I don’t know how food motivated your cat is, but for Gus’s clicker training I either use pieces of dry food (he normally eats 90% wet food so dry is novel) or freezedried 100% meat, normally salmon or chicken. I actually buy the dog sized bags of chicken purebites and break the pieces up because...
Auggie is a very picky cat, and only seems willing to branch out when it's fish. So he probably gets too much fish, but oh well.
He eats: Chicken, Venison, Salmon, Trout, and Tuna. He won't even touch anything Duck flavored and isn't fond of Turkey.
It's actually probably one of the easiest things to clicker train! If you put your finger a couple of inches in front of your cat's nose, they'll naturally sniff it. So then just *click* and treat. We did that a couple of times then moved the finger further away until he had to walk to touch it...
Finger tracking comes in handy for plenty of stuff! Like leading a cat directly to your lap for cuddling :thumbsup:
Also it means I can teach slightly more inane tricks, like jumping over my leg if I stick it out.
It does have practical purpose though! Helps with leading him into his carrier...
I second all that! Harness training your cat can be a great solution, especially if your cat is curious and not afraid of much. And it sounds like he is! And it's far cheaper than building a catio if that sounds inviting. After a slow introduction to the harness inside so he was comfortable with...
Yesterday was Augustus’s birthday- the Empurror turned four! Coincidentally it worked out well with the pace of his harness training, so it was the first time he got to go outside! I opened the door and he waltzed right out with his tail straight in the air, no hesitation at all. We went on a...
Nothing more peaceful than a cat tail repeatedly whacking you in the face. I swear this cat is a sadist, he was purring the whole time!
Teaching finger tracking-he’s rewarded when he presses his nose to my finger.
Wow I can sympathize! My cat Augustus also has pica, and would eat his litter whenever I would pour it or fiddle with the box. Originally he was on clay litter, but we immediately switched to a grass based litter. Somehow worse... Whenever I'd pour it, he shoulder his way into the box and take...