r/CatTraining • u/Barbarellagoddesslat • 3h ago
r/CatTraining • u/musomo-design • Jan 11 '26
Behavioural What actually stopped my cat from scratching the couch (no punishment)
I tried everything first: covers, sprays, double-sided tape.
Some worked for a few days, nothing worked long-term.
What finally made a difference was treating scratching as a behavioral need, not a bad habit.
This is what worked for me:
- I placed a scratcher right next to the couch, same height and orientation
- I chose a texture similar to the couch fabric
- Every time my cat used the scratcher, I rewarded immediately (treat + calm praise)
- When the couch was targeted, I removed attention instead of reacting
After about two weeks, the couch stopped being interesting.
The scratcher became the default spot.
Blocking or punishing never worked for me.
Redirecting the behavior did.
I wrote this process down step-by-step for myself.
If anyone wants more details, I’m happy to share.
r/CatTraining • u/[deleted] • May 26 '24
Are The Cats Fighting or Playing - Introducing Pets Playing or Fighting: The Basics
Greetings cat owners! I see a lot of posts on here asking about if cats are playing or fighting, and as a long-term owner I thought I might share a few insights.
Points on Play:
Entertainment: Like most mammals, cats need physical and mental stimulation. Playing with each other satisfies this requirement and allows your kitties to burn off some energy. This is why it's also important for owners to play with their cats as well.
Murder Training: Cats are obligate carnivores and hunt instinctively. Play between cats is often employed to hone these skills.
How to Cat: Play between cats helps establish boundaries and acceptable behavior. This is particularly true between an older cat and a kitten: in the wild, such play between an adult and a kitten is a way of training the kitten in social behavior. Learning the difference between a gentle warning bite versus an over aggressive attacking bite.
Is It Play?
Cat play can get pretty boisterous, and to the untrained eye, can easily look like fighting. How can you tell the difference? The biggest key is Body Language
Prick up Your Ears: Cats that feel comfortable around each other will keep their ears upright. Cats who are feeling either threatened or aggressive will lay their ears back flat against their skulls. It's a very clear warning sign.
Tell Me What You Really Think: Cats will make all sorts of noises while they are playing. Generally speaking, these are nothing to worry about. But if you hear pronounced yowling or screaming, combined with other aggressive signs, then they may have crossed the line.
Belly! Belly! Belly!: This is a big one. A cat's underbelly is the most vulnerable part of its body, which means that rolling over and showing it demonstrates comfort and trust. When cats are truly fighting, one or both will try grasp each other face to face to dig their back claws into the other's belly. Also why rubbing a cat's tummy is generally no Bueno.
POOF: Tail or body fur all poofed out? Back off! Cats will fluff up their body hair to make themselves appear bigger when they feel threatened, usually accompanied by the typical low long growl / hissing that is also an unmistakable warning sign. If this isn't happening, the cats are probably fine.
Also: tails up and smooth - happy cat. Tail down or lashing about - danger, Will Robinson!
Obviously, cat owners should monitor the behavior of their charges. Owners should make play a regular part of a cat's routine, which will also help burn off energy and reduce any overly aggressive behaviors.
TL; DR
Play= Ears up, showing belly; fur down; no hissing or yowling; claws in.
Fighting = Ears back, poofed tail; tail down / lashing; prolonged growl / hissing; claws out and going for the belly.
Hope this is useful!
r/CatTraining • u/swiftiegirl91 • 2h ago
Introducing Pets/Cats Cats still not getting along after months of trying
My fiance and I moved in together at the beginning of May and he has one female cat and I have one male cat. They have both never been around other animals, and we knew it would be an adjustment so we did everything Jackson Galaxy told us to do.
Fast forward months later and our female continues to stalk, chase, and scare our male cat. Our male cat is absolutely terrified of her. If they are in the same vicinity, she will go after him. There have been no actual attacks, but the swatting and hissing and growling is bad enough to watch/hear.
Our male cat has his litter box in our bathroom currently, as our bedroom is his safe space. We recently got advice (bad advice) to put his litter in the guest room, which is where the other cat’s safe place is. It was working for a couple days, but we came home tonight to find our female cat peed outside of the litter box (very common for her, she’s marking her territory) and our male cat who has never in his life had an accident, pooed on our bed.
I can almost guarantee she was near the guest room and he had to go and saw her there, she chased him back into our room, and he just had an accident. But it makes me so sad. We are at the end of our rope and not sure what to do.
