Few cats can be trained to do tricks. For the most part, when it comes to Persians, there are two types of training. The first is litter training. The second is training good behavior. Cats really can be trained to have good acceptable behavior. Tricks, on the other hand, really aren’t their thing, although they will be open to training you to do some tricks that will greatly entertain and amuse them.

Litter training is really quite simple when it comes to cats. Cats prefer to dig holes, do their business in that hole, and then bury their business. It’s just the natural order of things as far as they are concerned. The only time a cat will not bury his business is if he cannot physically bury it, or if there is more than one cat in the home. If there is more than one cat, the lead cat will not bury his business, but all other cats in the home will, in an effort not to offend the lead cat.

What this burying of the business means to you is that litter training is really easy. The cat will search for a place where that burying can be done, and in most homes, the only available place to dig is the litter box. If you have plants, it is highly recommended that you cover the soil with pebbles or rocks to prevent the cat from using the plant as a litter box.

Behavior training, on the other hand, tends to take more patience. Scratching furniture seems to be the biggest problem that most Persian cat owners face with their cats. Chewing up houseplants is the second most common problem. Here, it isn’t so much about training as ensuring that the cat has a negative result of his actions and those negative results must come from the object in question and not from you.

For furniture scratching, first provide a scratching alternative, such as a scratching post. Next, treat your furniture with a special spray designed to deter cats. For the protection of houseplants and the cat again, cover the soil with pebbles or rocks. Then, spray the plant with bitter apple. The cat will hate the smell of it, and will avoid the plants.

As you can see, there really is no such thing as training a Persian. It’s more a question of prevention and alternatives than anything else. But, again, the Persian won’t be objectionable to training you, and training you well!

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The first thing to realize is that Persians are not dogs. While a dog will do anything in his power to please you, a Persian wants to know what it is that you are going to do to please him. You own a dog and a Persian cat owns you. Once this has been established and acknowledged by you, you will be more likely to be able to teach your Persian some good behavior.

Cats have their own unique personalities. Each one is different. Some are naturally well behaved, while others are not. Often, the environment determines whether or not they are well behaved. For example, if the Persian gets a lot of attention from you and has plenty of toys to entertain him, you can expect good behavior for as long as that attention continues. However, if you take that attention away, the cat will most likely start acting out in a way that is unacceptable to you.

Note that you cannot really discipline a cat or any other animal. Animals don’t learn from discipline. They learn from negative results associated with what it is that they are doing. If your cat is swinging from your drapes, and you yell and swat at him, this tells him to fear you, and not to swing from the drapes when you are in the vicinity. It will stop drape swinging when you are not around and he will still be swinging from the drapes. Squirting with a water bottle doesn’t work and again he associates this with you, not with swinging from the drapes.

However, if the drapes fell each time the Persian felt the need to swing on them, and he hits the floor enough, he will associate that negative result with the drapes, and not with you and this is what you want. This is how he will learn to stay off of the drapes.

If you want your Persian cat to stay off of the furniture, or to stop scratching the furniture, you have to make the furniture unattractive. There are many products on the market that you can treat your furniture with that will make it unattractive to your Persian.

Each time you find a way to redirect your Persian attention or behavior, you must provide an alternative. If he is swinging from the drapes and scratching the furniture, a good alternative is a cat tree that provides plenty of scratching posts and rope type swings that he can swing from. It takes time, attention, and a little ingenuity on your part, but you really can turn a Persians bad behavior into good behavior that you can both live with.

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Naturally, you will need to litter train your Persian, if he wasn’t already trained by the breeder. The good news is that litter training is quite easy, as it is a cat’s natural desire to do his business in a place where he can bury it.

First, start with the right sized litter box. For kittens, buy the smallest litter box that you can find. Fill the bottom of the pan with litter, and put it in a small room, such as the bathroom. Ideally, the place that you put the litter box will be the place where the litter box will always reside. This is important.

It may sound cruel, but you will need to keep the cat enclosed in the small room with the litter box unless you are holding him. Do not allow a small kitten to roam freely around in your home until you are sure that he is well trained to use the litter box. The Persian kitten is tiny and to him, your home is huge! He may find himself on the opposite side of the home and in need of a litter box that he can’t get to fast enough or worse, can’t remember how to get to. This is why confinement is important.

After you have fixed the litter box for the kitten, place him in it. Let him sniff around. He may even decide to nap in the litter box, but there is no need to worry as he won’t do this for long. The first time that the kitten does his business on the floor, scoop it up and put it in the litter box, and then place the kitten in the litter box as well. You may have to do this a few times before he gets the idea, but he will get the idea, and he will start using the litter box as long as he is confined.

After he is consistently using the litter box, you can let him out of confinement. Keep an eye on him the first week, and make sure that he is going to the litter box to do his business. If you find that he is doing his business elsewhere, get a second litter box, and put it in that spot.

Again, cats really prefer the litter box over your carpet, because they can dig. However, if there are other digging opportunities, such as plants or piles of laundry, the cat may be inclined to use these as well. The trick is to not make these digging opportunities available.

Litter training really is easy, and it should only take a week or two to get your Persian completely litter box trained if it even takes that long. Also, make sure that the litter box grows with the cat!

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But cats don’t walk on leashes! That’s the sentiment many people have when the idea is first introduced. It’s true that some cats will absolutely have nothing to do with the whole business. They apparently think it is entirely beneath them to be seen out of doors on a leash. What would the neighbors think! Fortunately, there are other cats willing to entertain the idea and some who actually come to like their walks. There really isn’t any way of knowing which way your cat will turn out unless you try. Let’s get started.

