Cat How-To

How to Train Your Cat with Treats

Want to teach your cat a few tricks? Or maybe just curb their bad behavior? Use treats in your training to reward the desired behavior!
Vitakraft: image of cat being feed a treat

All cat parents know how stubborn our fur babies can be. They sleep where they want, scratch what they want and play when they want. But, did you know you can actually train your cat?

Whether you want to teach your cat a few tricks or help them learn where it’s appropriate to scratch, cat treats will be a helpful tool during the process.

4 Steps to Train Your Cat Using Treats

1. Use Small Treats

image of cat being fed a small Vitakraft treat

Since training is typically an ongoing and repetitive process, stay away from using huge, unhealthy treats that will cause your cat to put on weight when consumed regularly. If needed, break large cat treats up into smaller pieces for training.

2. Reward Each Step of the Process

image of cat giving a high-five to a woman's hand

Your cat will have an easier time learning a new behavior if it’s broken up into manageable steps. If you want to train them to give high-fives, start by rewarding them with a treat for raising their paw! Each time they master a step, add another step to the routine until you complete the full desired behavior.

3. Only Give Treats for the Correct Behavior

image of a smiling woman feeding a happy cat a Vitakraft treat

It’s easy to be charmed by your cat’s excitement over getting a treat, but if you reward incorrect behavior (anxious excitement) it’ll be harder to teach them the right one (calmly waiting for their reward). Wait until their excitement settles down to reward your cat with a treat.

4. Reduce the Frequency of Treats

Image of a person scratching a cat's chin

Treats are the perfect tool for training your cat, but once they’ve mastered the behavior you should slowly remove the treat as the sole incentive and switch to using other methods, like positive reinforcement (Good kitty!) to reward your cat. Doing so will help prevent your cat from only performing the desired behavior when a treat is involved.

In just a few simple steps, you can help your feline friend learn fun tricks and healthy behaviors! These training tactics can be applied to anything from litter box training, to scratching habits, and more. Looking for training treats for your cat? They’ll love the small-batch cat treats from VitaKraft.