We are taking her to the vet to see if there’s anything we can do to calm her down, see if something is up, etc. This is making me so sad for both cats but especially our male cat who is my baby. If you have any advice please, I’m begging lol
r/CatTraining • u/haekkeheksen • 11h ago
Introducing Pets/Cats My cat suddenly hates the kitten he made us adopt
Long story short, we found a female kitten in the garden and took her inside while we looked for any owners or a mother cat.
No one came forward, but while we were trying to figure out what to do with her, our neutered male cat basically took her under his wing. They would play together and snuggle together in bed, so eventually we decided to keep her since we didn't have the heart to separate them. He was the perfect older brother and she adored him and followed him everywhere.
But fast forward a couple of weeks, and he's completely changed his tune - literally. He growls and hisses at her when he sees her, and even at us if we try to touch him when she's close by. He even attacked my partner once. He also chases her and swats at her, not like he's trying to hurt her, but definitely not in a playful way. Meanwhile, he's fine with our other cat (an older spayed female).
Has anyone had a cat change their mind on a new cat after they were successfully introduced?
Could he be in pain or some kind of discomfort? It seemed to start when they all caught a cold and he was crabby for a few days, but even now that he's recovered, he still does his demon growls whenever she gets too close, yet is completely fine with the other cat.
Has he just decided that fatherhood isn't for him?
Kitten hasn't been spayed yet, but we have an appointment booked for next week. We think she's about 5-6 months old, but she hasn't started her first heat cycle yet.
It breaks my heart to see her try to play with him or even just approach him only to be met with aggression.
r/CatTraining • u/Fit_Concentrate8536 • 17h ago
Introducing Pets/Cats It hasn’t had a bath since it was born? Should we give it one?
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
r/CatTraining • u/sophismz • 5h ago
Introducing Pets/Cats Help! How can I help get these two to play nice with each other?
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
So for a lil backstory, we have had a male cat (sat on the drawer) for a little over a year now. He is 1yo and a few months old. Unfortunately he got neutered quite late. He keeps gunning for my 2y 10month old female neutered cat (on the TV) and I have no clue how to make them get along.
I’ve tried a mesh door screen, which didn’t work as the male got through it. We keep them apart (which we pretty much do all the time on occasion), my bedroom has a window hammock which both cats love, so I let the male in to spend some time on it. Both cats use it together after my female cat stops hissing and growling, but then when the female jumps off it the male cat goes after her.
I know his behaviour could’ve been prevented if he was neutered at a young age but unfortunately he got neutered pretty late, so just wondering if anyone has any advice how to navigate this?
r/CatTraining • u/cisuM4 • 6h ago
Behavioural Cat aggressive to other after redirected aggression incident
Writing this on mobile while in bed so apologies for any typos/grammar errors.
For background - I got my first ever cat about three years ago (tuxedo male, about 5yrs old) and he’s a VERY energetic cat, always running around a like crazy. It got to the point I couldn’t tire him out after hours of playing and the vet recommended I consider a second cat to give him a playmate, though maybe one who is a bit more chill.
In comes my second cat (Calico female, 3yrs old and had kids before I adopted her) and she is such a sweetheart with always wanting pets and butt pats from literally anyone. She’s a social butterfly, he’s socially awkward lol.
They’ve lived together for about 2 years now in two different apartments. While I was hoping they would bond and get along well, the best way I describe them to the vet is they are “tolerant roommates”. The tuxedo always wants to play, and she likes to chill. He would jump on her playfully and she would yell, bat him and runaway and he would get scared and runoff. It was never a full on physical fight and minutes later they would genuinely play together and/or fall asleep together, so it wasn’t a huge concern aside from the occasional separation.
Reason for this post - last week during a movie night with the GF, she was carrying out tuxedo downstairs when she accidentally stepped on the calico’s tail and all hell broke loose. She dropped the tuxedo who ran away to hide and the calico screamed. The first thing the calico saw was our tuxedo and she leaped at him for a full on fight, chasing him upstairs into our room. Long story short we separated them physically, checked both of them for injuries, and immediately went into quarantine mode (door with towels blocking them, swapping them around, etc.). And even went and got a screen door to visually reintroduce them. They would sniff each other and go on about their days.
Today we unzipped the screen fully while monitoring and everything went smoothly, they sniffed and walked past each other. We thought things were well until later in the night when the tuxedo got the zoomies and jumped on her, and again she screamed and went after him. Separated them with the screen door and he was terrified while she was fluffed and growling/hissing at him, we’ve never seen her do that before.
