I spent a lot of time on social media, reading posts from other pet lovers. The main thing that I’m bothered by is how many posts from cat owners reporting a lost pet. Usually, cats sneak out of their homes because a door opened. In fact, that happened to one of my neighbors at my condo. Fortunately, this story has a happy ending – her cat snuck out when she and her dog went outside for a walk.
My neighbor didn’t actually know her cat had snuck out! What happened was her cat had been wandering the hallway, and a good samaritan knocked on my door asking if the cat belonged to me. I went out to the hallway, caught the cat and brought him into my unit. When my neighbor returned, I knocked on her door and asked if she was missing a cat... As a veterinary professional and all-around pet lover, I realized PwMS with cats would benefit from this:
Teaching your pet cats behaviors incompatible with door dashing.
Accessible Pet Training for MS Warriors (Episode 6): Train Your Cat to Avoid Door Dashing
In particular, teach your cat to remain on a piece of furniture some distance away from an opening door. So, yes, this is a stay behavior. Before you say that’s impossible for a cat to learn, I want to show you that it really isn’t. Your cat has manipulated you into thinking that she can’t be taught. Also, her age doesn’t contribute to her ability to learn–unless she is experiencing arthritis or another health condition. Don’t let your cat trick you...
After reviewing some literature on positive reinforcement cat training, I think those methods are good but take too long. As a Person with MS (PwMS), the other problem I saw were those methods didn’t account for my fatigue. I think a large part of my frustration came from how complicated the suggestions were. Not to mention how much ableism was happening from those suggestions
While cat behavior experts suggest using a clicker to teach a cat behaviors, as I’ve mentioned I personally cannot use a clicker because of my MS. I have fine motor disability. I also cannot use food luring because of the same problem - I hold onto the food lures too long, which can frustrate a cat. Or I drop the food and the cat gets reinforced for doing something else–again frustrating.
Similar to how I train dogs, I use layered shaping where I set cats up for success. As a cat owner, you understand well that you have to convince your cat that it’s "her idea" to do something, which is the beauty of playing games with your cat to teach her desired behaviors. Because the entire process rides on you setting up coincidences in your cat’s environment where she makes incredibly simple choices that get her what she wants or what she thinks she wants...
Teach Your Cat To Go To A Mat Because She Chooses To: The Paw Target Game
There’s no need to lure your cat or force her onto a mat when you make the entire process her idea.
The Paw Target Game:
I placed a large blanket on the kitchen floor in a place that Melo frequented (near his food and water bowls).
At the very beginning, all I looked for was him setting a single paw onto any part of the blanket
As soon as I saw that, I said “search” which meant nothing to him at that time. After I counted to 2, I threw a piece of kibble.
After a few kibbles, I folded the blanket in half to see how much value I had put into the game
When Melo understood that half-blanket had value by placing at least one paw or more paws on, I folded that blanket in half again (so a quarter blanket)
After that, I placed the quarter blanket into a basket to check his understanding
The “Search” Game For Reinforcing Stages Of The Paw Target Game: An enrichment game for your cat that keeps your hands safe
Melo got enrichment from this game because the sight of a piece of flying kibble safely triggered his predatory sequence.
Locating (from hearing my saying “search”, followed by seeing the flying kibble, then kibble hitting the ground)
Capturing (stalking, chasing, pouncing)
Killing (as much as he could kill a piece of kibble)
Preparing (which involved him crunching up a small bit of it first)
Eating
All cats are predators, and many behavior issues reported by owners stem these needs being unmet. While shaping the highly-desired mat behavior, you’re also solving some common behavior problems. By playing this game, you’re creating a highly valuable area reducing her need to get onto the counter or table.
As predators and prey, cats thrive on being high (as in elevated areas) - spraying her with water for doing this doesn’t teach her anything nor does it work long-term because that punishment is contingent on you being present. Punishment only suppresses behavior but doesn’t teach desired ones.
Even if you’re not spraying your cat with water, physically removing her from a countertop or table top reinforces her jumping on the higher surface. Some cats crave physical affection, and they are clever enough to figure out that pattern. She jumps on a countertop, you pick her up to remove her from the surface. For kitty, that’s a win...
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Nanette Lai was diagnosed with Relapsing-Remitting MS in 2008. Her education includes PhD candidacy in Epidemiology from the University of Guelph, and a Master of Arts from the University of Toronto where she majored in Medical Anthropology. As a pet care professional, Nanette has worked as a veterinary professional since 1999 and received accreditation as a professional pet trainer from PetSmart in 2005. Nanette is a member of the Pet Professionals Guild (PPG) and the Canadian Association of Professional Dog Trainers (CAPDT).
As part of TraXel, Nanette aims to contribute content aligning with the company’s mission to help other patients with chronic conditions (including MS) live their best lives every day. The content will be presented in the form of instructional videos via TraXel’s podcast, for other pet owners with MS to virtually train their own pet dogs at home. Upcoming podcasts will demonstrate accessible positive reinforcement pet dog training because Nanette believes anyone can learn the mechanics and teach their own pet dogs to have incredible manners. She refers to this form of virtual dog training as positive reinforcement on steroids, because the methods she uses are effective and gives fast results (without the side effects)!
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Bibliography:
-Bradshaw, J. (2014) Cat Sense: How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet. Basic Books.
-Johnson-Bennett, P. (2016). CatWise - America's Favorite Cat Expert Answers Your Cat Behavior Questions. Penguin Books.
-Johnson-Bennett, P. (2007). Starting from scratch: How to correct behavior problems in your adult cat. Penguin.
-Grandin, T. (2006). Animals In Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior. Harper Perennial.
-Grandin, T. (2010). Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals. Mariner Books.
-Panksepp, J. (2004). Affective neuroscience: The foundations of human and animal emotions. Oxford University Press.
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Has anyone tried clicker training with their cat/dog, or does MS make that too challenging?
Great read! Wondering how to adapt these techniques for cats that are particularly stubborn or independent though...