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You need two qualities to train a cat: patience and technique. The training will proceed even more smoothly if you reward your cat for picking up a trick. Commands like sit, down, come here, go in and others normally associated with dogs, can be inserted in your cat?s psyche with ease if you know how to train your cat

This clicker method is by far the most common and useful way of training a cat. A clicker is a small plastic device that makes a sharp clicking sound when pressed. What you want to do is associate the ?click? sound with a reward, usually food. While the result may not be immediate, your cat will gradually begin to anticipate a delicious bit of food coming its way after the click. This ?reward? should be imparted only after the cat has performed the desired action.

You should initially start in a quiet place, and bring the food that your cat loves most. Make sure that your cat understands the click-treat association. Now you can take up the desired action — one lesson at a time, for not more than 6-10 minutes at a stretch.

Let?s take the action of ?Sit? as an example. You can start by gently pushing your cat down in the sitting position, accompanied by the verbal clue ?Sit?. When the cat has stayed in the sitting position for a long enough time, you can give it the reward. However, if this pushing action does not work, you can maneuver your pet to automatically sit down by holding a treat in your fist, then positioning your hand over the cat?s head and moving it backward until it naturally sits down.

In this way you can train your cat to sit, lie down, stay in a position for a long time or even respond to your calls. To get your pet to identify its own name, you can ask a few friends to assist you; sit in a circle or in different parts of a room and call out to the cat by its name. When it approaches, reward it with a click and then a treat. It?s as simple as that.

So buy yourself a clicker kit and get started today!

Remember, that it is far easier to train kittens rather than adult cats because habit patterns are far more developed in adult cats.

One question that worries all cat owners is: How to keep cats from scratching furniture? Fortunately, training your cat such that it sticks to its scratching post instead of your expensive furnishings is not that difficult a task. The first thing you have to know and understand is that cats do not scratch to annoy you; it is a biological need. Hurting your pet is not going to achieve anything; instead you must make it a habit to reward the cat every time it ?listens? to you and stops scratching.

The following tips can be used to keep your pet from scratching the wrong places:

? The most effective short-term ploy is to squirt your scratching cat with a water spray. Cats hate water, and squirting them will definitely do the trick. Every time the cat begins to scratch at your furniture, you can aim the water-squirt, and watch them run. However, this method is only effective if you are home at all times, and aware of what your cat is doing.

? Another useful tip is to cover the most popular scratching areas with aluminum foil. When the cat approaches the foil-covered furniture, and begins to scratch, the feel and noise of the material will definitely scare it away, and the next time around the cat will be wary and hopefully not scratch the same area(s).

? You can also cover the popular areas with double-sided tape, so the cat cannot get its claws into the furniture to scratch its way to satisfaction. Eventually it will get frustrated and in a few days you can remove the tape, as by then the cat will be conditioned not to scratch.

? Often owners prefer to clip the nails on their felines on a regular basis so that not much damage is inflicted on the furniture. While this may be a viable option, you must always take your cat to the vet. Also keep in mind, that if your pet is a creature of outdoor interests, the loss of its claws may be a sharp blow.

? A useful pointer to remember when you are buying new furniture for your home is that Velour type materials are very hard for cats to scratch. The underlying material is quite resilient and the most they will be able to do is get a tiny hole in it with their claws. Also keep in mind that cats love to scratch at wood, but only if it is bare, or has a ridge to it, like a decorative rising in the wood. Hence, look for furniture that has straight wooden legs instead of those with decorative (and expensive!) carvings.

Aggression is not an uncommon emotion in cats, and is displayed both by pet cats and kittens. That is why all pet owners should know how to handle aggression in cats. They must be particularly wary of alpha cats, which are the top cats in their pack and display leadership qualities.

These cats use aggression as arm twisting tactics to obtain certain benefits for themselves in preference to other cats. They will therefore turn aggressive over baths, food, toys, space and competition from other cats forcing owners to let them have their way

They may also use aggression as a way to break an action. For instance, an alpha cat may jump onto your lap when it wishes to be petted; however, once it tires of the activity it may resort to scratching and even biting to get you to stop. This phenomenon is termed as petting-induced aggression, and it is common in cats that have a low threshold for physical affection. This is also a way for these aggressive cats to show who is in control.

Surprisingly, kittens, though young, also show a high degree of aggression. Aggression in kittens is in fact a biological phenomenon and is termed as play-aggression, that is an in-built drive to play rough. Play-aggression mostly occurs when your kitten is beginning to grow up into an adult cat and is ?practicing? its survival preparations. Fortunately, it is a phase that most kittens outgrow.

It is important to deal with aggression in a firm manner. If an alpha cat bites you when you are petting it on your lap, you should make it a point to show your disapproval by not allowing it to get back on your lap for a few days. When it does get the privilege of sitting on your lap, ensure that you are in control and in charge of petting activity. You must initiate as well as conclude the petting session. After a few days, the cat will learn to accept your role as its owner and may also learn to be patient.

In the case of kittens, it is you who needs to be patient. Besides that, you could learn to read your kitty?s body language and not give it a chance to ?attack? you. You could also get it another kitten as a playmate.