The first thing you will need is a properly fitting harness and a light weight leash. It doesn’t need to be fancy, just sturdy and well made. Trying to teach your cat with only a collar is not a good idea. Pressure around their necks seems to make some cats freeze. You want to teach him to move forward, not lock in place. The second thing you will need is a bag of treats. Preferably something he really likes but doesn’t often get. The third thing you will need is lots and lots of patience.

Begin training inside your home. Do not take him outside until he is walking freely and comfortably along with you on his leash. Place the harness on your cat and let him get accustomed to it. If your cat is particularly timid, you might want to leave the harness where he can investigate it and get used to seeing it first before you put it on him. Leave the harness on him for ten to fifteen minutes a day for the first few days. After that the period can be raised to fifteen to twenty minutes.

Give him one or two treats during the time he is wearing the harness so that he associates it with good things. When he is fully comfortable with the harness, add the leash in the same manner, allowing him to drag it around for a slowly increasing period over several days. Don’t forget the treats.

By now, your cat is comfortable wearing both harness and leash. Pick up the end of the leash and just hold it. Don’t try to lead him anywhere. Follow him around if he moves. Do this exercise for a few minutes a day until he is comfortable with it. Now comes the big step, teaching him to follow where you lead. Place your cat to your left side, your leash should be in your left hand. Let your arm hang relaxed at your side. Take a treat in your right hand. Turn toward your cat and show him the treat. Now take a couple of step forward, continuing to show the treat.

If he follows you, take a couple of more steps. If he follows to your new position, give him his treat and praise. If he is reluctant to move forward, place the treat closer to him. Praise him if he takes a step forward and give him the treat. If he doesn’t want to move forward no matter what you do, don’t drag him. Pick him up and take him somewhere else to take his harness off. Do not give him a treat since he didn’t do as you asked. Here is where patience comes in. Keep repeating the lesson every day, asking him to move farther each time.

When your cat is walking freely on leash with you all over the house, take him into your back yard and walk him around in it. If he freezes and refuses to move, don’t panic. Reassure him he is safe and take him back inside. Try again tomorrow. If he tries to take off on his own you can easily check him with your leash. Once he is comfortable in the yard you can start taking him farther. Before long you will be able to take nice
walks wherever you choose.

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What happened? What went wrong? It isn’t normal for a cat to use her litter box faithfully, then one day decide it’s no longer right for her. There’s always a reason why a cat stops using the litter box. Always!

If this happens to you, don’t panic! The earlier you realize kitty isn’t using her box, the earlier you can stop this problem cold. By careful investigation, you can figure out what’s going on, and how to get kitty to use her litter box again.

Let’s examine 5 common causes that could affect kitty, and the solutions for each.

Medical condition:

Your kitty suddenly stops using the litter box because she’s developed a medical condition. It is most likely crystals in her urine, which form in the bladder, and make urination extremely painful. Kitty associates the urination pain with her litter box, so she continually tries to find a spot in the house that isn’t painful – to her!

The solution – get kitty to the vet as quickly as possible. A course of medication can clear the crystal problem in the short term. A permanent solution is to change your cat’s diet to canned food. Be sure to consult with your vet on large-scale diet changes for your cat.

New house or residence:

You moved to another location. It’s fine by you…but kitty is stressed out by the move. A week or two after moving in and unpacking boxes, you start finding “accidents” in the new digs.

To solve this problem, you will need to confine your cat to one room, and retrain her to use the litter box. She’s most likely stressed out by the new house or apartment. Set up a room with her food, water, litter box, and toys. Shrink her new world down to a manageable size, and start over with litter training. As she demonstrates her willingness to use the litter box again, bring her out, under supervision, and watch her. After a week or so, your cat should be better acclimated to the new residence, and use her litter box again.

Change to a different cat litter brand:

Cats can be fussy creatures. You change to a different brand of litter because it’s cheaper, it hides the smell better, or it’s simply more available. Kitty tells you she hates her new litter by the most obvious method – she stops using it!
Switch back to the old brand you were using. Assuming kitty liked that, the problem should be solved. If not, try Cat Attract brand litter. It has a unique blend of herbs and clay, and it really does solve the problem for about 98% of the feline population that has a litter box complex.

You change the litter box location:

You decided it’s time to move kitty’s box down to the laundry room from the dining room. Kitty is not pleased, so she continues her habit of using the dining room – minus the litter box!

One solution is to find a new location that’s acceptable to both of you. Barring that, you may well have to give in to kitty’s wishes, and put the darn box back where she likes it. It’s certainly cheaper than fighting the battle of cleaning up the urine stains and odor.

I feel your pain on this; my darn cat Scout loves the exercise room as a prime litter box location. I really, really hate it when I’m on the elliptical machine, and Scout has to answer a call of nature that lingers long after she’s vacated the box. Such is life!

A person comes to live with you and kitty:

If you subscribe to the saying, “Love me, love my cat,” it can be challenging for a new partner if she/he wasn’t a cat person. Discomfort, anger, and resentment can manifest in bad kitty behavior outside the litter box. Your significant other moves in (or you make the move), and the next thing you know, there are presents around the residence you’d rather not have.

You can solve this problem by ensuring that your cat and the other loved one give each a chance to get used to one another. This may entail confining your cat for periods of time, or getting your partner accustomed to cat behavior (climbing on the lap, meowing, sharing the couch, chair, or bed) over a period of time. The worst thing that can happen is for your partner to tease or abuse kitty. This could trigger an inappropriate elimination response.

Anytime your kitty stops using her box for no apparent reason is cause for immediate investigation. If you stop and think about any changes that have occurred in the immediate past, address those first. If you haven’t made any changes, the culprit is most likely a medical condition that can easily be diagnosed and cured by your local kitty vet.

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