Assertiveness Training

For Cat Owners

Mordecai Siegal


Cat training is a misnomer. Cat manipulation is more like it. It would not matter if you were Clyde Beatty, Nyoka of the Jungle, or the stage manager of the Circus Maximus, no cat can be made to obey just because it wants to please you. It is only on the simplest level that cats accept the dominant/subordinant idea at all. With the exception of the lions, cats in the wild are solitary figures stalking their prey in the lonely shadows of sub-tropical regions of the world. They are occasional eaters who derive 70 percent of their moisture intake from the carcasses of their prey. In other words, the hunt is not always successful and dinner isn't on the table at five P.M. every day. As a hangover from their dear undomesticated ancestors, cats are always in search of food. They cannot get it into their heads that the electric can opener can whirl on a regular basis.

Your little Tabetha is, in a sense, constantly on the hunt. She'll go to almost any lengths to obtain food. She could even be able to persuaded to obey a command or two as long as there was a reward with a munch factor. What is required is assertion from the cat owner and the will to insist without backing down or feeling like he is becoming Ivan the Terrible. It is a question of commanding without guilt, of bribery for a higher purpose. Learn to manipulate your cat or she will manipulate you.

Adult humans seldom hear sounds that vibrate over 20,000 cycles per second. Many animals have a hearing capacity far beyond our range. Mice hear at the rate of 100,000 cycles per second, cats fall somewhere between 30,000 and 100,000. They hear much better than humans but not as well as mice. It is because of this great hearing ability that cats respond better to the higher-pitched voices of women. They are more responsive to higher notes because of their hunting skills. When humans hear the squeaks of mice, they hear only the lower notes. Cats hear higher frequencies and that helps them become good mouse-finders. Consequently, it is easy to get a cat's attention with a highly pitched sound. One simply feigns a falsetto voice and the feline drops its act and considers leaping into your mouth. Once you have learned how to command your cats attention without scare tactics, you can forever abandon the whip-and-chair school of cat training. It doesn't work anyway.

There is no command more important to cat owners than COME WHEN CALLED. There are many good reasons for this: it facilitates feeding, grooming, going out and moving the animal from one room to another. In suburban and rural areas cats are often allowed to roam the great outdoors and may be far from sight. When such a cat owner wants to use the car, go to bed, leave the house for any number of reasons, it is best to have the kitty locked safely inside. In order to do so, however, the owner must be able to call the cat and have the cat come at the sound of the vocal command. And it is precisely at this time that the owner should not be timid in issuing that command.

In teaching a cat to COME WHEN CALLED, one one should first get the cat's attention by calling its name in a falsetto voice. When the cat looks up, make it an offer it can't refuse, such as dinner or a snack you know it adores. Most cats will do anything for brewer's yeast tablets. Tap your fingers playfully on the table surface. Once the cat leaps up, give it a treat and tell it what a terrific cat it is. You may even pet or scratch it on the back. From here on it's Pavlov all the way. It is simply a matter of constant repetition. You call and the cat will salivate and give the desired response. And please, dear cat person, do not feel guilty if your cat does not come. Cats do not really "obey" you, anyway. They merely respond to their own needs and desires. As long as your manipulations are applied to cats and not to humans, there is no reason to saddle yourself with feelings of guilt. One must either assert oneself when living with a feline or accept being ruled by a furry fascist who will walk all over you, especially when you are sound asleep. Assert and the world is yours.


Mordecai Siegal is the co-author of Good Dog, Bad Dog and Underdog and the author of The Good Dog Book.

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