Crate Training Your Cat

Training your cats when they are kittens to go into a crate is a method for providing your cat with a safe and secure den environment.

A few of my cat photos.  I use crates for rescues, and for cats that are ill.  I also have taught all cats to not fear the crate.  The crate is their safe place and is where they go to sleep or when they are frightened, such as when there is a thunderstorm. 

Every single one of my personal and rescued cats at the shelter has been trained to go into a crate. The crate provides the kitten or the cat with its own home.  When the cat becomes tired, scared, or anxious they immediately go to its crate for safety or to rest.

Crate training a feral cat is a quick way to socialize the cat with the human. The feral cat will learn to trust the human. The crate will provide the feral cat or kitten with all that they need, a bed, litter box, and water, however, the food will come from the human and the feral cat will depend on the human for nourishment.  Crate training teaches the feral cat or kittens desirable behavior.

Another reason to crate train a cat is that it provides you with peace of mind especially if you are away from the house for a long period of time.  A crate will prevent your kitten from misbehaving by damaging your home and from getting hurt.

Getting Started with Cat Crate Training:

Before you bring your new kitten or cat home buy the essentials including a cat crate.  There are many crates available for cats.  I recommend one that is large enough for a litter box; a sleep area leg room as well as water and food bowls.

For feral cats set the crate in a room away from household foot traffic. Feral cats need to bond with one human and need peace and quiet.  It is best to set the cat crate in a room where you like to spend time; your home office would be good.  Feral cats will be put into the crate immediately and the door will be shut until they are socialized, or bonded with humans.  By crate training a feral cat the socializing process is quick.

Positive Cat Crate Training

Familiarize your new cat with a crate as soon as you bring them home.  This will eliminate negative habits from forming. 

Set the crate in an isolated area in a room, a low human traffic area such as a dark corner or behind a chair.  Make the crate comfortable by setting a cat cuddle bed in the back of the crate, Spray the bed with catnip.

  

Add a small bowl of water, and a few toys made for cats, and set a few cat treats on the floor of the crate.  Drape a blanket over the crate without covering the entrance. The cover makes the crate cozier and den-like.  Then leave the crate door open.  

Release your new cat into the room where the crate is and the cat will be drawn to the crate due to the scent of the catnip.  Your cat will relate to the crate as being a positive area and will go there to sleep and to be safe.

Note:

Crate training a cat helps especially if you need to travel with your cat or take them to a kennel. 

If you intend to keep your cat in a crate while you are working then I would recommend a large crate.  When you get home from work, release the cat from the crate and spend quality time with your pet; petting, talking to them, and playing or clicker training your cat to do tricks or to come to sit and stay.

Never use the crate as a punishment.  

 

Training Tips for Your Cat

A cat has a short attention and the trainer must keep the cat focused with repetitive training and treats as a reward.    In order to successfully train your cat you must implement a routine.  Plan on training your cat at the same time every day and reward them with a treat and your cats will please.  

Source: catster.com via CatCentric on Pinterest

I clicker trained all five of my cats with a daily routine.  I use the training period to interact with all of my cats.  The time is well spent as it is good for overall cat behavior. 

 

My cats are well trained to the clicking sound.  I can easily call them to the training room even when I am sitting at my desk.  One click and my cats will stop whatever they are doing and will run to where I am, and sit all around my feet.  They wait patiently for their delicious treat.  

The cats will respond to the clicker but if I do not deliver the treat then they will become disinterested and will display signs of bad behavior; hissing, snarling and overall grumpy behavior.

Tips:

• I started training classes for my cats on a daily basis. The daily training is a good way to improve the cat and human bond.  
• Give your cat a small portion of the treat, so they get a taste.  It is better to give your cat a small treat to get their attention. If your cat loves the treats they will follow you anywhere.  Which means cats that need to shed some extra pounds will eagerly follow you and your clicker all over the house.
• Provide your cat with treat immediately after training the cat a new trick or after you click.  
• Click once per behavior, if you click multiple times you will confuse your cat.

Notes: 

• All rescued cats are clicker trained immediately as it helps with the adjustment period of being taken into the shelter. 
• It is best to get all cat acclimated to a daily routine.  I find that the training helps the rescued cat to bond quicker with the human.
• Cats that are trained with a clicker are more social.  

5 Minute Cat Training

What would you say if I told you that your cats are trained to come, sit and stay.  Would you shake your head in disbelief?   When my friend told me that she had trained her cats to do all I said No way, that my cats could not be trained to do anything more than use their litter box and scratching post.  I was wrong and a good friend of mine opened my eyes to noise-related training for cats.

Source: Uploaded by user via Adriana on Pinterest

I was given a book on training my cats with a clicker training method.  The book suggested that I test my cats because chances are they were all trained to respond to noises.

Cat Test

My husband gathered our 4 cats at the far end of the house while I went to the kitchen to get a can of cat food. I pulled the lid away from the food and by doing that the lid made a clicking noise.  When the lid was completely pulled away from the can I saw that all 4 of my cats were sitting at my feet. The cats were trained to respond to noise.

I tested the cat further by walking in the bedroom with a can of cat food and there I pulled the lid away from the can and when the can makes the clicking sound, all of the cats ran to the bedroom and sat at my feet.    I had just trained my cats in a matter 5 minutes to come from the clicking noise.

Clicker Training

I decided to take the cat training to the next level and bought a clicker. A clicker is a small plastic object with a metal strip that makes a clicking noise when it's pressed.  Clicker training is the best method for getting your cats to come, sit, and stay. 

