[Vision2020] Caturday (December 2, 2017)

[Moscow Cares]

Actual article headline: "Training your kitten is just as important as training your puppy." Oh wait, they're serious? Let me laugh even harder on Caturday

Courtesy of ABC Net (Sydney, Australia) at:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-26/kitten-kindy-to-start-at-hobart-vets/9179570?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

———————————————
Training your kitten is just as important as training your puppy

When you become the proud owner of a new puppy, often one of the first things you might consider is enrolling it in a puppy class.

But what about if you get a kitten?

A Hobart vet clinic is starting kitten kindy to help cat owners socialise and train their new feline family members.

"Puppy school is already such a widely known thing, but we've kind of been neglecting our kittens a little bit," vet nurse Kendall Manson told Sarah Mashman on ABC Radio Hobart.

Ms Manson said the main aim of kitten kindy was to socialise young cats so they became used to meeting and interacting with people.

"Our goal isn't so much about obedience training like it would be with some dogs," she said.

"It's more about socialisation, making sure we expose them to a number of things so they can have happy interactions, so it's less frightening later on in life."

Fellow vet nurse and cat enthusiast Helen Heazlewood said socialising cats aged between eight and 14 weeks was optimal to help them be less stressed when visitors came over or if they had to go to the vet.

"They reach the peak of their socialising period at 14 weeks, so anything older than that they tend to not interact as well with the younger kittens," she said.

"People bringing a puppy home, it's thrown in everyone's face, 'here's my new puppy, pat my new puppy'; we don't do that with cats.

"And then the cats go and hide when visitors come, and they still hide when they're 10 years old.

"We can make that change."

Ms Heazlewood and Ms Manson said cats could also be taught tricks just like dogs, such as how to play fetch, sit, do a high five or walk on a lead.

But like a dog, it is easier to teach a young cat new tricks.

"Cats are stubborn; they don't want to do things that they don't want to do," Ms Manson said.

"So it can be a lot trickier to get an older cat to do something like walk on a lead than when they're younger."

Kitten training for a less stressed pet and owner . . .

A secondary aspect of kitten kindy is teaching cat owners how to better understand their cat's needs and to read its body language better.

"We see firsthand the stress that can happen when the cat's in the clinic," Ms Manson said.

"Anything that we can do to try and make their visits less stressful is better for everyone involved."

Ms Heazlewood said the classes would teach "positive parenting" skills to owners as well as the kittens.

"The cat-human bond can be so much more than what we see," she said.

"We offer socializing visits where the kittens can come in ... be treated with an edible treat and then go home where there's no poor experience there.

"There's so much to be learnt by the cats."

Tips for training a kitten

Socialise your kitten from a young age so it learns not to be afraid of visitors. Encourage them to interact with friends and family under supervision, just like you would a puppy.
Don't just bring out the cat carrier when it's time for a vet visit; leave it out for the kitten to explore and play games with it or give them treats inside it.
Teach them to sit on command by praising them or giving them a treat when they sit. Introduce hand signals to show them when to sit.
Teach them to ring a bell to go in or out. Ignore when they meow or scratch, and only open the door when they hit the bell.
If the kitten plays too roughly, biting or scratching too hard, startle them with a clap or hiss and stop the play. Over time they will learn being rough stops their fun.
Talk to your vet about kitten training and whether they offer classes or the chance for positive visits to get it used to going in the car for vet trips.
Just like dogs, cats learn best with positive reinforcement of wanted behaviour rather than punishment for bad behaviour.

—————————

Photos . . .

Two Hobart vet nurses believe the cat-human bond can be so much more than what we see.
http://www.moscowcares.com/Caturday/Caturday_120217_01.jpg

Cats can be trained to do tricks similar to how you train a dog.
http://www.moscowcares.com/Caturday/Caturday_120217_02.jpg

If taught while they're young, cats are just as trainable as dogs and other animals.
http://www.moscowcares.com/Caturday/Caturday_120217_03.jpg

———————————————

Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20171202/230654cc/attachment.html>