Can my cat sit on command?

[PrunellaMcTat]

We adopted an 8 yr old cat last year. She is a sweet angel and we all adore her.
I was just about to put her food bowl down and as a joke - like you might with a dog - I sternly said "sit!". And she did! I thought it was a funny coincidence. But since then she reliably does it every time I'm going to feed her. Can cats actually do this?

I can't quite decide if she's really sitting on command, or if she's just rather plump and defaults to sitting when she looks up at the food bowl I'm holding.

I've taught my cat to give me a paw in return for a treat so I guess it's possible! I did halfheartedly attempt the 'sit' command but didn't get very far with that one.

Yes...if they want to. Consistency isn't their strong point.

Absolutely! I taught my food motivated cat sit, stand, shake, fist bump and spin (he was a lockdown kitten, we had a lot of time on our hands) and he reliably does each trick for a treat. Definitely possible and extremely cute!

My other cat does not do tricks for food, though. Most of the time I take the food to her and she rolls her eyes at my audacity.

Mine sit on command im currently teaching them high five my one cat if I say up will jump up on two legs spin around then he catches my hand and cuddles it

They also go nuts for the postman but they are definitely CATS

They are capable of it, but it sounds like yours is doing it by coincidence. You could try it in a different context when you're not feeding her if you're unsure.

Mine lies down on command but won't sit on command .
She fusses for ages in bed at night and when I've had enough I say lie down in a firm voice and she sort of throws herself down in a huff. Cat's are weird.

They all can, most won't lower themselves though.

Unlikely.

They leave all that to dogs. Cats have worked out their human slaves will still do their bidding even if they don't indulge them with the occasional trick.

They are clever like that...

@sashh exactly this, I do adore cats it’s all on their terms.

Mine sits and 'stands' on his back feet for treats. My 10 year old taught him. Deffo food motivated.

My mum's cat used to play fetch. Craziest cat I ever knew.

Mine will sit and give a paw on command

I thought I’d trained my cat to do a high five in exchange for a rough scratch around his face (which he LOVES).

it turns out he’s just trained me to scratch him when he puts his paw up.

Yes they can. I taught my adult rescue cat the ‘sit’ command very easily. He can also do ‘down’, ‘paws up’ ‘stay’ and high five. Google clicker training on YouTube.

My cat is unusually intelligent though and loves playing and human contact.

Yes, I think you can. When I put my cats food bowl down, I say "High Five" and he jumps up to my hand, and balances on his back legs. Looks very cute! Also my friend's cat, who visits me every day does the same and also responds and obeys to "Get down" and "Tara" He runs to the door to be let out. 😻

I met some cats that would do things on command. They were Maine Coones, so more like dogs though.

That is cats all over!

My little girl plays fetch but I didn't teach her - she worked it out for herself.

Here is mine doing sit and paw

https://fb.watch/fTUU0NiBgF/

To me, it looked more like he was trying to knock the bag out of your hand ... 😀

He's definitely got more "paw waving" and less of the gentle paw raise we started with
Might need to revise the clicker training..

My cat seemed to understand "sit on your chair".
We told him to sit on his chair for a treat . And if he came in soaked from the rain we would put a towel on the chair and tell him to " sit on your chair and have a wash!"
(We didn't buy a chair for the cat but he just sort of took over one particular chair so no one else really got a chance. Even if he wasn't there it wasn't worth getting a furry bum!)

Mine can sit, lie down, do uppys, and give left paw and right paw on command.
I told him to go upstairs and tell his dad that tea was ready the other night but he looked at me like and was crazy and washed his bum instead.

No, that’s not how cats work. She has taught you to feed her when she sits.

Yes they can sit on command. And give paw. They are highly intelligent creatures. So intelligent that they sometimes refuse to obey their underlings. Cant blame them really 😅

This post 🤣