In order to train the cats to respond to the clicker, I need to click once and give them a treat.  They all caught on quickly to the clicker and from that day forward whenever I clicked my cats came running and all would sit at my feet waiting patiently for their Whiskas Temptations catnip treat. 

I really like the clicker as it’s a good way to get all of the cats in one room and it is a wonderful way to provide the cats with exercise.  I can click it from any room and all of them will come running.  I can click outdoors and again they will stop what they are doing and run home.  

View this video to learn how to clicker train your cat to do tricks.

Note:

Cats that are deaf or have a hearing loss cannot be trained with a clicker.  Other than the hearing disorder all cats can be clicker trained.  It took me a while to train the feral cats at the colony but now when I click if they are in the area they will respond and come to the feeding station.  

Socializing Tips for Feral Kittens

Socializing a feral kitten is easier than an adult cat however the taming process does take time. In order to be successful the trainer must remain calm and provide the cat with positive energy. 

Charlie and Notti are feral kittens that were rescued when their mother was injured and we needed to take her in for emergency care.  The two kittens suffered from being separated from their mother.  When our veterinarian examined the kittens he advised me to release them because he found them too be too wild. 

I do not always do what I am told and did not give up on the feral kittens, even thought the socializing period was traumatic.  The kittens had not been weaned and we had to trap and cage them to feed them. 

The kittens did not like being handled by a human and they spit out the formula.  Along with their behavior issues they were both crying loudly for their mother.   

Both kittens showed improvement within a few days as they did not fight us when my husband and I tried to feed them. They were dependent upon us and were adjusting to their new surroundings even thought they were still a little scared.

Socializing Progress Report:

The feral kittens are dependent upon me and are getting friendlier.  The orange tabby kitten that I call Charlie has shown me some affection; sits on my desk and watches me while I work on the computer.  Sometimes he will tap my hand with his paw before running to hide behind the trashcan.  Notti will walk close to me and rub her head on my leg. 

6 week old kittens playing/ Notti on top

Both kittens were introduced to small catnip toys and a cat scratcher.  The toys enabled me to interact with the kittens and to build a stronger bond of trust.

Communicating With Feral Cat

Feral cats are terrified of humans and thus communicating with them must be on their terms.  The best way to communicate with a wild cat  is to understand and respect the animal and then take time to allow the cat to trust you.

The feral is an animal that has been born outdoors and has no contact with humans.  When a human crosses into the feral cat's territory the cat will react in defense by hissing, snarling and in some cases, they will show you their claws.  In cat terminology, this means " I am afraid of you please stop and do not come any closer"  or " I have kittens close by and I must protect them from all predators."  The feral cat is not viscous they are merely trying to protect themselves.

I have been caring for a feral cat colony since 1999 and in that time I have come in contact with many feral cats.  In my observations at the colony, all cats get along when the energy is positive but when a cat displays a negative or nervous behavior then all of the colony cats are on edge.

In my studies of the feral cat, I have found that they are welcome to other animals into the colony as long as the animal comes in peace and is not threatening.    A perfect example of this is a raccoon kit that was observed sleeping with feral kittens.  I have observed firsthand feral cats and raccoons living in the same territory in peace and harmony.

A human to a feral cat is a predator and is not to be trusted.  Most humans when they approached a feral cat are abrupt, children run toward the cat, humans talk loudly and body language is not calm.  The feral cat detects that the human is threatening.

Here are some ways to communicate with a feral cat.

Take steps to communicate with the feral cat by allowing the cat to become accustomed to your scent and your energy.  Achieve this friendship by bringing the cat food and water to a feeding station. 

Set up the food at a safe distance.  If the cat’s colony is 50 feet away then walk slowly to 25 feet and set up a feeding station.  You may not view cats in the area however they are well aware of your presence and watching you from afar.   Put down the food and step back 25 feet and sit calmly and quietly.  While you are sitting you may read a book, but you may not text or talk on the phone, cats hear very well and they prefer only sounds that they are accustomed to.

It takes time for a feral cat to approach the food station. When the cats come out of hiding and approach the food station do not make direct eye contact as the feral cat will view this as hostile.  Look at them indirectly and keep your body calm. Any excitement or rise in your body temperature will communicate a threat to the feral cat.

It is helpful to think of situations where you are petting the feral cat and talking to the cat softly.  Think that the cat is purring and is showing you that they like you petting them. These thoughts will project positive energy which will comfort a feral cat.

Tips

Repeat these steps daily but instead of moving away 25 feet from the feeding station, move one foot closer to the cat each day.  By doing this you are communicating with the cat that you come in peace and that you will not hurt them. 

The feral cat accepts you by eating the food that you bring to them.   Your calm and caring energy will communicate with the feral cat and in time they will trust and depend on you.

Remove the food bowl after the cat leaves.  Approach the feeding station slowly with your eyes looking toward the ground. Feed the feral cats daily at the same time.   Feed them when it's raining, snowing, all-weather at the same time daily.

Warning: If you are too close to the cat they will like hiss at you. This is the cat communicating to you that you are not at a safe distance.  Move back slowly four or five feet and sit calmly.  If the cat hisses or snarls at you then this communication is a warning and it is best that you move further away. 

You may take digital photographs with a zoom lens at a safe and non-threatening distance. Taking photographs of feral cats in the wild is enjoyable as it shows how loving and caring they are with each other in a colony setting.