How to Train a Cat with Treats

Start with one sound, a click or a tongue cluck, followed at once by a crumb of treat, and repeat it five times in a minute. That is the whole first session, and it is enough to begin with.

Cats learn for food too

Cats do learn for food. They just quit sooner than dogs do, and they do not pretend otherwise. VCA Hospitals describes reward based training as giving the reward within a moment of the behavior, so the cat connects the two. The treat has to come fast, and it has to be a treat the cat wants.

That second part is the whole difficulty. A cat that is not interested in the treat will not work for it, and no amount of patience changes that. Keep your hands slow, too. If the treat hand is open and still and the other hand is empty, the cat has fewer things to watch. Pick the strongest smelling piece you have. If the cat sniffs and walks away, the page on how to choose a training treat goes through what to try next.

The first behavior: come to a sound

The first behavior is the simplest one: the cat hears a sound and comes to you. Pick a sound that you will make the same way every time, a click from a small clicker or a short cluck with your tongue. Make it, and give a crumb at once, within a second, while the cat is still near you.

Do the first session in a room the cat already likes, at a time she is awake and near you. Sit on the floor. Have six crumbs ready in your palm before you begin, so you never have to look away to find one.

Do it five times. Make the sound, give the crumb. Do not ask the cat for anything else, and do not call its name. The job is only to put the sound and the crumb together, so the sound comes to mean the crumb is coming.

On day two, make the sound when the cat is across the room. If she looks up or turns toward you, give a crumb. If she comes, give two. That is the beginning of coming when called, and it grew from one sound and one crumb.

Stop while she still wants more. A cat that walks away after the fifth crumb has had a good session, and a cat that is following you around the kitchen for a sixth has had a better one.

Treat size and session length

The treat should be about the size of a fingernail, or smaller. Sniff and Shift freeze dries shrimp in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and the bag is labeled for dogs and cats; the shrimp is a single ingredient and the seafood is imported. A piece cut in thirds with kitchen scissors makes three training crumbs, each of which is a snap and a smell.

A cat takes a very small piece as seriously as a big one. Breaking a third in half is not a sacrifice. The smell is what she works for, and a smaller piece lets you give more repetitions before she is full.

The session is a minute. That is the trade off with a cat: she tires sooner than a dog does, and a session that runs past her interest teaches her that training is something to leave. Two or three one minute sessions a day beat one long one.

Keep the treats in your pocket or in a small tin on the counter. If the cat has to wait while you find the bag, the sound has lost its meaning.

Carriers, brushes and claws

Once the sound means a crumb, you can use it for things a cat has opinions about. Go slowly with the carrier. Leave it open on the floor, and on the first day put the crumb at the door. The second day, just inside. The third, at the back. Do not close the door until the cat walks in for the crumb without a pause, and when you do close it, do it for one second and open it again with a crumb. Make the sound when the cat steps in, and give a crumb when she is there.

For a brush, show it, give a crumb. Touch her with it once, give a crumb. One stroke, one crumb, and then stop. For claws, touch a paw, give a crumb. Press a toe gently, give a crumb. Do not trim anything in these sessions. The aim is only to make hands on a paw ordinary.

The same method helps a kitten, with smaller crumbs, and kitten treats goes through the age line and the count. Treats made for cats are on the freeze dried cat treats shelf.

When the cat walks away

She will, and it is information, not defiance. A cat that walks away has finished, so let her go. Do not follow her with the treat, and do not call her back.

If she walks away three sessions in a row, change one thing. Change the treat first, since that is the most common cause, then the time of day, then the room. Make only one change at a time, so you know which one worked.

The next session is a fresh one. The sound has not been forgotten, and she will come to it faster than she did the first time.

Keep notes. Two words after each session, such as shrimp worked or cat tired, will show you the pattern within a week. It is easier to change one thing when you know what you changed last.

Common questions

How long should a cat training session last?

About a minute. Cats tire sooner than dogs, and two or three short sessions a day beat one long one.

Do I need a clicker to train a cat?

No. A tongue cluck works the same way, as long as you make it identically every time and follow it with a crumb at once.

What if my cat will not take the treat?

Try a stronger smelling piece, warm it in your palm, or change the room. A cat that does not want the treat will not work for it.

Can I train a cat to use a carrier with treats?

Yes. Leave the carrier open, put a crumb inside and make your sound when she steps in. Do not close the door in the early sessions.