Felines are eminently trainable, they just need different cues. I have trained my cat Sneakers to do tricks that astound most dog owners. Dogs rely on verbal commands, the tone and sound of the command gives away what the owner expects. Most cats don't listen to verbal cues, so use physical cues instead. Sneakers knows that there are different cues for each trick, some of the cues look similar, for instance lay down, and speak gestures are similar, so sometimes he gets them confused. But I have actually trained him to beg, speak, roll over (each direction), lay down (each direction), jump up, shake hands, gimme five, and high five. I'm currently working on getting him to fetch, heel, and tolerate a leash, so that I can take him outside.

One book that I highly recommend for cat owners who are having problems is "Is My Cat Crazy" by John C. Wright Jr. He is an animal behaviorist who admirably explains a lot of feline behaviors, symptoms of problems (e.g. urinating outside the litter box), and offers solutions. You'll have a much better understanding of your cat after reading his book. Unfortunately, it's currently out of print, but I think you can find copies on the book websites.

It's easy. Show them the trick. Repeat 10,000 times.

My cat Fritz used to be a biter, just my hands while was petting him. It was a real problem. So one day I rubbed a little hot pepper on my hands. He bit me. He did not like the taste one bit. He tried it just one more time, then never again.

He still bites, but only if I rub his belly. I tell everyone, pet him if you want, he likes it, but don't rub his belly.

Among his other tricks, (he has many) Fritz can open a can all by himself, reliably, in an average of 15 seconds!

http://tinyurl.com/2d62h7

I'm glad it all worked out with Thomson. So many people who have "trouble" pets just abandon them or even have them put down!

I think a lot of people have trouble with the idea that animals DON'T think like humans, even our most domesticated house pets, cats and dogs, are still animals with instincts and intrinsic ways of understanding their world.

Articles like this should remind people that our pets don't always understand us, and we often don't understand them. Instead of throwing in the towel, often we just need to think about the problem from a different (more pet-centric) perspective!

The background you find out about cats, and how they were originally domesticated, is great. It really paves the way to understanding more about why they behave the way they do!

My cats are living with my parents (THANKS MOM & DAD!!!) while our house is being remodeled, and it's been almost 2 months. We miss them like crazy! We visit them every weekend, and so far they still love and cuddle us. I can't wait to get them home. Thanks for sharing. This was fun. And Thompson is an excellent cat name.

-- ellewiz, mom to Fido and Tulum

Two cats. Have to have two.

I've got mine trained to used the toilets (working on flushing.) One fetches. One rolls over. Both reliably come to their names, understand "get down," "get up," "get in," "get out." Both sleep with me quietly and don't bound about all night long. Perfect little creatures for inside the house. (Several semi-feral ranch cats live outside and they don't mingle.) Establish hierarchy/territory with a squirt gun or spray bottle filled with dilute vinegar...not yelling. Yelling just excites cats to greater anarchy. Never get angry...they don't understand...you have to outwit them. Plant them a box of grass and give them a sunny window.

Cats are not dogs. That's the mistake most people make. More like teeny little horses. And the hunting thing? They need a hunt/stalk substitute...as your ankles discovered. (Haven't had a rodent or moth in here for over a year now.) Oh, and keep your closet doors closed.

Enjoy.

Because it seemed that my previous cat had been very lonely, when I lost her I bought 2 littermates (brothers) to come share my home. I enjoy watching their interactions, giving me entertainment as well as companionship and loving adoration.

I am away from home much of the day, and I feel so much better knowing they have each other to keep company.

My previous cat had done the ankle attack thing, but now my ankles are safe due to the cats having each other to do cat-play with.

Cats are not necessarily solitary in the wild. Feral cat populations are extremely social and have complex hierarchies.

One of their more enigmatic behaviors is technically termed "allorubbing." It just means cuddling--they'll sit around for hours and rub and nuzzle each other. (We had to watch video of it in animal behavior class in college.) But it's puzzling, because at a huge energy cost, it seems to serve no purpose in terms of reproductive success. Ethologists previously thought that it must only be done for warmth; that was the only justifiable explanation, in terms of natural selection, for why they'd commit so much energy to doing it. But no, it was found that they'll do it in the hottest summer weather. They'll even do it if they're starving. For reasons still not fully clear, maintaining social bonds in this way is so important to them that they'll expend immense quantities of energy that could be used in more obviously advantageous ways to do it.

The behavior that's rewarded is the behavior that's repeated. Remarkably simple, but it works for anything with a cortex: dogs, cats, goldfish, dolphins, chickens, spouses, etc. etc. Positive reinforcement works.

It's behavioral science and learning theory 101.

But Thompson is already saddled with asthma medication that he must take every other day, puffed from a human-variety inhaler through a bonglike plastic tube. The treatment is highly amusing to observers, but much less so to the cat; I wasn't eager to pump him full of kitty Xanax on top of all that.

Is he inhaling a corticosteroid? Aggression, anxiety, depression and irritability are all well known side effects of corticosteroids.

The toys and attention would help in that case, too, so it probably doesn't matter.

I don't know if they give prednisone to cats, but I know what it does to people because they had me on it for four years.

I didn't bite anyone during that time but that's not because I didn't want to.