several hours or the majority of the day tho. (and yes, i have a pet tracker on him).

HOWEVER! the problem is he’s now memorized my mom and dads routine for when he goes to work and she drops my sibling off at school. so my cat will come in at 6, beg to be let out, and then come back in at like 745 ish, and then beg to leave again! i’ve told my parents to just stop letting him in in the morning knowing what he does, but they forget or something idk.

i’ve tried ignoring his meows for around 3 or 5 seconds so he doesn’t attribute his meows to getting his way, but it doesn’t work. i’ve tried scolding him (not yelling of course) right after he begins to start his bs too, but it doesn’t seem to work.

he’s inconsistent too, but the majority of the time, he’s meowing and meowing to be let out as soon as he’s done eating. this boy meows and purrs LOUD. he will stay inside for like 5 minutes in the morning, be let out, come back in again, be let out, he does his thing, comes back in several times throughout the day to hang out and to sleep, wake us up at 3am almost every single day to be let out, then comes back in later in the morning and tries to leave right after he eats!! it’s the same cycle every day.

he doesn’t mind closed doors either because he stays inside my room when he’s always been allowed to roam the entire house too (and he has!). he just prefers my room. i’ve also tried playing with him at night before bed. i have so many different toys for him but he doesn’t engage half the time.

and he’s a master manipulator, he will give u those big ol’ cute eyes when you’re scolding him. or when i get up to take him out bc he hasn’t stopped meowing for 10 minutes regardless if i ignore him or not, he will go to his bed and pretend he wants pets. the second you stop petting him, he goes straight to the door.

please help!!!

TLDR: cat is indoor/outdoor (not by choice) and likes to meow and wake me up almost every single day at 3 am. he comes back inside early morning several times and then meows to be let out the second he comes inside and is done eating. he doesn’t stop meowing no matter what. i’ve tried ignoring him, scolding, playing with him before bed, nothing i’ve tried works. please help