Is your relationship with your cat suffering from a lack of good behavior on your cat's part? Do you want a to fix your cat's behavior problems? What people don't know is that a cat needs behavior training just as much as dogs do. Cat's are trainable contrary to popular belief.

Don't be alarmed. Many people have heard that training a cat is difficult because cats are stubborn and independent. It certainly can be if you use the wrong methods. However training a cat using the right methods is simple especially once you have a general understanding of how a cat learns. You need to keep in mind that a cat learns through experiences sort of like a small child. Your cat learns to avoid they will avoid doing things that are unpleasant. They will spend more time doing things that bring them attention, praise, pleasure and of course treats!

You have to keep this in mind when training your cat because many times cat owners make a fatal mistake with their cats. This mistake is rewarding bad behavior. You may not even realize that your are doing it. That goes back to why it is important to understand why your cat is doing something. For example, you may want to break your cat's bad habit of excessive meowing, but whenever he starts doing it you pick him up or give him food or do something to make him be quiet. What you are doing is exactly why he meows in the first place - he wants attention and he is getting. So, as you can see he is not going to stop meowing if it is getting him what he wants.

Punishment does not work with a cat. Too often cat owners resort to using a spray bottle of water as a means of discipline. When the cat does something wrong it gets a spritz. The problem with this is that the cat is only learning to be afraid of their owner and not that what they are doing is bad. They can not piece together the bad behavior and the punishment, so it will not work to correct the behavior.

One major cat behavior problem that cat owners have is that their cat is not using their litter box. This is a good place to start eliminating anything your cat finds unpleasant. Cats are private animals and want privacy when using their litter box. Here you would put the litter box in a quiet low traffic area. It's important to keep the litter box clean as well. No one likes to use a dirty toilet. Another reason a cat won't use their litter box is because it's shared with another cat. They want their own space and will find a place to eliminate where they'll get privacy.

What do you do if your cat is scratching up your home. You need to know that your cat scratches out of naturally instinct. This is not something that can or should be stopped. Your cat scratching to groom their nails, relieve stress, and mark their territory. The only ways to stop cat scratching is to buy a something that is OK for them to scratch on and praise them for using it. To encourage your cat to use the scratching post or whatever you decide to buy them rub a little catnip on it. They'll get in the habit of using the post and leave your stuff alone.

As mentioned, cats like attention. They are not the anti social animals that many like to think they are. Kittens, especially, will do almost anything to get your attention. This can include bad behavior and excessive meowing. To help your cat avoid falling into bad attention getting habits you should first have him checked by the vet. Many odd habits can actually be a sign of an illness or other health problem. Then you should try to spend time playing with the cat and giving him attention regularly.

Understanding why you cat does what he does will go a long way in helping you get behavior issues under control. You should soon find that once you start training your cat, good behavior will become the norm.