Cats CAN be Trained

Last month I shared my story of Mattie's good and bad traits. Shortly after that post, I spent some time researching cat behaviors online. I was specifically looking for a cause and/or solution to the meowing problem we had with Mattie.

The possible causes I found were pretty limited: lack of food, lack of water, lack of physical attention (petting, praise), or simply the desire to get immediate attention. If you have been to our house (or just know us), you know that Mattie has plenty of food and water; we also give him loads of attention when we are home. His meowing had to be his method for getting immediate attention.

But what should we do to fix it? I read some more. I talked with Mike about what I read. One solution was to ignore the meowing. We already tried that to no avail. But there was another proposed solution that we gave a good deal of thought. Then we enacted a behavior modification plan for Mattie. The plan was similar to what you would do with a small child who misbehaves: bad behavior results in a timeout. The timeout is preceded by two stern warnings. It ends after certain time passes or after the bad behavior stops.

Stop laughing! I am dead serious. Really!

So, anyway, we started the new plan. Mattie meowed, really loud and for no reason. I told him, "Mattie, this is your first warning. You are going to have a TIMEOUT." All Mattie heard was, "Mattie, blah blah warning. Blah blah blah TIMEOUT." He looked at me blankly, and started meowing again right away. "Mattie, this is your second warning. You are going to have a TIMEOUT." Another blank look from the cat, then an immediate launch into meowing again. Now these first two warnings were not one right after the other, it was over a period of about 5-6 minutes. It was Mattie's third strike, so I picked him up and said, "TIMEOUT." We went to his room and I told him he would be in timeout for 10 minutes. When I let him out  I told him to use his quiet voice. He was quiet for about half an hour. We repeated the whole process. Next time he came out he was quiet for a good bit and I rewarded him by letting him go outside to play.

We have consistently followed our plan. He meows loudly, and the warning/timeout cycle begins. He figured out the cause and effect pretty quickly and began to change. He has had less than 10 timeouts in the past 6 weeks, most in the beginning. As time passed, I was able to warn him twice before he would stop (no timeout); then I was able to warn him once. We're now at the point the he looks at me and very quietly says "mew" (not even the whole "meow") and then walks to wherever he wants my attention directed (usually the back door) and sits and waits for me. Just to be clear, when he is quiet I praise him and give him lots of attention, thus positively reinforcing good behavior.

Talk about a changed kitty! He is so very good :) If he raises his voice just the tiniest bit, he starts to look nervous because he remembers the timeout. It is so sweet and I am so proud of him.

We have also been working on his habit of wanting to be on the couch all the time. We have put his kitty bed by the couch and encouraged him to use it. He seems to like it most of the time and goes there on his own. Of course we still cuddle, but he doesn't plop down on my lap for the whole night anymore. A new-found freedom for me!

So, cats can be trained! For Mattie all it took was consistency and a lot of love.

Have a happy day!