Just as you need a good recipe for baking a cake or your favorite batch of cookies, you also need a good recipe for successfully teaching cat commands. Teaching cat commands may seem harder than it actually is. If you apply the following necessary ingredients you will have a good recipe for success. Here are the key ingredients:

* Mindset – You can do it-your cat can learn. Do not attempt to train your cat if you are in a bad mood or mad. Your negative mindset has an adverse affect on your cat. She will have difficulty in responding.
* Patience – Your cat will require time to learn. Your impatience will impede her ability to respond. If you have more than one cat, remember each one is unique. One may grasp the commands easier than the other. This is normal. Thus your patience is of utmost importance.
* Repetition – The best way for training any cat is to be repetitious with a routine schedule. This will help her to look forward to the training sessions.
* Treats – Some cats may respond to positive reinforcement, but, most cats will generally do better if they are being trained with treats. Use your cat’s favorite treat; however be careful not to exceed more than 10% of your pet’s total daily diet to help prevent cat obesity.
* Verbal praise – Verbal praise should always be given after each correct behavioral response.
* Clicker – A clicker is an excellent tool to use for any type of cat training. Your pet will associate the clicker sound with the treat.
* Calm voice – When training your cat be sure to use a calm voice. Yelling or using high pitch sounds will upset your cat and she will have a difficult time in responding and may even ignore your commands.

You will need to apply the above ingredients to each of the following commands addressed in this article:

* Come
* Sit
* Lie Down
* Shake Hands
* Wave

The “Come” Command

The “come” command should be one of the easiest ones for your pet to learn if you have patience and a positive attitude. Here’s the best way to teach this command.

* Call your pet to her food bowl, preferably at mealtime. As you call her, use her name proceeded by the word “come” as in “Daisy, come”.
* When your cat comes, say, “Come, good come,” using an upbeat voice and click the clicker.
* Give your cat her food or a treat.
* Once she has mastered this command by coming to her bowl; try the command in another location.
* Repeat the same steps as outlined above until your pet naturally comes when she is called.

The “Sit” Command

The “sit” command is usually taught to dogs and most cat owners think their cat cannot be taught this command. This is totally not true. You can teach your cat to sit. This command will take a little more effort and patience on your part. For your first training session don’t forget the necessary ingredients: a clicker, treats that cat loves and add the following props: a quiet area and a table.

Now you are ready to start.

* Place your cat on the table at an edge nearest to you. Pet your cat to help her become comfortable and relaxed.
* Show your cat the treat reward. Say your cat’s name followed by the command word “sit” as in “Daisy, sit”. Next, move the food reward back to you and then over your cats head.
* As your cat tips its head back to follow the food, it will sit to keep its balance. Say, “Sit, good sit,” click the clicker and give your cat a treat.
* Keep repeating these steps until she masters this command.
* Remove the table and try the floor without moving food over her head.
* When she responds, click the clicker, give her a treat and praise.
* Be gentle and patient. Do not frustrate or frighten your cat. If she resists, try again later.

The “Lie Down” Command

The “lie” down command is easiest to teach after your cat learns to sit. Follow these steps:

* Place the cat on the table at an edge that is nearest to you. Give your cat affection so she is relaxed.
* Hold a treat in one hand slightly below and in front of the table. Say her name followed by the word “down” (or any word you choose) as in “Daisy, down.” Which ever word you choose, it is essential to repetitiously use this word for this command.
* When you see your cat lowering herself to reach for the food, say, “Down, good down.” When she shows this behavior, click the clicker and give her a treat.
* Keep repeating these steps until she masters this command.
* Remove the table and try the floor. When she responds favorably, click the clicker and give her a treat.
* Be patient and use a calm voice. If you should see your cat not in the mood for training, try again hours later.

