How to train a non treat-motivated cat?

[gvldcoins]

Hi! I’m trying to train my 3 month old kitten to do tricks like sit, paw etc. with treats + a clicker, unfortunately she doesn’t seem to like any of the treats I’ve tried to offer (freeze dried chicken breast, wellness cat treats, 3 different brands of lickable squeeze-tube treats).

She always seems to sniff the treats and then shy away from them, and she’s only consumed the freeze dried chicken (which she didn’t seem to enjoy).

Any idea what treats she may like or how to train a non treat-motivated cat? She is raw fed if that helps. Thank you!

 

[danteshuman]

Part of me is thinking you just haven’t found the right treats. Have you tried dairy temptations? Or those fancy feast flaked tuna treats? (Though this one is messy to give them.) You could even try tuna & salmon sashimi that you slice into itty bitty treats to see if your cat likes that. My cat Jackie wouldn’t touch those healthy treats!

My mom has a play motivated cat that comes running when I call him inside because I always give him lots of temptation treats when he does. He also comes running for the jingle bell that jingles when I wave his wand toy. Nick has also learned up or high 5 ..... though I wish I had clicker trained him because he did high 10 for the longest time! Nick doing paw or up to try to get the treat ...., which he absolutely got!

 

[Caspers Human]

Casper is like this.

He wants his treats but he doesn't go "Om-Nom-Nom!" like you would expect when you give treats to a cat. He will NOT take treats or any food out of hand. It MUST be on the floor before he will eat.

When we put treats down for him, he will eat two or three then he leaves the rest for later and we have to leave them there or else he'll get upset. If he goes back, later, and his treats aren't there like he expected, he'll go to his food bowl and do the "scarf and barf" thing.

We've tried teaching Casper to do things using treats but he's not treat-motivated enough for it to work.

It's not about giving him the "right" treats. He only likes one kind. He only likes Temptations, "Shrimpy Shrimp" or "Rockin' Lobster." He won't eat anything else, even if you try to give him another flavor of Temptations.

 

[danteshuman]

Can you try rewarding him with praise , treats and then play?

I know my cat walks better when I talk to him. If I encourage him he will walk better or get his confidence back. So maybe praise & or play will help encourage him.

Have you tried a lick of butter or some human food that is safe for him to eat? I know it isn’t healthy but my cat LOVES wheat thins, other cats love potato chips, tortilla chips or sweet potato. Finding that aha food that they will not leave behind helps a lot. (I never give my cat a whole wheat thin, instead I break off a tiny corner & rub the salt off...... like 1/16th of the cracker. ) I’m not advocating feeding cats junk food. But in your case, a very tiny small amount of cat safe people food once a week might work. I would try sashimi first though.

 

[minish]

Trick learning requires an attention span which I guess is difficult for a 3 month old. I started training sessions with minish when she started pondering how to climb curtains (4 months and a while) . That long stare, focus, contemplation is the main ingredient for training. For some tricks, you don't need treats. Like following a stick. They naturally sniff it and follow for a bit. Praise and encouragement also work wonders.

 

[Caspers Human]

She always seems to sniff the treats and then shy away from them...

Casper does the same with anything except "his" treats and "his" cat food.
He rarely eats anything else. We've tried practically everything.

Butter: He'll have a lick or two if he's in the mood.
Cooked eggs: Scrambled, sunny side up, over easy... Maybe a lick of the yolk. Then he turns up his nose.
Sushi/Sashimi: Nope! I never knew a cat that didn't like sushi, at least a little bit! Not Casper! Won't even touch it!
Chicken: Nope!
Sardines: He ate about half a piece, one time, then left the rest and never touched them again.
Vegemite/Marmite: About the same as butter. A lick or two but only if he's in the mood.
Liverwurst: One time when Casper was sick and wouldn't eat, I enticed him to eat with a quarter of a slice of liverwurst, gently warmed in the microwave. It got him back on his food again but he hasn't touched it since.
Not steak. Not turkey. Not lunch meats. Not pepperoni or sausage. Not cheese. Maybe a lick of milk if it's warm.

I have known and lived with about a dozen cats, over the years. Three of them, I have owned, personally.
Every one of them would go koo-koo for almost anything on my list but not Casper.
He will ONLY heat "his" treats and "his" food. He will not take ANY food from the hand. Only from the floor.
He will not lick butter, egg yolks or Vegemite from a spoon or from your finger.
He doesn't even really seem to like to eat from a plate. His special food bowls are the only utensils or dishware that he appears to like to eat from.

