to ask can you train a cat, has anyone ever tried and if not why not?

[PittTheMiddleOneNoOneMentions]

I was looking at these cute little kittens and thinking how young they looked.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_litter_tray/2955143-So-who-got-a-new-kitten-recently-Lets-see-then

Cats seem quite bright generally and I was wondering why it is that you can't take a young one and train it like a dog?

Is it that Cat PR (" We are independent so you can fuck off if you think I'm going to do what you say) is so strong that no one ever tries?

Didn't they used to train lions for the circus? How come you can't get a cat to "sit" or "come for a walk"?

Disclaimer: I have never owned a cat as I expect is obvious!

One of my cats (had him since centre birth as we have the mum) if I clap my hands he jumps up like a dog and they do understand certain words but I've never really tried to train them

My cats sit on command and can fetch. .

We have a Maine Coon cross and the rescue said we should be able to train him. They said they're the most trainable breed and are often used in films. We have trained him to sit on command but haven't bothered with anything else.

I have a 2 year old Siberian. She is trained to jump onto or off any surface when I click my finger over it. She sits up on verbal/visual command. She also catches treats in her paws and waits for permission to eat them. However, she will only obey me, she just looks at DH in disgust!

Of course you can.
Have you not seen 'Meet the Parents'?

DD has clicker trained one of ours to sit on command. It is hilarious to watch, and a little pointless. Harmless to them both though.

I have with all of mine. It's actually easier than you'd expect! They know loads of tricks like high five, roll over, shot, beg and I do lots of target work with them too. They love it!

We had a cat that hat rolled over on command and sat on command too. He's dead now. He was a Maine Coon and I am told they are a breeed you can train.
Mind you lots of treats were involved and sometimes if he wanted a treat he would roll over to get one. So maybe not training after all just a way of getting treats!

My cat can sit on command, comes to the rustle of a Lick e Lix packet, comes to his name, knows 'Go up to bed,I'll be up in a minute' he also knows 'use the bloody cat flap I am NOT opening the door'

He chases after his ball like a dog and will bring it back so you can throw it again,it's so funny

I read somewhere that cats are actually more trainable than dogs but 'choose' to not be trained. Anyone else recall that? I don't think it was April 1st...

It depends what you want to train them to do.

You are not going to be able to train one to be a guide cat, a sniffer cat, a herding cat or a sled cat.

You absoutely can train a cat

But it's a lot more difficult as not every cat is food motivated and they are very stubborn

But every animal can be trained with enough dedication

Mine sit on command. Go to bed when I tell them. Head butt on command. Roll over. Fetch.

Daft sods have also associated the nickname of one of my dc's with food.

My cat thinks he's a dog and my dog thinks she's a cat.

My dog sits like a cat and licks her paws to clean her face. My cat comes running when he hears the dog lead being got out and will walk down the road with us. Both come when called, sit on command and stick their arses in my face when they want me to get up in the morning

I think you can train cats to a degree, the problem being that generally both the cat and the human are not so motivated? When you have a dog, you need to train it to make life bearable - otherwise your dog might jump up, run off, dig up your garden, bark excessively, steal food, etc. Cat behaviours aren't so bothersome to daily human life.

My two cats learned to jump onto my shoulder for treats. I didn't really bother to train anything else!

One of our cats likes to scratch the furniture and can do a lot of damage quickly even if we are in the same room. To stop her doing this, we throw a cushion, not at her but near her, which works. Then we started banging the cushion, then throwing it. Now we just bang the cushion and she stops. It's a sort of training.

We have a ragdoll and he can do high fives and fetch. but usually only when there are cat crack dreamies involved

There's a you tube video explaining how to train a cat to use the toilet , it's gross and they didn't train it to flush so even more gross .

I am my cats employee - I can't train her

Pretty certain you could if you had a cat that was willing to do it. I think the breed of cat might make a difference as well. Most mogies will learn to come when you call them for food and they can learn to use a cat flap, so the potential must be there to learn more complex things. Just think most cats probably wouldn't be interested though.

I remember a very funny routine by Alan Davies about cats and the drawback of having a sight assistance cat rather than a dog.

Training lions for the circus was something else, usually done through fear and cruelty as I understand it.

One of mine answers to her name and knows do you want to go out? They both know bedtime but other than that they are completely ignorant or deaf I couldn't put myself through trying tontrsin them. It's not necessary is it unless they are on telly.

My cat is trained in the sense that, every time I walk in the kitchen, she is up on the counter, and immediatley leaps off if it's me and shoots out the catflap - because she knows she's going to get a bollocking. Wheras if it's DP or one of the kids she just sits there looking at them. Same with scratching the furniture. I yell at her and she stops. She knows noone else will notice/care so carries on regardless. She will also come to a food packet rustle at the cat flap so that's training of a sort I suppose.