r/CatTraining Jan 11 '26

Behavioural What actually stopped my cat from scratching the couch (no punishment)

301 Upvotes

I tried everything first: covers, sprays, double-sided tape.
Some worked for a few days, nothing worked long-term.

What finally made a difference was treating scratching as a behavioral need, not a bad habit.

This is what worked for me:

  • I placed a scratcher right next to the couch, same height and orientation
  • I chose a texture similar to the couch fabric
  • Every time my cat used the scratcher, I rewarded immediately (treat + calm praise)
  • When the couch was targeted, I removed attention instead of reacting

After about two weeks, the couch stopped being interesting.
The scratcher became the default spot.

Blocking or punishing never worked for me.
Redirecting the behavior did.

I wrote this process down step-by-step for myself.
If anyone wants more details, I’m happy to share.


r/CatTraining May 26 '24

Are The Cats Fighting or Playing - Introducing Pets Playing or Fighting: The Basics

46 Upvotes

Greetings cat owners! I see a lot of posts on here asking about if cats are playing or fighting, and as a long-term owner I thought I might share a few insights.

Points on Play:

  1. Entertainment: Like most mammals, cats need physical and mental stimulation. Playing with each other satisfies this requirement and allows your kitties to burn off some energy. This is why it's also important for owners to play with their cats as well.

  2. Murder Training: Cats are obligate carnivores and hunt instinctively. Play between cats is often employed to hone these skills.

  3. How to Cat: Play between cats helps establish boundaries and acceptable behavior. This is particularly true between an older cat and a kitten: in the wild, such play between an adult and a kitten is a way of training the kitten in social behavior. Learning the difference between a gentle warning bite versus an over aggressive attacking bite.

Is It Play?

Cat play can get pretty boisterous, and to the untrained eye, can easily look like fighting. How can you tell the difference? The biggest key is Body Language

  1. Prick up Your Ears: Cats that feel comfortable around each other will keep their ears upright. Cats who are feeling either threatened or aggressive will lay their ears back flat against their skulls. It's a very clear warning sign.

  2. Tell Me What You Really Think: Cats will make all sorts of noises while they are playing. Generally speaking, these are nothing to worry about. But if you hear pronounced yowling or screaming, combined with other aggressive signs, then they may have crossed the line.

  3. Belly! Belly! Belly!: This is a big one. A cat's underbelly is the most vulnerable part of its body, which means that rolling over and showing it demonstrates comfort and trust. When cats are truly fighting, one or both will try grasp each other face to face to dig their back claws into the other's belly. Also why rubbing a cat's tummy is generally no Bueno.

  4. POOF: Tail or body fur all poofed out? Back off! Cats will fluff up their body hair to make themselves appear bigger when they feel threatened, usually accompanied by the typical low long growl / hissing that is also an unmistakable warning sign. If this isn't happening, the cats are probably fine.

Also: tails up and smooth - happy cat. Tail down or lashing about - danger, Will Robinson!

Obviously, cat owners should monitor the behavior of their charges. Owners should make play a regular part of a cat's routine, which will also help burn off energy and reduce any overly aggressive behaviors.

TL; DR

Play= Ears up, showing belly; fur down; no hissing or yowling; claws in.

Fighting = Ears back, poofed tail; tail down / lashing; prolonged growl / hissing; claws out and going for the belly.

Hope this is useful!


r/CatTraining 5h ago

Introducing Pets/Cats Cat Introduction, need reassurance. Big age gap.

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98 Upvotes

Hello everyone!

Long post I’m so sorry I just need help. Skip to the end where it says “start here for TLDR” to read the actual HELP part.

I have a 10 year old female resident cat called Dollar who’s very anxious. We adopted her when she was 7 months old and she was the only cat not out with the other ones, so I guess she’s always been anxious.

My husband and I only have her and we barely have people over so she’s not used to people or animals besides the eventual guest or birds, squirrels and cats outside.

A few weeks go a cat showed up on our porch and long story short, the neighbor abandoned him. He’s a 2 or 3 year old male and we decided to adopt him. Dollar would see him and us playing with him through the window outside and not care too much, she was just curious.

We adopted him on July 27th 2026 and got him checked up, neutered and the whole thing. We named him Charlie. He’s a sweet boy who only wants to play, although he’s a bit two faced as you can see in the video (I’ll explain later in the post lol).

