Is My Cat Trainable? 5 Tests to Find Out!

Is My Cat Trainable? 5 Tests to Find Out!

If this is your first time looking into Cat School, welcome! I'm Julie, the Cat Teacher, and my assistant teacher is a black cat named Jones.

If you're wondering "Is my cat trainable?" you are not alone! The biggest hesitation that keeps people from signing up for Cat School is the thought that their cat can't be trained. Cats have been branded to be independent, aloof, unwilling to learn. This is just not the case, and is proven time and again with my students in Cat School.

"But my cat REALLY can't learn!"

I get it! If you haven't seen your cat's capacity to learn, it feels like they never will. But you CAN teach a cat new behaviors if you can figure out why they don't seem willing to learn.

Ready to find out if your cat is trainable?

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5 Tests to Find Out if Your Cat is Trainable

A series of five tests are in the YouTube video below to get to know your cat's trainability and to help you prepare your student for school. Don't worry - the marks don't go on their purrmanent record.

The CUPS Game

CUPS is a problem-solving game where you want to see if your cat will use their paw to get a treat out of a cup. The point is to see if your cat can get the treat out of the cup, not just play with the cup or target it with their paw.

The Magnet Method

This is a way to measure your cat's attention span. It's known as the Magnet Method because, by holding the food directly in front of your cat's face, the food acts like a magnet drawing your cat towards it. You can use it to teach skills like sit, spin and rollover.

Ping Pong Kitty

To play this game, you toss a treat away from you and see if your cat comes back. This is an important foundation step for many future behaviors and training we do in Cat School. 

Put a Treat Down

Place a treat down on the floor and see if your cat walks over to get it. Use a finger to point to the food. If your cat goes to the treat, then you know your cat values their reward and will be willing to learn and work!

Follow The Spoon

This test can help with seeing if your cat is motivated by different foods. Can your cat can follow a spoon with wet food? A few licks of your cat's wet food can be an excellent training reward. If you've ever worried your cat would get too many snacks at school, this method will be purrfect for you.

Watch the video below and follow instructions for a total of 5 tests and see how trainable your cat is. If your cat passes any of these 5 tests, you have a trainable cat!

How Did Your Cat Do?

If your cat didn't seem to be into pop quizzes, it's likely because they aren't that interested in food. The good news is we can build your cat's motivation for food and find some treats they love simultaneously.

You might be surprised to learn that I use lots of different rewards. There is no purrfect treat. More challenging jobs require bigger paychecks, and the value of the food you use will depend on the situation. Plus, giving Jones different foods keeps our session dynamic and exciting.

Focus On Their Meals First

If your cat isn't willing to work for their food, the first place to start is looking at their meals. Read the article linked below to learn my five tips to help you build your cat's food motivation so you can start a fun and rewarding training journey with your cat.

The article is a preview of what I go into more in depth in Cat School. So even if your cat seems unmotivated, we can start there in Cat School!

READ: 5 Ways to Build Your Cat's Food Motivation

Join the Cat School Community

Ready to have more fun with your cat? Our training kit is full of fun and practical behaviours you can teach your cat. Get the training tools shipped to your door and immediately enter the online classroom and start working with your cat. In the interactive class, you can ask questions and even get feedback on your training. Join our community of cat lovers and become a #catschoolstudent

Meet Your Teachers

I'm Julie, the cat teacher, and this is my assistant, Jones. Our goal is to create cat training tutorials that are fun and easy for EVERY cat to learn. Thousands of students have learned from our clicker training lessons and proven that not only are cats trainable but that they love the enrichment and activity that training provides. We can't wait to see you show off all the skills and tricks your cat learns at Cat School.

Julie Posluns, Applied Animal Behaviourist (ACAAB)

Amazon Affiliate: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you follow product links from this blog. 

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