No, sending kitty to an American-style boot camp is not the way to train her! Cats learn by experience. This page isn’t about teaching your cat silly tricks, like perching on the lavatory, either.
The first thing to remember is how cats learn. We learn by reading books, watching videos, or going to evening classes. Obviously, cats cannot do any of these things.
They learn by experience - if something gives them a good experience, they’ll want to repeat it. If something gives them a bad experience, they’ll try and avoid it happening again. Therefore, we have to set it up so that the behaviour we want to encourage results in a good experience, but the undesirable behaviour results in a bad one.
Positive reinforcement is more effective than punishment, so rewarding kitty for good behaviour is the most effective approach. Reprimands do not work because the cat will just associate the bad experience with you, and exhibit the behaviour when you are not around. The best approach is to shower her with praise when she behaves as you wish. Just like learning how to drive or operate a computer, cat or kitten training is best done at an early age. If you do use punishment, make sure that:-
1) You catch her "In the act" or the cat will not associate the punishment with the crime.
2) Whatever punishment you use (i.e. squirt from a water pistol) must come "out of the blue", or she will just associate the unpleasant experience with you.
You must also catch her "in the act", which is not always easy.
Most cats learn quite quickly where the boundaries are.
Training may not be quick, and it may not be easy, but it is worth it , in the end.