I read every article under the sun about the slow introduction method and that’s what we did. But I KNOW we went a bit too fast.

On week 2.5 we lifted the veil and let them see each other through the tall cat gate. Dollar was never curious to go see him when the gate was covered and the food trick didn’t work either as she’s not used to treats or cares for her daily tuna enough to desperately want to eat it. Charlie, on the other hand, is. So we thought we would never progress because she wouldn’t go near it.

START HERE FOR TLDR

Charlie: 2 or 3 years old, he’s not aggressive, never one hissed at her, never showed any signs or aggression but he’s cautious of her
Dollar: 10 years old anxious, pounces at him, hisses, growls if he gets too close, is terrified of him but in an aggressive way.

Moving forward to where we are now. Today is September 1st, a little over a month and we’re at the stage where we can have long supervised visits and sometimes Dollar doesn’t care and just minds her own business, but sometimes she’s hyper vigilant seeing red and nothing can take her eyes off of him. Charlie only wants to play.

We’ve had around three fights where no fur flied but she pounced on him, he “got big” on two paws like cats and bears do lol, but didn’t attack her or showed his claws. I don’t even think she had her claws out. After they do that, each one runs separate ways, terrified. We end the session then.

Now we don’t try to let them get close to each other during supervised visits but I think they should set their boundaries like cats do naturally.

With much hesitation we introduced Churu and they eat happily when in the same room and we’re trying to have it as a positive association. But only once a day.

THATS WHAT I NEED HELP WITH.

In the video you’ll see how Dollar sometimes will come up to him at the gate only to bully him. I don’t know if I should stop this before ir happens or not. And as you can see, two faced Charlie waited for her to be distracted and stalked her, I think to play????

This is what Dollar did a few times during the supervised visits and that’s what she’ll do, but since there’s never fur flying or fluffy tails or anything too alarming, should I let them “figure it out” within reason? How can she attack him but at the same time sometimes slow blink at him 😭

Example of good and bad sessions: as I type this, which was on the same day as the video, Dollar is on her window bed sleeping and Charlie is on the sofa sleeping. But sometimes he wants to play and walk around and she gets very anxious.


r/CatTraining 9h ago

Introducing Pets/Cats Whats going on with these two?

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78 Upvotes

They were introduced about a month ago and im just having a hard time reading them at times. Priscilla (tortoise) will go up to lisa (calico) and this will happen. There are also times lisa will try and groom priscilla and shes just not having it. Lisa will also play with her and priscilla will grow and cry and want to stop so we do separate them but priscilla will also go back.

This is my second post about them. Here’s the first post of them interacting : https://www.reddit.com/r/CatTraining/s/PROPCikBSd


r/CatTraining 7h ago

Introducing Pets/Cats Back to square one after spay procedure

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28 Upvotes

My resident boy cat and his new little sister were doing sooo well. He loved playing with her, and they would sleep next to each other.

But after her spay procedure 6 days ago he wants nothing to do with her!:( I've tried rubbing her on his blankets to maybe mask the vet smell and that seemed to help a tiny bit. He's aalmost played with her a few times, but usually now he just hisses or meows angrily if she gets too close.

I give him alone time with me in a closed room which he responds to really well. But should I just accept defeat and start from scratch with separate rooms again?

I just feel so defeated when they were doing so well, someone please tell me they'll get better again 😭

Added a photo of them from happier days for cat tax


r/CatTraining 12h ago

New Cat Owner Need help !!

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45 Upvotes

First appointment tonight and she's jumpy still around the carrier. I tried a collar and she's not a fan of that either. We only had her since Saturday we took her in.

I will be by myself and I don't want to freak her out. I can tell she wants to be outside cause she will bolt.


r/CatTraining 3h ago

Introducing Pets/Cats Acclimating My Cats To Each Other Assistance Needed

5 Upvotes

Id like some help getting my cats used to each other, some context. Ive had Koneko for since September of 2024 when he was a kitten, and I love him a lot, my Mom brought home a new kitten suddenly her name is Mukuro they have had no time getting used to each other before hand, and I have no clue now I can acclimate them to each other, and Im not sure if they will grow to like each other over time. They arch their backs and hiss obviously but I know force interactions only stress them out, I want them to get along and play together. Can any Cat Experts help me?


r/CatTraining 4h ago

New Cat Owner Overthinking kittens behaviour need advice

4 Upvotes

Ok so about a week and a half ago I adopted two 4 week old sister kittens and I’m going through it. This is my first time ever having to take care of cats so I always find myself extremely anxious and on edge. My biggest fear is that they will grow up to be aggressive cats but I know that I’m just overthinking this a lot so u could say I’m here for some advice and emotional support 😭

So for the most part they’re good right except sometimes during feeding time they will start fighting each other not like full blown but will growl try to scratch each other and I get really worried about this. I try to separate them and the food for a second before they can go back it agin which ig does calm them down but just thinking about it makes me idk sad??