I usually tend to keep calm during stressful situations though I’m really worried that their relationship is permanently damaged given how energetic he is and how aggressive she is towards him after the accident. My GF is also devastated thinking that she’s ruined our family and starting to think the worse that this’ll never be fixed and one of them will have to leave which brought us both to tears, we love both of them so much. I’m trying to keep positive and reassuring the GF it was an accident that I could have easily caused too. I am trying to keep us positive though I’m very sad/ scared about this all.
Any/all advice or previous experiences would be immensely helpful.
r/CatTraining • u/freshhalmonds • 19h ago
Litter box avoidance & related - include spay/neuter status Litter box training help
My 10 week old male kitten (not yet neutered) uses the litter box to poop, but pees in corners of the house (behind the toilet & heater). I’ve put litter boxes in the corners where he likes to pee, but he still pees outside them. I keep those areas clean/odor free so he doesn’t associate smell there, but he keeps doing it. I have 4 boxes between 3 cats, including the kitten, and I clean the boxes like 2x per day. I use wood pellets, and I have 2 other cats who both use the box just fine.
Tips for litter boxes training? Why would he be pooping and peeing in separate places?
r/CatTraining • u/ilovetaters13 • 5h ago
Behavioural Does anyone have a good way to train a cat to not grab food out of my hands?
I just adopted a new kitty a week ago, he was found outside as a stray. The boy has zero house manners and if he hears any sort of crinkly bag or he sees me prepping food at the table he immediately jumps up and tries to rip it out of my hands. Honestly anything within paw reach he will grab in his mouth and run with it. I'm trying to hide as much food from him as possible by putting it in cupboards but he's figured out how to open doors so that's not working the best lol. Any tips on how to help correct this?
r/CatTraining • u/gemmastar0934 • 1d ago
Behavioural My kitten Lyra (10 weeks old) bites and scratches way too hard. How do I help her stop?
She is a very sweet baby when she wants to be! Clingy and cuddly and I adore her very much. But when she gets rambunctious, she ends up biting or scratching me too hard. My body is covered in claw marks now because of it. She likes to bite anywhere she can reach, including my face which for obvious reasons I don't allow any of that.
I don't know how to help her train out of that. My previous cat, jazzy, was very mild mannered and sweet but when my mom trained her she wasn't a great pet owner, and I don't want to do the same to Lyra.
I don't mind her wanting to play, I know it's good for kittens to be able to do, and I do play with her regularly through toys and even rough housing with a blanket over my hand. But she bites and scratches so hard, and I need her to curb that behavior if she is going to be an ESA for me.
Any advice would be so very appreciated!!! Added a picture of her for cat tax of course.
r/CatTraining • u/Any_Notice6989 • 8h ago
Behavioural Katze am Computer
Hallo zusammen,
ich hatte vor zwei Jahren einen Kater als kitten bekommen und hab ihn seit dem ersten Tag ins Herz geschlossen und liebe ihn über alles.
seit dem ersten Tag war er immer sehr daran interessiert was ich am Computer mache und es war anfangs auch kein Problem, bis er anfing auf meinen Schreibtisch zu klettern. anfangs nahm ich ihn noch runter doch dann hätte ich den Fehler gemacht ihn mit Leckerlis vom Tisch zu locken. jetzt zwei Jahre später kann ich mich nicht mal nur an meinen Schreibtisch setzen ohne daß er sofort da ist. sobald er hört das ich den PC anschalte kommt er auch aus jedem versteck oder anderen Raum und setzt sich direkt vor meinen Bildschirm. ich kann mittlerweile nicht mal mehr am PC arkeiten weil er immer wieder über die Tastatur läuft oder versucht mit seiner Nase unter meine Hand zu kommen um nach Leckerlis zu betteln. selbst wenn ich ihn runter setze oder ihn in ein anderes Zimmer trage ist er sofort wieder da. ich hab ihm auch schon ein Bett an meinen Tisch gebaut und gebe ihm nur noch Leckerlis wenn er in dem Bett ist aber das hält ihn nicht davon ab mich permanent zu unterbrechen und zu hindern.
habt ihr ein paar Ideen wie ich es ihm abtrainieren kann?
ich möchte ihn nicht in ein anderes Zimmer sperren oder ihm beizubringen das er Angst vor mir haben muss.
r/CatTraining • u/Acrobatic-Wasabi-438 • 8h ago
Behavioural Kitten food aggressive
Losing my patience with my kitten who is food crazy
r/CatTraining • u/Manel103 • 13h ago
Introducing Pets/Cats Need some specific advice in introducing a rescue to a skittish old cat.
