Answer
Laura:
Yes, they can be trained, but i takes lots of patience and a different method than with a dog.
You will need to get your cat of a needing schedule first. If your cat is motivated by food, and most are, doing a training session right before feeding time will give the best results.
Always start the training session with one word, like Training, and end them with a word, like Done or Finished. This will help give your cat a clear indicator of what you are doing and when it is over. First start of with something that your cat normally does, like sitting. Use a hand signal along with the word, and have a treat in your hand.
The cat will do anything to get the treat, because they are hungry and the treat is extra tasty. Only give them the treat once they sit, and say it at the same time. Do this for about 10 mins, then give them their food.
Do this once a day and eventually your cat will get it. It takes lots of time and lots of practice and lots of patience, but eventually your cat will get it. I read the book How To Train Your Cat In 10 Minutes, and it gave lots of information about training cats and how to do it well.
Anna:
Interesting spelling of the word 'bred' in a couple of posts.
A cat can be trained.
But not like a dog - which is what you asked.
No chance could a cat be trained reliably for tasks such as search and rescue or police work, retrieving, guarding or herding etc.
The list is endless.
Dogs are called mans best friend for a reason.
Cats certainly can learn tricks and toilet training and a few things.
But if a cat is not in the mood - motivation would be difficult to say the least.
This is because cats are independent and happily lead solitary lives.
So their desire to 'work' for us is low.
Dogs are pack animals and that's why they are so easy for us to manipulate (for want of a better word), to suit our needs.
They want to work for us and be with us!!
Cats care about this far less.
It is not necessarily about intelligence.
I have had very intelligent cats.
Including one that could open doors and windows.
(both sliding doors and doors with lever handles).
He even learnt to knock on the door to come in, if it had a round knob that he couldn't open.
But true training requires the animal to want to do what WE want.
Not what they want.
Anime:
Yes, they just can take a lot longer because they're generally more independent and less domesticated then dogs are. lus just like dogs some cat breeds are smarter then others so depending on the cat, just like dogs results may vary and so can the length of time required. But seeing as my cat was opening closed doors with door knobs as a kitten without any training just observation they can learn a lot and be very smart.