Secondly one of them keeps trying to bite me , so not all the time but she keeps coming towards my fingers and licks me first then bites. Now they’re not very hard bites but I’m so scared she’s never going to grow out of it. Whenever she does that I pick her up and get her off my lap she comes over again and this happens continuously then I am forced to end the interaction and put them in their kitten room that I have at my house cuz she won’t stop. And before anyone says anything about how to discourage this behaviour I have tried everything I can from making a high pitch noise when she does that redirecting her to toys but she just doesn’t listen and It is giving me anxiety cuz I feel like I’m a bad cat mom. I also feel like the biting has increased. Also I have never used my hands to play with them.

I would like to hear from people who adopted 2 kittens who also shared maybe a similar experience and whether it’s going to be ok and they’ll grow out of it and just idk give me some hope cuz rn I feel so overstimulated by them and my thoughts about constantly thinking bout them.

Edit: they were 4 weeks when they were taken away from their mother and that was 3 weeks ago. Sorry for the miscalculation


r/CatTraining 9h ago

Introducing Pets/Cats Struggling with kitten introductions to a skittish resident cat (11F) — kitten won't respect her boundaries under the couch!

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10 Upvotes

r/CatTraining 4h ago

New Cat Owner Why does she ask for cuddles but then attacks me?😭

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4 Upvotes

r/CatTraining 3h ago

Introducing Pets/Cats Integrating a first meet with my adult cat to a resident kitten in a new apartment

2 Upvotes

Hello there!

I am currently potentially going to be moving into a new apartment that I desperately need and want to be in because it’s a great fit, and currently our last hurdle is bringing my cat over for a day/hour to see if she (my 3 year old female cat who has been integrated with other cats slowly before where I currently live) would potentially get along with the resident kitten (2-3 months female)

While I’ve been able to have her get along great with other adult cats before, both times were at my own apartment and also over a controlled period of time. Does anyone have tips or help they could offer on how to ensure a first meet goes at least smoothly enough?


r/CatTraining 3h ago

Backpack/Travel Carrier Training How do I carrier-train a cat with inconsolable carrier anxiety?

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2 Upvotes

r/CatTraining 22h ago

Litter box avoidance & related - include spay/neuter status My adult cat poops outside of the litter box NON-STOP

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64 Upvotes

I've had my cat for about 6 years now and ever since I got her she poops (not pee) outside of the litter box. When I adopted her she was 1.5 years and the adoption papers said she was prone to doing that, BUT she lived with other cats + dogs so I assumed that's why she was doing it. PLEASE let me know if your adult cat does this and if you found a solution. Here are more details:

  1. It's not a health problem. I just took her to the vet last month and there are no internal issues. She is spayed

  2. I use one bag of unscented Pretty Litter every 3 weeks and clean the entire box out when a new order comes in. And of course I maintain it in the meantime as well. She poops inside it for a couple days then stops.

  3. I've used different brand litters before but actually this is the one she seems to like the most because it's soft and dust-free.

  4. The litter box is big and she has no trouble fitting inside. (picture attached)

  5. She also has a higher tendency of doing this when I'm away and it's just my roommate or someone else taking care of her. So, maybe she's upset and revolting? lol

Thank you so much! It's starting to become a serious issue with my roommate and I'd love to see if anyone had any advice here.


r/CatTraining 1d ago

Introducing Pets/Cats what is my cat doing? day 4 of my cats knowing each other

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188 Upvotes

he keeps inching closer to her and trying to touch her head


r/CatTraining 10h ago

Behavioural Cat aggression biting everyday, breaking skin

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3 Upvotes

r/CatTraining 3h ago

Harness & Leash Training Leash training my outside cat

1 Upvotes

In around a year I will be going to college and was thinking of taking my cat with me. The only problem is that when we first got him, he was a stray. Now, he normally goes in and out the house when ever without anyone with him. If I were to take him with me to college, he would have to use a leash. How do I leash train him? Should I leash train him?


