Cat training is all about redirecting our cats natural instincts. This is where the great debate comes into play. Can a cat be trained to change what comes naturally? First we need to understand just what "natural" means to a cat.
There are three basic hunting traits in cats: stalking, chasing and pouncing. First, the cat watches his prey, then waits, chases and pounces. In the wild, cats have plenty of chances to hunt, but we really don't want our house pets to chance and pounce on our feet or even our faces if we're laying down.
Pouncing on peoples faces can be in response to curiosity over rapid eye movement during REM sleep.They're not doing it hurt us. It's movement that they respond to.
Cats scratch and mark because they are territorial. Scratching also satisfies the cats physical need to discard old nail sheaths and exercise its muscles.
A cat even be territorial about it's favorite chair. This is especially true when there is more than one cat in the house. Even if they get along most of the time, having their favorite chair to themselves can cause conflict.
Cats' main form of play involves biting and scratching in "winner takes all" battles, whether with another cat, a toy mouse, or your hand. Sometimes biting starts when your cat is just being petted.
While some cats love to be petted for hours on end, sometimes a cat will become over-stimulated for one reason or another, and will you to stop. Your cat will signal his feelings with narrowed eyes, ears pulled back and then the inevitable tail-lashing. This is often lead to the cat biting when all the other warnings are ignored. The rule here is to watch the cat's signals and stop when it gets too much for your cat.
Understanding all these behaviors is an important part of cat training. In fact it's the foundation.
Nancy Macdonald is an online researcher who specializes in finding information to make homelife just a little bit better. For more information on cat training please see [http://www.cattrainingreview.com/]
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