He's food-insecure so he ALWAYS has to have food available 24/7. If he sees his food dish getting low, he'll "scarf and barf."

He also needs to inspect any human food that we eat but he never eats it.
If he sees you eating anything, he'll sit and stare at you like he's begging but, if you offer him any, he'll sniff it then turn up his nose.

Pets, play and praise don't work, either. He's a quiet cat that rarely even meows. He never made a single sound for the first two or three years after we adopted him. He does meow for attention, now, but it's very quiet and meek.

He's a very non-aggressive player with humans.
He does get the zoomies and play with his toys but is very laid back when humans try to play with him.
We can toss a mouse for him and he'll chase it if he's in the mood.
We can get him to make one or two laps around the house with a laser but, then, he just sits and stares at it.
He will, occasionally tussle with his Girl-Human, maybe for a minute but he has never tussled with me, even when I wash my hands with catnip.

Casper is THE singular, most well-behaved and quiet cat I have ever known.
He doesn't counter surf or scratch furniture. He has never gone outside his litter box unless he was sick.
He's quiet and doesn't upset things on tables.

He doesn't have any vision, hearing or balance problems. He comes a-runnin' when you open a can of cat food. If you toss a toy mouse, he follows it with his eyes. He's very sure-footed when he walks on high places like the back of the sofa. I have never seen him stumble or trip on the stairs or any place. He jumps up and gets down from the bed or sofa with ease. I have rarely seen him miss a jump. He can smell catnip from a mile away.

He knows that his name is "Casper" but, for some reason, he wants to be called "Puddy Tat."
We had him for a few months before I first called him "Puddy Tat." We were sitting on the sofa, watching TV, when I called him "Puddy Tat" and he turned and looked right at me then came over and nuzzled my hand.
We can call him "Casper" and he'll react with seeming indifference, the way most cats do but if you say "Puddy Tat" he'll wake up from a dead sleep to come and greet you.

There doesn't seem to be any physical or organic problems that would prevent him from doing things. He can see, hear and understand people as well as any cat should. Our vet checked him over, thoroughly, just a couple of months ago when we took him in for his booster shots. He got a clean bill of health.

The only thing we can think of is that he might have been abused in his former life, before we adopted him. He was abandoned outdoors.

Maybe his former humans were too strict and punished him a lot. He is pretty skittish even after living with us for several years. If you drop a book on the floor, when most cats would startle then turn and stare with eyes wide, Casper will scamper away and hide.

We both love the stuffing out of Casper but neither of us has any clue why he's such an enigmatic cat!

gvldcoins : If you can figure out any way to motivate your cat, let us know, too!

 

[rockitorknockit]

This has been such an interesting thread to read!

We have a cat who is about 2 and 1/2 name Barney. I grew up surrounded by cats and have owned many cats myself. I have NEVER known a cat to be as unmotivated by treats or food as Barney. It's honestly shocking. I am convinced he only eats food at all because he hits a certain threshold where he realizes he can no longer terrorize us unless he gets calories back in his system. (I can add, he is also one of the most terribly behaved cats I've ever had...) The idea of being "play motivated" seems so obvious now that I've read that phrase in this thread.

NOTHING food related will ever entice him. Similar to what others have shared, no manner of treat, human food or cat food would ever make a difference. If he ever needs medication, we better pray we can slip it down his throat. I've seen him play with treats until they just dissolved from wear, even carrying them around to play with in other parts of the apartment (or melting in his water bowl, a favorite toy "hiding spot" for him).

All of this to say: I have nothing helpful to add. I think I had something else to say, but Barney is now screaming and shaking my office door, so...

 

[danteshuman]

You say Puddytat is the best behaved cat you have ever known; so maybe leave it be? Give up on training him?

Some cats have mutiple names. Dante thought his name meant “hey you, freeze!!!” He thought his real name was Bud, my affectionate nickname for him (Dante was a hyper naughty cat when he was young.) So maybe call your cat Puttycat?

For play you could try making some good puzzles with his dry food. Just be sure to make extra & to let him see you filling the puzzles up with food. That way he can work a bit for his food & also be secure there is more food. Have you tried putting a 2-3 hexabugs down on the ground at the same time? It is what I do for my hyper cat when it is sick or it rains. Having 2 toys going at once helps keep things from getting predictable.