A cat is a special animal. Unlike dogs, who like to spend most of their time with their owner, cats need their own space, a place where they can be alone.
Therefore, when you take a kitten into your home, you need to think not only about food, toys and health, but also organize a place for the cat to sleep and retire - a cat house. It's the same with an adult cat. There the cat can sleep, warm up, calm down, etc. The owner will always know where his animal is. In addition, not everyone likes to sleep together with animals.
Another advantage of having your pet always sleep in one place is that you won't have to clean up fur if you haven't put it away in the closet in time. And some animals prefer to settle down in unexpected places, for example, on a laptop keyboard. The cat is warm and comfortable, but the owners have questions.
Why does a cat need a house?
First of all, it’s worth figuring out what the purpose of purchasing a house for a cat is and whether it’s possible to do without it. Cats spend most of their lives sleeping. And they do this anywhere: on beds, tables, cabinets, in general on any stable horizontal surfaces. When buying a house or a bed for a kitten, you should not hope that the animal will sleep only there.
The cat feels safe in the house
Why is it still important to get a house? If it is available, the cat will know that the entire apartment is at his disposal, but he has a corner accessible only to him. Cats love peace and sometimes want to be alone. For example, when guests come to the apartment, the cat has the opportunity to go to his house and stay there as long as he needs.
How to get used to a scratching post quickly
Kitten
It is quite easy to train a kitten. To do this, you need to demonstrate the process a couple of times by placing its paws on the surface of the product, and then make scratching movements, lightly pressing on the pads of the paws. This manipulation will show the kitten that this is the most suitable place for sharpening its claws.
In the future, you should praise your pet for such actions, stroke and encourage him. It could even be a treat. And in case of damage to furniture or wallpaper, be sure to sternly scold, you can also use a spray bottle - this is one of the best tools for raising cats.
Adult cat
If you want to accustom an adult animal to a scratching post, some difficulties may arise. In general, the steps are similar to those outlined above, but here you should take into account the favorite places for sharpening your cat’s claws.
Basic requirements for a cat's home
In order to tame a cat to a place without any problems, it must meet certain requirements.
Size
How to train a puppy to sleep in his place alone at night
Any size bed will suit a kitten, but it is worth considering that as it gets older, it may be necessary to buy a new home. The cat should be comfortable in its place, and for this it should not be cramped. The ideal size of the house is slightly larger than the animal itself.
Material
It is recommended to choose soft houses with a stable bottom. This is important because cats don't trust unstable floors. You can use an ordinary cardboard box as a home, but it must be upholstered with fabric and a soft blanket or lounger placed on the bottom.
Important! The shape and type of the house is chosen individually.
The modern market offers a wide choice. This could be a regular booth house, a built-in house, a hammock, or a full-fledged play complex. It all depends on the personal preferences of the owners.
Method three: light pressure plus encouragement
A particularly stubborn cat must be housetrained with gentle pressure. Take the cat (do it softly and affectionately) and put it in the house. Caress her, give her a treat, but don’t insist too much, don’t try to keep her there by force. Just repeat this procedure from time to time, and soon the cat will begin to perceive the house as a place where it feels comfortable.
Video: how to house train a kitten
All cats are individual - some begin to sleep in the house from the day of purchase, and there are those that never recognize their new home. In any case, remember - a cat cannot be forced to do something. Only affection and encouragement (and sometimes cunning) will help convince the purr to do your way.
Why doesn't the cat like the house?
How to accustom a cat to a new home - arrangement and adaptation options for your pet
In the process of accustoming a cat to a bed, owners may encounter the problem that their pet simply does not like the home. As a rule, the reasons are similar.
The reasons why the cat did not like the house may be different.
Material and smell
Cats are extremely sensitive animals. If they are bothered by the specific smell emanating from the house, or the material from which it is made, the animal will never live in it. This sometimes happens with products purchased online. In warehouses, they absorb odors, which then repel animals.
Important! You should buy products only from trusted stores.
A cat may also be put off by the smell of another animal. This is possible if the lounger has been overbought, and a cat has already lived in it before. As a rule, the smell of an animal is absorbed into the material, and it is almost impossible to get rid of it.
Ways to combat cat activity at night
The main reasons for increased activity at night and in the morning are lack of movement and communication during the daytime. Therefore, you need to try to eliminate these factors so that the cat, like the owners, rests peacefully at this time and does not create problems.
Most owners do not have the opportunity to give their pet much attention during the day; most hours are spent at work. This means that in the evening you need to compensate for the lack of communication. It is necessary to allocate time for:
- caresses,
- games,
- care procedures.
It is not necessary to sit next to the cat for hours, hold it on your lap and stroke it. You can just be next to your pet, do your usual things, but at the same time talk to him, sometimes stroke him. The cat will be happy to watch your actions and feel like a participant in the events.
Even at an advanced age, these animals love to play; for teenagers this is their favorite pastime. You need to not only buy toys for your kitten, but also take part in such entertainment. There are many different devices that make a cat become interested and start a fun game: a bow on a string, a moving toy. Tablet owners use their devices for cat entertainment. Many pets quickly master simple games in which they need to “catch” a spider, a mouse, etc.