Hello everyone!
Me and my wife recently rescued a young cat (male, around 1.5 to 2 years old) after he lost his right hindleg to a snake bite. He's recovering well (around 7 weeks after surgery) and is almost ready to stop using his cone and needing bandages.
We also have two older cats (two girls, one 13 and one 16) and we are trying to slowly introduce them, following the usual steps.
With the older one it's been going fine. She is very calm and passive, and after a couple "hissing competitions" they've started accepting each other and just hanging around. Great.
Now, with the 13 year old one, it's been very hard. She is EXTREMELY skittish and will run away from anyone and anything. Even when she comes around to the sofa or the bed wanting to be petted, if I move my hand a little too fast she gets frightened and runs away. And despite their initial OK phases with each other's scent and having a baby barrier between them... when we try to have them both in the same environment, the new cat just CHASES HER RELENTLESSLY.
No matter what we we do (tiring him out a lot before getting them together, having food and toys for both in the room, etc) he will just always start chasing her and making her very stressed and hissing like crazy while laying down in "fight for my life" mode. It's very hard to get things done properly as she is very skittish and despite our best efforts, nothing is working.
What can we do in this very specific situation? Keep in mind that the skittish cat is hard to even get standing still, since she runs like crazy from everything and everyone. Please help!
r/CatTraining • u/Physical_Star_8414 • 9h ago
Behavioural How can I help my cats get along?
Context: we have a male kitten who is about 7 months old and we've had him since he was around 1.5 months (found as a stray), he was neutered almost 3 weeks ago (if that is useful information, idk). We just impulsively adopted a female kitten around 2 weeks ago who is about 2.5 months old. They are both American shorthairs. We have been introducing them slowly to each other but our new female kitten is NOT having it. Even when she sees him she'll start hissing and growling. It doesn't help that my male kitten is SUPER energetic and playful and I really think it's stressing her out. We have been slowly letting her roam around (with supervision) and at every chance he gets, my male kitten will pounce on her and bite her neck, I'm talking full mouth open on her neck. He will also bite her legs and back and really anywhere he can. She goes crazy with howling and hissing and growling (understandable). I truly think he is just playing because he doesn't show any signs of aggression other than his airplane ears. But he never hisses or growls. But then again, I am no professional. Unfortunately, our bathroom now has ants because of her food being in there, so we have to move her out of there. We have a big crate that has several tiers that we are going to put her in. It will have her food, water, litter box, bed. It is like a dog crate that is open so he will definitely be able to make contact with her, but he will not be able to jump on her or bite her. Please anyone who has advice is greatly appreciated!
r/CatTraining • u/MONKEY_D_LUFFY500356 • 14h ago
New Cat Owner Un-playful (i need help to make it more playful)
My cat is un playful please give me some suggestions to make it more playful please
It's been with us for the past three months yet it hasn't played only ate
Please help
r/CatTraining • u/Obvious_Ad_7051 • 1d ago
Introducing Pets/Cats just adopted a kitten and don’t know how to make it right with the other 2 adults
galleryhi! i really need help bc i think i’m gonna die with anxiety and culpability (english is not my 1st language so i’m sorry if it’s unbearable to read or unclear)
i have a male cat of 10ish years that i saved from the streets 5 years ago. he’s perfectly integrated and trained inside, loves the company of other cats and is very gentle with them. one year ago, we were greeted with a tiny female cat, that i decided to keep. she integrated very well with the other one, whom was just curious and rapidly bonded with each other. turns out she’s been abandoned, was identified and she got her 2nd birthday on april. she’s my baby cat, we’re pretty much always together, she stays on my lap when i’m on the toilet, come into the shower w me, etc. we moved out 6 months ago to a larger flat and everything went well. they played together, shared their food, their bed, just like usual.
we just adopted a female kitten of ≈3 months to the local shelter. she really clicked with my man and we took her home 6 days ago. we prepared her a separate room with everything she needed, she stayed inside for 3 days but on day 3 she kept screaming to be with us so we let her out.
it’s not going well with my female. i can’t keep the baby locked because she’s really meowing at the top of her lungs and it’s stressing the other two, no matter the time we spend in the room, everytime the door is closed she’s crying.
first day my female wouldn’t let us touch her unless we washed our hands first after touching the kitten. every time she smelled something that smelled like the baby, she hissed and growled. same everytime she heard her meowing. even biting us to say stop (never happened before). they stopped playing between cats for those 2 days.