r/CatTraining 12h ago

New Cat Owner Help keeping cat out of kitchen

4 Upvotes

We have a 5 month old male British Shorthair. He's really low maintenance and easy going except for when we're in the kitchen cooking. He is persistent about being in the kitchen with us but our kitchen is small and it's dangerous for him to be in there while we cook. He eats a raw meat diet so dry treats don't work because he won't eat them. We've tired puzzle games with churro but he eats the treat and comes straight in. How can we keep him busy elsewhere while we cook?

Thanks!


r/CatTraining 5h ago

Litter box avoidance & related - include spay/neuter status Desperate

1 Upvotes

I don’t know what else to try, I have 4 cats and 2 dogs, we used to have 2 dogs and 2 cats and we recently took in an elderly cat and a kitten that was dumped at my work, lately all the animals have decided it’s time to start peeing around the house, I’ve caught the kitten and one of the older cats doing it and I don’t know how to get them to quit. We have 4 litter boxes surrounding the house always fresh and our other 2 cats use them but I just don’t know how to discipline them. We have a dog who had to get surgery when he was younger and he has issues holding his pee, never poops around the house but sometimes he pees if none of us are home and we usually do a good job of avoiding that but I’m just so sick of it what advice do you guys have we can try? I really want the pets to feel comfortable and safe and I’m starting to worry they are having some issues.


r/CatTraining 5h ago

Behavioural My kitten will not stop bullying our older cat.

1 Upvotes

I adopted a six week old kitten, and being that young Aoife didn't get a lot of time to socialize with her littermates and I think that's becoming a problem. She chases and harrasses our eight year old cat, Sho, daily. Aoife is now almost a year old and we have tried everything. We have so many toys that I rotate every other day. She has a cat wheel that she loves. She gets daily play sessions with wands or her wrestling stuffy. We have multiple perches and beds and places just for them I'm even building her a whole wall of shelves for her. We have tried multiple calming spays, treats, and CBD. We've even tried the spray bottle which I'm not proud of. Despite being in the middle of play sometimes she will stop everything if she sees our older and will chase her. It's gotten slightly less frequent over the past few months but shes big now and so the fights are getting a bit more intense. Most of the time they will throw a few swipes back and forth, our older cat will hiss and it'll be done. But at least once a day theres a fight where our Sho runs and Aoife will take off after her swatting at her the the whole way. We've had fur fly a couple times and I just can't watch our older cat be stressed all the time in her own home. I'm at the end of my rope. Aoife is so sweet to me when it's just us in a room. Shes a good cat she's just so focused on making Sho miserable and I can't seem to find anything to fix it. I don't want to have to re-home her but I won't risk Sho's long term health by putting her under this much daily stress. Please any advice would be so appreciated. Thank you.


r/CatTraining 11h ago

New Cat Owner Advice on Kitten Sleeping Arrangements Now and After Bringing Home a Second Kitten

3 Upvotes

I have a 6 month old BSH female who is the sweetest girl, but I could use some advice on sleeping arrangements now and when we bring home a second kitten.

When I first brought her home, I set up our spare bedroom as her “room.” We’d play hard before bed, she’d have her wet food dinner, then I’d put her in for the night. She cried a little at first but settled quickly, and the routine worked great.

My in-laws are staying with us for a few weeks, so I had to move all of her things into our bedroom. Now she has gotten very into sleeping ON me, preferably right by my face 😂 She wants pets, purrs, and very politely tries to lick my face in the middle of the night.

Is there anything I can do over these next few weeks to encourage her to sleep beside me or in her own bed instead of on top of me? I love that she’s affectionate, but I’m not sleeping very well!
Once my in-laws leave, I’m planning to move her setup back to the spare room.

We’re also planning to bring home a little brother for her in early November, so I’m trying to think ahead. When he arrives, should I move my current cat back into our bedroom while he uses the spare room as his safe/intro room? And once they’re fully introduced and comfortable together, can the spare bedroom eventually become a shared “cat room” for both of them at night?