In order for a cat that spends the whole day alone to be active and not spend all its time sleeping, you need to create conditions for entertainment. Many pets love to play with hanging toys; you can build a structure for your cat in the form of a tree, on which you can equip several beds at different levels. Animals are interested in toys with small objects placed inside, with a hole into which you can stick a paw, products with dry food, to obtain which you need to toss and roll them.
Cat toys need to be changed periodically. It is not necessary to constantly buy new options; it is enough to hide them for a while so that the pet has time to forget about them. When choosing entertainment, you need to make sure it is safe.
Basic methods of training
Owners of furry friends have long been sharing with each other their secrets and methods that have helped them accustom their charges to their place. The most common and effective ways to house train a kitten are described below.
Awakening Interest
Getting the kitten interested is the first place to start getting to know your new home. The owner must show the purchase to the animal and let it sniff it. It's okay if the kitten decides to try the bed for a tooth or sharpens its claws on it - this is an indicator of its interest. Arousing interest is a quick way to train.
Choosing the Ideal Location
To make the process of domestication easier, the owner must take care of the advantageous location of the house. This should be a secluded corner in which the optimal temperature is constantly maintained. It’s good if you can install the house so that it offers a view of the room - cats love to watch their owners from the side.
You need to carefully choose a place for your pet
Occupying a favorite place with a house
It happens that the house appears in the apartment already when the cat has managed to settle down in it. Then you should pay attention to where your pet prefers to sleep. You need to put a house in his favorite place, then the cat himself will understand what’s what.
Encouraging an animal
Animals are very dependent on the support and approval of their owner. Therefore, owners should reward their pet when it comes into the house. Praise, affection and treats are suitable as rewards.
Insist on
Sometimes the cat simply does not understand what the owner wants from him. This is where purposeful and stable insistence comes to the rescue. You need to periodically bring the kitten into the house and leave it there. Over time, he will get used to it and begin to go there on his own.
Compulsion
It is not recommended to overdo it with insistence and resort to coercion. Cats are extremely independent and wayward creatures, and will not sleep where they are uncomfortable. In addition, forcible confinement in the house will leave a negative impression on the cat about this object, and then he will definitely never live there again.
What you should not allow your pet to do in the master bedroom
In any case, you should not give the pet the opportunity to feel permissiveness and superiority over the owner. The owner must teach his four-legged friend the rules of behavior in bed.
You should not allow your cat to play in the bed. Often, even after evening entertainment, pets touch their owner’s paws, meow and even try to sit on their owner’s face. It is necessary to stop such attempts by the animal to disturb sleep, and say in a firm voice: “No!” and point the cat to his bed.
If your cat tries to wake you up, you should just ignore it.
This is how she tries to get attention. After waking up, do not feed your cat for a while so that she understands that you do not encourage this behavior
If your pet behaves restlessly and meows all night, you should pay attention to the state of its health. This behavior may be due to illness or stress.
A veterinarian will help determine why the animal is worried.
It often happens that, having taught a cat to sleep with him in bed, the owner feels sleep disturbance. In this case, you will have to remove the pet from the bedroom. This is sometimes more difficult to do than getting a cat to sleep in a bed. The best solution is to let your four-legged friend choose his own place to rest.
In any case, he will give his owner his attention and affection.
Adult cats are able to sleep from 15 to 20 hours a day. It would seem that this is twice the human norm, but it was not so. One of the most common complaints from cat owners is the complete inability to get enough sleep. Many cats manage to distribute their strength so that their short period of active wakefulness coincides with your deepest sleep.
It is at this time that they begin to scamper along the walls, ceiling and curtains, swing from the chandelier, throw flower pots onto the floor, sharpen their claws on a polished cabinet and hunt for all unprotected parts of your body.
But what if your baby has just finally fallen asleep? Or do you have to get up early for work, but your cat bothers you and doesn’t let you sleep at night? What should owners of night owl cats do, and is there a way to train a cat to sleep at night? We will try to give answers to these questions in today's article.
Common mistakes: what not to do
If an owner wants to teach a cat to live in a house, they should not make common mistakes:
- Forcibly holding an animal inside.
- Buying a house that is too small or too large.
- If the animal has already had a negative experience related to housing, it is necessary to wait time, and only then continue training - the tension should subside.
Sometimes it’s more comfortable on a sunbed than in a house
The cat family is an ancient companion of man. Modern life is such that a person always has to take the situation into his own hands, so house training is his prerogative. But one thing is clear: every cat should have its own place, regardless of whether it is a British Fold or a mongrel.
Method one: take it out of curiosity
Although the tailed ones are conservative, no one has canceled the cat’s curiosity. A new object in the house will definitely interest the cat, and the owner’s task is to reinforce this interest. This can be done by placing the purr's favorite treat or her favorite toy inside the new home. Do this regularly and your cat will develop a positive association with the house. At first she will simply visit it from time to time, and over time she will begin to sleep in it - at first from time to time, and then constantly.
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Author: Pavel Chaika, editor-in-chief of Poznavaika magazine
When writing the article, I tried to make it as interesting, useful and high-quality as possible. I would be grateful for any feedback and constructive criticism in the form of comments on the article. You can also write your wish/question/suggestion to my email [email protected] or Facebook, with respect, the author.
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