“da cat”

da cat.jpg (15038 bytes) If the words on this page look a little wobbly it's because “da cat” is currently sitting on top of my monitor cleaning herself. I tried to move her but she comes back! I guess it's warm up there. “da cat” was actually bought for my daughter about 12 years ago. We wanted a Maine Coon cat but we ended up with “da cat” who I believe is part Manx. When daughter grew up and decided to get married she didn't have a permanent location that her and new hubby were to live. Because cats don't move well, we said we would keep the cat until she had a permanent location. It's been 5 years - we still have “da cat!”

It drives my daughter nuts when I call her “da cat” because I'm told she does have a name - Nikki. But what are mothers to do but drive their children nuts! She is a pretty good cat, she was suppose to be an indoor only cat, but when we installed dog doors there was no keeping her in anymore. She is an excellent hunter and we long ago gave up recording the “gifts” she brought home. It is permanently etched on our consciousness the year she found the snake nest. We received one snake a day until she ran out!

training “da cat”

Past the “here's your litter box” stage we never actually set out to train “da cat.” It happened accidentally. I was in the front yard one summer day working with the yorkies. They were learning “touch the stick with your nose” and follow the stick and sit on the stool. I worked with one yorkie, then with the next. I put the second yorkie in the house and came back outside to get my equipment. When I did, “da cat” was sitting on the stool. I thought “OK, we'll try this,” so I went back in the house for cat treats. I showed the cat the stick and she touched it with her nose. Click and Treat. I did it again from a different direction, she touched it again. Click and Treat. After 4 or 5 repetitions I threw her treat on the ground away from the stool so she would have to get off. She did, ate her treat and then I waited. She jumped back on the stool and I showed her the stick and held it up so she would most likely sit. She did, Click and Treat.

The next day my husband was working with his yorkie out in the front yard on “heel.” He came back in the house in a few minutes and said, “That's it, I've got one dog and one cat heeling up and down the street.” I was skeptical. So I went out with my dog and sure enough as soon as we started heeling up and down in front of our house there I was with one yorkie and one cat! I put the dog up and got my target stick and cat treats and came back out. “da cat” followed the stick in heel back and forth and even followed the target to sit. Cool! I have to admit that is about the extent of the work I have done with “da cat.” It's not that she can't learn, it is just that I know this cat, and SHE DOES NOT TRAVEL and does not do strangers. With my very limited spare time I didn't use it training an animal that I would never be able to use as a demo.

insights into cat training

Operant Conditioning training (clicker's) were made for cats. Cats are very similar to terriers in that you don't do well bullying them into anything. But clicker training convinces them that they are “in charge.” They are positive that they have trained you to give them treats. As a good trainer I see no reason to tell them otherwise. Also a very interesting note about cats and learning. Unlike dogs, cats learn much by watching other cats, and other animals. “da cat” in the example above noticed that dogs were getting food for sitting on stools and walking up and down the sidewalk and offered those behaviors on her own. My use of the target stick just helped refine the behaviors she was already offering.

When I pointed this out to my husband he was difficult to convince. Being of the mind that cats are pretty stupid. I pointed out that we have had 6 dogs since we began using dog doors. (We also have 4 different dog doors, of 4 different types.) I told him that every dog had to be taught, by us, to go through each one of the doors. Even when we had two adult dogs going in and out, the new dog would watch the adults and then stand at the door and look stupid until we showed it what to do. I said, “Have we EVER shown the cat how to go through any of the doors?”
“Nope!”
“And how many doors can she negotiate?”
“All of them.”
End of argument.

If you would like to train your cat, clicker training works! Check out my pages on training and look around the web for other clicker training info. Although most of it is in “dog related” pages, the training works the same for cats. Just remember what is reinforcing for a cat may be different than dogs so change accordingly. Also laser lights are good targets for cats. An excellent book for cat training is Karen Pryor's Clicker Training for Cats.

epilogue

"da cat" passed into cat heaven on December 26, 2000