Long term, I plan to let them roam the house overnight once they’re older. I’d love to hear how others handled this transition with two kittens — and any tips for getting my current kitten to stop treating me like a mattress in the meantime 😂


r/CatTraining 12h ago

Behavioural My 10 month old ragdoll stopped playing

2 Upvotes

10 month old ragdoll stopped playing

My kitten is very shy I’ve had him for 7 months and he still runs from me. I can only pet him while giving him a lickable treat. 10 days ago I washed his bed ( the top of the cat tree) he’s slowly going back on it but not much and now suddenly hiding and sleeping more, any advice

Thank you


r/CatTraining 1d ago

Are The Cats Fighting or Playing - Introducing Pets Is this mutual fun or aggressive playing?

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30 Upvotes

The big calico cat, clementine is younger and likes to play rough with our older smaller black cat, pheobe. I often can’t tell if it’s too much for pheobe and if I should intervene or not.


r/CatTraining 1d ago

Litter box avoidance & related - include spay/neuter status Why do my sphynx behaves really badly and keeps defecate/urinate everywhere?

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29 Upvotes

Disclaimer: Please don’t read this when you’re eating:)

Hi, my sphynx is 1 years old and been behave really badly and have some sanitary problems. To be clear, I’m not living in the states so our animal laws in here are different from wherever you’re reading this from (and English wasn’t my first language). And a little bit of his background: (Its normal in our country to do this so don’t say their unethical or anything, please) I got him from the seller since he was 2-3 months old and he hasn’t got neutered but he’s vaccinated and never been hospitalized.

About his sanitary problems:

Alright, let’s talk about his urinating habits. From his young age, his mother has been taught to urinate in the bathroom’s sewer hole so he has this persistent habit of urinating in sewer hole or just right beside so it becomes real messy in the bathrooms and his urination becomes really hard to get rid of the smell. I tend to clean his litter for every 1-2 days but it gets really messy everytime he’s try to urinate outside the litterbox. And he’s being really stubborn about it as I don’t know the solution. What are your advices?

Now this is the disgusting part, he also has this habit of not bury his waste so he always steps on the newly defecation. And eventually it spreads all over the place. Please aware that sphynxes are furless so it just really painful to both clean his mess and his feet also. He also has this habit whereas he just roll himself in the dirt or defecate on the dirt that my family planted some trees up on the balcony (he loves to sunbath and eat plants). And maybe this is his traits but he really loves to do his bussiness in inaccessible and small places like behind the washing machine and in very narrow and shady places. I have been miserably cleaned up all his mess in those creeks and I can’t take it anymore so I have try giving him less space as possible to have access to those places. But he wasn’t a nice behaved cat after all. This is where all the headaches converge: his behavior

Please, I need some advices regarding his inappropriate sanitary habits. Also, I want to potty trained him, is this the right time to do it? I have all the tools so I need to know would it work with his horrible behaviours. And do I need to consider neuter him to lessen his behaviors?

About his behaviours:

He’s very cute when he was a kitten but acting like a hooligan in my household when he’s growing up. He’s been zooming around the house, leaving his scat all over the house, scratching the wallpaper and been jump to the counter nonstop as well as try to steal our food even when we’re having dinner. And I’m so sick of it. I’m so sick of him dirtied himself in the dirt or try to defecate in every creek or try to steal our food from every moment possible.

Is there any way to stop this? If any specialists can read this, I beg you like the beggiest beggar in all over begdom to give me good advices to train his naughty ass. I really love him, I would give him the world but everytime I saw him defecate all over the place I could not simply take it.

Thank you so so so much to read up until here! I wish you the best day and I hope for good advices and comprehendible turtorial


r/CatTraining 21h ago

Behavioural Cat only want to play with me, how to get him to play with wife as well?

4 Upvotes

Pretty straight forward, have a lovely little 2 year old who is very friendly, lovey, and social with both of us, but only accepts and wants play time from me.

Given my work schedule I can’t always be counted on to be the main play guy and my wife would love to also provide enrichment but if I’m not there he just won’t engage her in chases or toys or play fights, even if she’s using the same toys/techniques I do.

He clearly has a favorite play human, but how can we get him to accept us both for that role?


r/CatTraining 1d ago

Introducing Pets/Cats worried about bites

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79 Upvotes

I know they're playing, but my resident tabby likes to bite little void on the neck and right on the face. The kitten seems to enjoy it and always comes back for more, so I don't interfere, but I still worry about the neck grabs. Should I worry?