How do I make my cat do as she is told?

Question

She comes and goes as she pleases. Growls when she don't want to stroked but rubs herself on me when she does. Opens doors and goes where she it not alowed. Keeps asking for more food than the amount the packet says she should have. It is beyond a joke, she thinks she owns me instead of me owning her.

Answer 1

lol! you cant train a cat like that, a cat does what it wants, you can try to out smart her but thats a lot harder then it looks. cats dont respond to punishment or yelling or hitting. you can help a cat out if you dont want them to scratch certain areas and things like that. But it does what it wants when it wants. Both of my cats are tolerable. They wont growl if they dont want to be petted they will just get up and leave. And that i take as a sign of leave me alone! so i do! if you dont want her to open doors you got to find a lock to keep them out. And cats will eat ALL the time if you let them. My cat tries too. She tries to make you think she is STARVING! But you can beat the cat in this. Just ignore her pleas and whines and give it to her when its time. She will get use to that routine and stop. That is what happened with our cat, she would wake us up every morning at 3 trying to make us give her food. We always kept dry down for her to snack on, but she wants the wet food, but we ignored the pleas and finally she realized she will get it when we wake up on our own. So she waits for the alarm to go off and she will sit patiently at your head until you are up.

Answer 2

Well, you DON'T own her... She is a living, breathing creature - not a possession. She's not your child to tell off and give rules to. She's an entirely different species who is choosing to cohabit with you, and you with her.

Of course she comes and goes as she pleases. It's called free will.

Of course she growls when she doesn't want to be stroked - she can't ask you not to stroke her.

Of course she opens doors and explores places - she's a cat. They are inquisitive.

Of course she asks for more food. She likes food. The packet is just a guideline. Maybe she burns off more energy than other cats and needs more food.

The cat should be allowed to do what she wants, just as us humans are allowed to do what we want...

Answer 3

You have just described the typical cat. Just be a bit cautious about bending to her desires for more food. She may be hungry, and most cats self regulate their weight. But you do not want to turn your cat into a 'porker'.

Remember, packet amounts are suggested amounts, not absolutes. What works for a tiny tabby would be inappropriate for a Maine Coon cat. And an indoor only versus an outdoor will also differ.

Answer 4

You can't "make" a cat do anything; however, you can TRAIN a cat to do things that you'd like it to do. It is much easier to train a cat than most people think.

Cats are all about the reward. Training a cat is essentially striking a bargain with a cat, agreeing on a fair trade: if you do what I want, I'll give you something you want. Find a treat/reward that your cat really loves and use that as "payment" for what you want the cat to do.

I use positive reinforcement training methods (treat/reward based training). My Siamese (may he rest in peace) would do all of the following:
• come
• sit
• sit pretty (sit up)
• lay down
• stay
• bed time (he'd go to the bedroom and get in bed)
• up (jump up)
• down (jump down)
plus, he'd play fetch for about 1/2 an hour every night.

I'm currently using clicker training with my youngest, and he "high-fives" on command. Clicker training has helped me get rid of his scratching/biting problems as well. (It used to take 3 people—myself, a vet, and a vet tech—to trim his claws, now I can trim him by myself.) He is a calmer and happier cat, now that we've worked out our little trade agreement.

Good luck.

Answer 5

First of all, she does own you. Anyone who thinks they own a cat is just fooling themselves.

The only way you can train a cat is to fool it into thinking that it thought of what you want it to do itself. Convoluted I know, but we are talking about a cat here.

Food (bribery) is always a good start. Find something (fish/cream etc) that she will do ~anything~ for and start from there.

Change your door handles to metal round ones. Cat's can't open those.

Ignore any pleadings for more food, you don't want a fat cat.

As for the coming and going, get yourself a locking cat door and lock her in at night. She will yowl, but get yourself a set of earplugs and ignore her.

Answer 6

My parents have a magnet on their fridge which says, "I came, I purred, I conquered" which just about sums it all up. As others have already said, cat's do exactly as they please. The good thing about them, I suppose is that, apart from the feeding, they can pretty much look after themselves. I've done a quick search and found a link you may be interested in. Ignore the link's title - it's all to do with a cat's temperament. All the best.

Answer 7

You will never be a cats master. They use you has a food source and a warm dry place to sleep. A cat will also have around 6 to 10 homes. ITS SIMPLE THEY USE PEOPLE. Mine does the same. He treats my house like a hotel with free room service. All we can do is love them for who they are (even if we don't always like who they can become) You have to admit though the cuddles they give when your down makes it worth while. LOL Hope it helps.

Answer 8

Is she "your" first cat encounter? Just try to ignore her and then see what happens! Don't take the growling personally, she probably only does this to you. Cats are funny, act independent and cool. But once they don't see you for awhile, they let down that cool-cat thing for a second or so (until they realize how "dog-like" they're being). I love both. Is your question a joke? Not trying to be mean to you, well it put a smile on my face so thanks!

Answer 9

You don't own a cat, the cat owns you. Try using a water bottle when she gets into somewhere she shouldn't go or does something you don't want her to do. A small squirt usually does the trick.

Answer 10

Maybe you should have researched a cat before getting one. They all act like this and there is no changing it. You can yell, scream, hit, etc and the cat will still do exactly what it wants.

If you have to have control you may want to get a dog.