Important Questions.

[Darkiplier]

Good evening y'all!

So I might be getting a Siamese kitten some time soon, about five months old, and I had some questions.

First things first - How do I train him (her? it?) not to jump at little moving things? By that I mean I have two red eared sliders (currently in a small tank; should be getting a large one soon), and I don't want the lil baby hurt them or himself.

Secondly - How do I dog-train the cat? I read somewhere that Siamese were about as trainable as dogs. I'd like to train my cat some stuff - his name, walking on a leash, jumping down (off someone, off a surface, etc). Any advice?

Thirdly (?) - Is getting only one cat all right? Does he need buddies? I'm gonna be mostly free for a long while (school's off till the eleventh, after that we have a lot of days off--about twenty working days left--and then the big vacation), so there's that.

Finally - and this isn't behavioural, but I might as well stick it here - should I feed the cat dry food, wet food, or a mixture of both? If it's a mixture, then do I feed him a mixture by actually mixing the two each meal, or by giving different types for different meals? How many meals should he eat each day?

 

[abyeb]

I’m not sure to what extent you can train cats not to pounce on moving objects- since it is instinctual after all. Having lots of toys around that your kitty can play with will likely help distract from the red eared sliders. Your kitten might not even be interested in pouncing at them, I have a fish tank, and Charlie will sit and watch the fish when he’s in the mood, but never tried to attack them or anything.

Siamese are very intelligent cats, so you can definitely train them! I taught my Charlie his name when he was a kitten by shaking his food container and calling “Charlie!” until he came. I made sure to repeat his name when he arrived, before feeding him. Eventually, he began to come even without me shaking his food container. Pretty much the way to train cats is to offer food as motivation and reward. For leash training, this article gives a great overview: Harness And Leash Training For Cats

Cats can do great as only cats, but if you’re going to be away a lot, you might consider getting two kittens from the same litter to keep each other company.

For feeding, keep the wet and dry food separate. Since you’ll be getting a kitten who is still growing, you can leave out kibble for him to munch on throughout the day, and then feed wet food for meals. This works well as long as your kitten isn’t the scarf n’ barf type who would eat all the kibble in one sitting.

 

[rubysmama]

Congrats on the soon to be new cat. If you are considering getting 2 cats, it probably would be best to get them at the same time, so they can be friends from the beginning.

Here are some TCS articles that cover some of your questions:
First-time Cat Owner's Guide
Clicker Training For Cats
Cats And Pet Reptiles
What Do I Need To Know About Feeding My Cat?

 

[Darkiplier]

Congrats on the soon to be new cat

Nope. Turns out I'm not allowed to.

Damn. Boy does this hurt.

But thanks for the links! I'll read them for the sheer fun of it.

 

[rubysmama]

Sorry it's not working out for you. Hopefully someday.

 

[Darkiplier]

Yeah. Gotta stay positive, eh?

 

[tabbytom]

Hi Darkiplier , both abyeb and rubysmama have very good suggestions.

I believe you can train your kitty to listen and obey certain commands. It just takes time and lots of time and lots of practice and repetition and lots of love and praises. Since he’s just still a kitten, he’ll learn fast.

I never restrict my boy from being inquisitive, that’s the trait of cats. Everything we do, he’ll want to be involved like smelling and seeing what it is. We let him do that bit at the same time we tell him smell will do and this is not for you. Even if we are eating sashimi! Well let him smell and tell him enough and it’s not his, he’ll walk away. After awhile, he gets the message if he gets close to things we don’t want him to, we’ll just say ‘No, it’s not yours or if he gets near the kettle , well say ‘HOT!’
Or when the door is opened, I’ll tell him to down and watch, and he’ll lie down and watch and during meal time, I tell him ‘go up the counter’, he’ll jump up and I’ll tell him lie down and wait for his food while gently directing him to go into the position.

Keep doing and saying the commands, your kitty will learn.

At first I thought only dogs listen to commands but I was surprised that my boy listen to commands too. Sometimes I wonder if he’s a cat or dog?

You can do it and so can your kitten. Just be persistent and don’t give up.

 

[Darkiplier]

don’t give up.

That's very good advice, honestly.