What do you do when your cat won't listen to you?

What do you do when your cat refuse to obey?

Is there some kind of reward or punishment system involved in the solution?

I got news for you, fish lady; That's the nature of cats. It's like the old saying, "Dogs come when you call. Cats take a message and MIGHT get back to you." Dogs want to please you because you're the pack leader. Cats will only obey if there's something in it for them. You don't train a cat, you out-psyche them.

(04-07-2012 04:47 PM)Karenskatz Wrote:  I got news for you, fish lady; That's the nature of cats. It's like the old saying, "Dogs come when you call. Cats take a message and MIGHT get back to you." Dogs want to please you because you're the pack leader. Cats will only obey if there's something in it for them. You don't train a cat, you out-psyche them.

I am a guy.
What made you think I am a lady?

Well, I guess without first hand experience with dogs and cats, I do not know a lot of things about them.

Oops! Sorry! I can't point to anything in particular except the fact that most of the pet people I meet are female. I guess I assumed.

We defenitly move in different pet circles. I know pretty much nothing about keeping fish, though I did babysit an aquarium once. Nothing very fancy fish wise, but it was a tall octaginal tank, and I had great fun watching my first cat going round and round trying to get to the other side of the glass to get at the fish. "I try to touch the fish, and there's a window in my way; go to the other side of the window!" This cat was all looks, and no brains, but it sure kept him entertained.

Most fish keepers are actually guys. Or at least the ones beyond beginners. Fish keeping is much more complex than it look. Most people would give up when their first fish die. Saltwater aquariums are the most hard to keep and most definitely owned by more guys.

Correct me if I am wrong, more cat owners are women. Although more of my male friends have cats.

I've never had a cat that really listened to me, only when they choose to. Lucky for me they choose to more than not. Our male will come when called. The girls, not so much. However they do all come when we cal Chicky, chicky, chicky. That is when they know they are getting a treat. Either that or they all think their name is Chicky...

"All cats have the same name; the sound of the can opener." Or as I tell adopters, "Cats don't care what you call them, so long as you call them for dinner."

LOL, that is so true. Someone asked me once if cats actually like their people. I said, sure they do, and they will till they figure out how to use a can opener...

(04-12-2012 08:39 AM)bw Wrote:  I've never had a cat that really listened to me, only when they choose to. Lucky for me they choose to more than not. Our male will come when called. The girls, not so much. However they do all come when we cal Chicky, chicky, chicky. That is when they know they are getting a treat. Either that or they all think their name is Chicky...

Language barrier you got there!

I've read a bit about clicker training, and seen a video of the person who developed it teaching a six month old puppy to sit and heel in less than a half hour. When you think about it, it's not training so much as establishing a mutual language; a binary code of yes and no. It lets ytour dog know what you want by trying different things until he gets that yes. It also encourages compliance from a cat by telling it there might be a treat if he gets it right. We're not so much teaching them our language or learning theirs as we're finding a middle ground.