The Trainable Cat: A Practical Guide to Making Life Happier for You and Your Cat

It’s been a while since I’ve had a cat, but I now find myself cat mom to a five month old rescue. I’m obsessed with this furry baby and want to raise her properly, so I’ve been doing a lot of reading. I’m giving this book 5 stars because not only does it offer practical training advice, it also provides a good understanding of cat behavior. And it’s an entertaining read besides. I’m trying some of the training methods and so far they look promising. I recommend this read.,

Update - 1 month of training and my cat...: - sits - jumps - comes - goes to any place I point out ...on comand. We keep making videos and share them with friends who are struck in disbelief "in general already, and about YOUR cat especially". How?: I tried to apply everything the author explained and also followed her recommendation of using a target stick with clicker (Karen Pryor Clicker Training Terry Ryan Clik Stik for Pet Training https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CDRJ3FG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_0NwjybY8QCCKK) Original Review: First and foremost, as this lately starts to irritate me here on Amazon: I did NOT receive this book for free for an "honest" review. Me and my cat: I am the owner of one 6 year old tabby cat with quite a bold (some might even say "evil" lol) character. My primary goal was to spend quality time with him and perhaps teach him a trick or two that I could show off to guests, lol. Only while reading the book I realized how achievable and useful training of my cat may be as we all have to administer medications here or there, or need to get the cat to the vet, and many more little situations. Background: I listened to an interview with the author, a scientist with a PhD in cat behavior, on the radio (NPR) and found that everything she explained made a lot of sense to me. Hence, the mediocre ratings on Amazon did not concern me as much as they usually would. The Book: Pros: I learned incredibly much about my cat through this book. I cannot count the times I thought "this is so obvious, why did I never think about it (this way) before". The author provides just the right amount of science to me without aiming to make me a PhD in cat behavior myself. I personally like to understand things a bit deeper, learn about the how's and why's, rather than someone telling me "Just do it. Here is step A.". Additionally, with this deeper understanding I felt the author equipped me with the knowledge and flexibility to adjust to my cat's (very special, lol, or not?) personality. This book comes with a plethora of very useful, relevant tips that made me very excited during reading (better me than the cat), so that I could not wait to start trying those things out. And, besides all explanations and tips, it will give you many, very clear, very simple step-by-step instructions broken down in achievable mini goals for any cat. Cons: It is not really a Con of this book as such, but this book is clearly not for you if you dislike reading a book in general and rather prefer pictures, illustrations, or solely simple statements. You really do not need to be a rocket scientist at all by any means but it will be more pleasurable for you if you bring a bit of intellectual curiosity into the game. I hope this helped.

I foster kittens so I have them for a short time (approx. 5-8 weeks of age). But I feel it is my responsibility to instill in them good habits as much as I can. I bought this book in part for positive ways to discourage kittens from climbing on upholstered furniture and clawing bedskirts and curtains. I do not believe in punishing kittens for doing what comes naturally to them (and because they are babies who have had no training), so have “put up with” the consequences. I found this book helpful in giving me a deeper understanding of cat behavior and the ways in which to reinforce behaviors you want. Some sections did not apply to my situation, but I can see where the techniques could be helpful for people for whom they do. I look forward to trying some of the training tips with my next foster kittens. All felines, canines, and humans require patience. This book serves as a guide for the first category if you are willing to invest time.

The cat approved the book👍

Haven't had cats my whole life I found this a bit dry and obvious

I have to say this book is great. One thing I would say about reading it is to read the first 3-4 chapters serially, and then choose the topics that are of interest to you from there on out. The "key skills" are the most important, as well as understanding some basics about cat psychology. The rest of the book are examples about how to put those skills to use, and how the authors organize the training activities from there. The results are not instant, and I would encourage the other reviewers to be patient and keep training their cats. Although, they're pretty quick. I bought the book when it came out, and I've been training my cats for two months. Granted, my cats are fairly good natured to begin with, and I was really looking for one thing in particular... To train my indoor/outdoor cats to come inside at night when I called. I was inspired to write this review when I called my cat Juniper in tonight, calling "Juniper -- come here! come here!" which is here command to come, and.... She ran at lightening speed across the yard and into the house to get her treat. I couldn't be happier. It's taken a couple months, but, that kind of result is just amazing. There's other things I'd like to train them, and also one of my cats is not food motivated at all which is making training somewhat difficult, but, I'm slowly learning what rewards he does respond to and I'm certain I can have success if I'm able to figure out the training method that works best for him.

So far, this is a Cat Bible! Halfway in, this is FASCINATING! We just took in an outdoor stray cat (abandoned house cat, not feral), and we’re starting to train him using Sarah’s tricks. Already seeing results! Giving us a lot of hope that this cat will be able to live with us harmoniously. We doubt he’ll be an indoor only cat, which is fine by us (no litter box!) so I love their philosophy about cats living indoors/outdoosr (people in the US are hell bent on keeping cats fully indoors, and while a great ideal, not always workable). It’s so helpful to understand more about “cat world”. We’d love to have a child too, so all the prep involved to make sure that goes smoothly is so helpful. Cats really are special and wild, so this book is beyond helpful. I’m so grateful I found this. Exactly what we needed. I’m floored at how many of us have owned cats and not understood a thing about them. I think every cat owner should read this.

This is NOT about teaching tricks to your cat. This is the most detailed analysis on cat behavior and how to condition or recondition your cat to all the obstacles that appear during a cats life life; like adding a new cat, adding a dog, the carrier, driving in the vehicle, etc. I have been working with cats and an owner for over 40+ years. I also work very closely with a volunteer non-profit cat organization, I have access to all the members for questions and solving problems, YET I HAVE NEVER obtained this level of psychological assessment and training from any of these sources including ALL the vets I have encountered throughout these years. This has been the most valuable resource to date. I was also able to find the audio book version (11 hours) through my local library. I have listened to this multiple times. The book has been a quick way to jump to the chapter and the specific instructions in writing to refresh my memory. If you are a cat fancier or just want to get through our everyday challenges with the cat, THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU. I highly recommend this book. Like I said, this isn't about teaching your cat tricks. It's a lot of data, but so well worth it. ENJOY

Very Informative and full of good ideas to improve one's life with a cat.

No puedo esperar a leerlo aunque hay varios previos en la lista 👍🏽

Pour toutes les personnes qui veulent mieux comprendre leur chat, et qui souhaite que leus cohabitation avec leur petit félin soit un plaisir, pour elles mêmes et pour leur animal.

Really changed my approach to our 2 kittens. We have a very harmonious and happy coexistence now. Must read!

Amazing book to improve your cat’s quality of life, highly recommend to read, if possible before bringing your kitten home for first time cat parents