2nd day we exchanged the stuffies, some of the plaids, to let them smell each other. no problem with the male who’s just curious and want to see her. the female accepted to be touched, even with hands smelling like kitten, but didn’t want to touch anything that been sitting in the baby room. she started playing a little and slept with me at night but refused her wet food that she’s been obsessed for every lunch and every night (she always kept eating dry food tho). she just looked furious and mostly scared.
3rd day we let the kitten out, first just wandering in the rest of the flat without the other two, then with everyone. they are all strict indoors cat, with access to a balcony btw. again, no problem with my male who’s was hesitant at first but rapidly started to play with and clean the kitten. my female was growling, hissing every time she sees or heard her, and mostly stayed in the bathroom (her safe place) and on top of the cat tree, not letting her climb too.
since then we saw a little change but my female is still terrified of this little kitten. she’s still attacking a little bit when the kitten is walking too close to her (she runs on her, hiss and give one paw slap then leaves) but not everytime. the kitten is a little bit scared of her too now and doesn’t search interactions with her. yesterday they fetched a cricket all together but she started to attack the kitten after 30min, but then let her take a bite and ate the rest.
i don’t know how to handle this, i feel like my female is really in a bad place right now, even if there’s little improvement every day like everyone can stay calm and sleep profoundly on the same place for hours, but she’s still chasing the kitten when she decided she’s too close or that’s enough. i have a feliway optimum diffuser in place since day 2, just bought rescue pets and started yesterday to give to my female. she doesn’t like any treats so i can’t even give her one to make the interactions more bereable. i really need help please :( this situation makes me very sad.
r/CatTraining • u/RealisticHall7467 • 16h ago
New Cat Owner Help with cats
I have two kittens and I’m trying to prevent them from going g under my bed and hiding any advice also just tips on keeping them happy and well🥹thank yall in adavance
r/CatTraining • u/Ok_Suspect1988 • 14h ago
Behavioural Grabbing with Claws
My velcro cat has taken the title bit too seriously. He is constantly digging his claws into me. Not in an aggressive or playful way. He’ll just be sitting on my lap or cuddling in general and he’ll sort of grab/latch with all of his claws.
It’s constantly waking me up, and it hurts so much.
Help 😬
r/CatTraining • u/searchforloststories • 15h ago
Backpack/Travel Carrier Training My kitten will sit and also eat in the carrier even with it covered but not if it’s zipped. If I zip he’s like heck no. Obviously also no to the carrier being picked up. Is this something clicker training can help (if so link if possible please) or should I look into other options (cat car seats?)?
*I did not want to cover or zip but I had to travel sadly this wasn’t negotiable and I’d like any future (smaller) stuff like vet visits to go decent
r/CatTraining • u/TrannyBitchBoy • 17h ago
Behavioural My cat is hyperactive at night, how do I get him to stop?
About two years ago, my coworker rescued a cat off the street who she couldn’t take care of, and I offered to take him in. The vet estimated he was a year old, which makes him three now. He is the sweetest little guy, he’s so playful and has such a big personality, he is constantly purring and getting in my face to lick my nose and my hair.
The only thing is, I think because he was a stray for the first year of his life in Phoenix, he’s adapted to staying cool/hidden in the day, and awake from dusk to dawn. This has led to him being extremely active at sundown and sunup, but he sleeps during the day. I am a light sleeper, so I’ve had to shut him out of my room at night due to him climbing all over my desk and knocking everything over, or trying to climb my blinds, or trying to play with my other cat, who sleeps in bed with me and does NOT want to play at night. Lately, he has started jumping up against my door, and meowing VERY loudly. In the morning, he switches doors and does the same to my brother (who is awake earlier than me because of his job’s hours). I live in an apartment in an older building so the walls are pretty thick, but I don’t want to chance him bothering our neighbors, especially when I know one of them has younger kids and one of them has a reactive dog, and he is already bothering my brother, who did not ask to have another cat living in the apartment with us.
I have tried everything I can think of. Playing before bed, establishing a routine he can follow easily, changing where his food/water bowls are, making sure everything is clean, clearing off my desk of EVERYTHING, cleaning the litterboxes even more frequently, sleeping with headphones in. The inly thing that seems to have any effect is turning a dimmable light on, so I think he might be afraid of the dark? But I don’t know what to do. I don’t want him to be stressed out, I don’t want my neighbors to be stressed out, and I don’t want my brother to be stressed out. Do you have any tricks or tips? Resources? Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated