How to train a kitten to respond to its name?

There is a theory about unconditioned reflexes developed by Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, a famous Russian physiologist. The entire process of teaching a kitten to respond to its name is based on this theory.

Probably everyone remembers from biology lessons at school, a well-known experiment with dog reflexes. And if, to his shame, someone does not know this experiment, he can refresh his memory by opening a school textbook.

It is important to understand here that the conditioned reflex - the ability of an animal to respond to a name - is based on an unconditioned food reflex. As a reward for performing any simple action, the animal receives an extra piece of its favorite treat. Everything is built on the desire to eat delicious food.

You may argue, why should we bother with all these abstruse biological theories? However, everything turns out to be ridiculously simple and every person, at least once, used this method in their practical life. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

In any case, choosing a name for a kitten, and even more so training, must be approached responsibly and seriously. After all, your furry will have to live with this name all his life.

Choosing a name for a pet

First of all, you need to choose a name for your pet, and then you can start training. After all, this is the name of the training course for a small animal.

How to accustom a kitten to its name

To make it easier for your four-legged friend to remember his name, choose a simple nickname. Ideally, the name should consist of two syllables. And of course, there is no need to choose some fancy or pretentious name for the animal. Of course, it is up to you to name the cat any name you like, for example Panteleimon or Cleopatra. In this case, with daily household use, you will have to shorten the nickname to some Panti or some Klepa. Then you will be able to see a positive result from the training course with your pet.

Cat experts - felinologists - advise choosing nicknames that contain whistling or hissing sounds, for example, consonants - s, z, sh, sch. Although, this is not necessary, as long as the pet’s owner likes the name.

Are cats capable of communication?

First, let's find out whether cats can communicate in principle. How social creatures are they?

With dogs everything is clear. As pack animals, they are extremely socially oriented.

A domestic dog perceives itself and the rest of the household as part of the pack, and its owner as its leader. Therefore, with proper upbringing, she very quickly adapts to her owner and understands him perfectly.

The vast majority of cats, on the contrary, are solitary animals. Of course, a mother cat will always warn her kittens about danger, and they, in turn, will use meowing to signal their needs to her. But still, in terms of the degree of interest in communication, cats do not reach dogs.

Dogs sincerely try to please their owners, and they also get enough of verbal praise. Cats don't care what you think about them - they're more interested in what you can do for them.

However, domestic purrs know the voice of their owner. In a special experiment, fifteen of its twenty tailed participants distinguished the sounds of their master's voices from dozens of others - the animals began to meow, their ears twitched and their tail moved.

This behavior is called orientational. The cat reacts to a sound source that is familiar to itself, and is associated with pleasant memories: for example, regular feeding.

Thus, the reaction to a name is a conditioned reflex that develops on the basis of an unconditioned reflex (in this case, a food one). This is where we will start when we begin to teach the cat to respond to its name.

I eat, listen and remember

The best and most effective way to help a kitten understand his name is to combine the training process and the feeding process. This approach is precisely an example of mastering a conditioned reflex on the basis of an unconditional one. In this case, food. At the very beginning of our discussion, we talked about this.

It is necessary to take care of food for the little “student” in advance. Otherwise, the baby, instead of responding to his nickname, will learn to quickly run to the kitchen when he hears the rustling of a bag of food or the opening of the refrigerator door.

How to accustom a kitten to its name

After carrying out the preparatory actions, we call the kitten to the feeder with the usual “kitty-kitty”. You can supplement the vocal call by rubbing your thumb and index finger over the cat's bowl. In this case, you should alternate “kitty-kitty” with the kitten’s name. For example: kitty-kis, Murzik, etc. While the baby is eating his food, he should be gently stroked, continuing to pronounce the cat's name. In this manner, gradually eliminate “kitty-kitty” from the invitation to snack.

Call and play (pet)

Kittens are like children. They also love games and affection. So why not use this in teaching? Choose a time when your pet is fed and sleepy. Usually during this period the kitten’s jet engine wakes up inside and its wings grow.

Start playing with the animal while saying its name. Don't forget about correct intonation. After some time, the cat’s child will build an association: the name is a game, and will be happy to come to you for fun. Of course, with age, the games will be forgotten, but the name will remain.

The same principle is used if the owner notices the kitten’s particular predilection for stroking. The next time your baby comes to you to cuddle, be sure to say his name several times. Again, an associative series will arise: nickname - weasel. And soon the fluffy will happily respond to your call. Just don’t forget to pet the kitten more often. Otherwise, what can we expect from you and why resort to you?

Advice. Do not scold the kitten if it does not want to recognize its name for a long time and refuses to rush towards you as fast as it can. Some pets understand what they want from him within a week. And others don’t really react even months later. And it’s not even a matter of different levels of intelligence. Most likely, your stubborn kitten is too independent and freedom-loving.

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This question is quite difficult to answer. It all depends on the personality of the little friend. There are “students” who only need a week to learn their nickname well. Other kittens, even after a month, do not understand why and why they are being pestered. Of course, there are approximate training times. On average, training can last from two to three months.

Another option for teaching a cat a name is to teach it by playing.

The cat loves to play with a rustling ball of foil, then you need to roll up this ball and rustle a little, attracting attention. At the same time, again, pronouncing the nickname

The kitten will be attracted to the game, and at the same time he will get used to the name. After the cat catches the “prey”, you need to praise it, scratch it behind the ear or stroke it, not forgetting to say the name.

If an owner is trying to accustom an adult cat to a name, it is difficult, but possible. It just takes older animals longer to learn their name. But perseverance, patience and affection are excellent helpers in this task.

Especially, pets like to be stroked, scratched behind the ears, some cats even expose their belly to their owners. And a pleasant association is the most important element for a name to be quickly learned. When calling your pet by name, you should not alternate or replace it with another word. This way the pet will get confused.

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Tidbit or “carrot” method

When the results are noticeable, the education process turns into an entertaining activity. Results can be achieved much faster if incentives are applied for each task well completed. As a rule, a favorite snack acts as a reward: a piece of sausage or meat. The most important thing is that the tailed friend really wants to receive it at the time of training.

To deepen your pet’s results, you can carry a treat with you at all times in your trouser or robe pocket. In this case, it will be possible to start classes at any convenient time, when the little “student” is in the appropriate mood.

How to accustom a kitten to its name

As soon as the kitten appears near you, you need to attract its attention with your fingers, be sure to call it by name. It is important here that everyone living in the house calls the baby the same name, otherwise the kitten will get confused. When the “student” pays attention to you and comes up, treat him with a tasty morsel and gently stroke or scratch him behind the ear, while still saying his name.

Gradually, the result will become so strong that without giving a treat, it will be enough to simply call the kitten and it will come running. Although it wouldn’t hurt to reward him with tasty treats from time to time. After all, a conditioned reflex can fade away over time, just as it appeared. The animal will not want to run up to you if you do not offer it anything.

"Correct name

Choosing a name for your new furry friend needs to be approached responsibly. It is worth remembering that it is given once and for life and can even influence the character of the animal, so calling a kitten randomly and with the first name that comes across is categorically not recommended.

There are three main criteria by which you should choose a name for your pet:

Breed and/or appearance;

Of course, the appearance of the kitten plays a role when choosing a name. Pay attention to your pet, as well as its breed. Whether you have gentle Siamese, miniature munchkins or graceful sphinxes, their name should match their appearance. Rough, harsh names are clearly not suitable for such breeds. And, on the contrary, with large, fairly prominent breeds (Maine Coons, “British”), excessively “small”, gentle names will definitely not be combined.

Gender of the cat;

Of course, the kitten's name also depends on its gender. Cats need to choose “female” names, cats - “male”. However, it is worth remembering that there are a huge number of neutral nicknames that are perfect for kittens of both sexes.

Name length

Many cat owners believe that long names sound more beautiful and noble. In fact, it is not recommended to give kittens complex names: the longer the nickname, the more difficult and longer the kitten will remember it. But a cat will quickly learn a short, sonorous name, and will respond to it much more willingly.

As a last resort, you can give the cat a long name, but in the process of direct communication with the animal, shorten the chosen nickname.

The presence of certain sounds in the nickname.

It has long been proven that cats react favorably to certain sounds, namely hissing and whistling. If the name chosen for a cat contains the sounds “ch”, “s”, “sh”, “sch”, “z”, she will not only remember it faster, but will also respond more readily in the future.

According to these criteria, you need to choose a nickname for your pet. The right choice will help speed up the kitten's learning to respond to its name.

Learning while playing

There is a third way to teach a nickname. It must be used in combination with the methods described above. To accustom the kitten to its name, you can use daily games and affection. Whenever you want to cuddle your baby, call him by name, showing love and gentle stroking. The owner's voice should be quiet, measured and calm. The most important thing is that all affectionate movements and words evoke only positive emotions in the kitten.

How to accustom a kitten to its name

What not to do when training for a nickname

In order to quickly achieve the desired result and accustom the kitten to the chosen name, you should follow the following simple rules:

Firstly, there is no need to change the chosen nickname, even if it is similar in pronunciation. You need to understand that the pet reacts to spoken phrases.
In order to quickly accustom your pet to a name, you do not need to periodically call him kitty-kissy, while at first making your life easier. There will be relief only at first; in the future, the animal will respond only to kitty-kiss, completely ignoring its beautiful call.
To teach a kitten to respond to the name offered to it, you need to remember the main rule: you should never call the animal’s name in an irritated state. An irritated tone does not in any way speed up the learning process, rather the opposite.

Is it possible to accustom an adult animal to a name?

You can use the same methods as when training kittens. However, the learning process can be lengthy and take much longer. The whole point is that an adult animal has a mature, established psyche and, moreover, is completely unaccustomed to obeying anyone. In general, the tailed one had a good life in the world even without a nickname. When working with an adult cat or a cat with an already formed character, you will have to be patient. If something doesn’t work out, don’t insist and ruin your relationship with the animal. It's better to leave everything as it is. After all, there is a universal remedy that all cats, without exception, respond to and which is called “kitty-kitty”.

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What not to do when studying

Do not hit or scold the kitten if it does not obey: this will completely confuse and frighten it. Try not to even say your nickname in an irritated voice. If you want to discuss your baby’s dirty tricks with your loved ones, do not mention his name.

Do not exclude the treat until the cat begins to run up to the call without making mistakes. This will confuse your pet.

Call your cat the same way and do not change the name. This way the kitten will quickly understand what you need from him.

If the kitten does not respond

Sometimes pets don't want to come when called. This may be due to the pet being stubborn or poorly trained: in this case, it will simply take more time.

If the kitten does not respond to its name or other ways to call it, contact your veterinarian. It is possible that the baby is deaf. White cats are more likely to suffer from hearing problems.

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