The “Shake Hands” Command

The “shake hands” command, is not only for your dog as you may be thinking. You can teach your cat to shake hands by following the steps below:

* Sit your cat in front of you.
* Touch her paw and say her name followed by the command “Shake”, as in “Daisy, shake”.
* When she responds and lifts her paw, click the clicker and give her verbal praise and her food treat.
* Be patient and consistent and repeat the above steps. Each time she responds with the proper behavior, click the clicker and give her a treat and verbal praise.
* Keep repeating until she masters this command.

The “Wave” Command

The “wave” command may be easier than you think. A cat’s normal behavior is to swipe at a morsel of food. Using this instinct, follow these steps:

* Hold a food treat in your hand.
* Place it in front of the cat’s nose but just out of the reach of her front paws.
* Move the food treat back and forth with your hands in a waving motion while telling your cat to “wave” as in “Daisy, wave”.
* When you cat reaches out for the food, it will appear as if she is waving.
* Once she simulates the waving behavior, click the clicker, praise her and give her a treat.
* Repeat these steps until she maters this command.
* Remember to have the mindset that you can do it. If she is not in the mood, try again later.

Conclusion

Here is the final summary for using the necessary ingredients in the recipe for teaching cat commands.

* Keep the training sessions 10 to 15 minutes in length so that you maintain the mindset of “can do”: you can teach your cat to learn and your cat can learn the commands.
* Stop the training before you are tempted to loose your patience and inhibit the learning ability of your cat.
* Do not try teaching your cat more than one command at a time. She needs to master the one you are training her before going to the next. Repetition until mastery will prevent confusion.
* Give those treats. Proper behavior deserves a reward.
* Verbal praise with a calm voice conveys pleasure and excitement for the next training activity.

By following the above tips, you are well on your way to discovering success as you use the recipe for teaching cat commands. Your neighbors and friends will be impressed.

Whether you bought your Persian cat as a show cat or simply as a house pet, the fact is that Persians need more grooming than the average cat and that responsibility falls upon you. If you don’t know where to start with learning how to groom your cat then this article is for you. We’ve put together some of the most pertinent information you need to know when it comes to grooming your cat. Persian cats are not particularly easy to maintain, although the trouble is worth it when one considers their beauty. There is a whole host of merchandise available when it comes to pet grooming these days and you are free to buy as much as you like.

Prior to the commencement of the grooming process it is imperative that you get yourself organized. This means knowing exactly what you are going to do and in what order. You also need to arrange the bathing space and have your tools handy. Not only will this help you to perform the grooming process in a much smoother process but your cat will appreciate this as well. Cats, like all animals pick up on the emotions we emit, so if you are organized you are more likely to be calm which in turn will help to keep your cat relaxed too. This is not so much an issue if you’ve bathed your cat dozens of times before, but when you are just starting out the grooming process can be quite scary for cats as they have no idea what is going on. Owners of Persian kittens should try to get their pets in the bath by the time it reaches two months of age or shortly after. This ensures that as the cat grows it gets used to being bathed and will not put up resistance to the process. Routine is a key element to successful bathing of your Persian cat.

Giving your Persian cat a regular bath is the core activity of the day to day grooming process. Regularity is the key bathing as the more your cat gets used to it the less resistant he is likely to be to the whole process. Place your cat gently but firmly in a bath of lukewarm water. Too hot or too cold and you’re likely to cause resistance in your cat or even injure it. The water needs to be well worked into the cat before you start to apply the shampoo. Initially this can be difficult as the cat does not have the patience to stay in the bath tub but with practice things should get easier. Choosing a shampoo may involve some experimentation on your part to see what your cat likes but generally any cat shampoo or even a shampoo with a no tears formula designed for children works fine. Work the shampoo in gently with your hands or a sponge but be careful not to vigorously scrub. Once this is done the only thing left to do is give the coat a good few rinses to get out any shampoo and gently pat your cat dry with a towel.

An ordinary hair dryer is sufficient to use when drying the hair of your Persian cat, although you should make sure that the setting is on low as otherwise you could cause unnecessary discomfort to your cat or even burning. Those willing ot spend the money will find that most pet stores sell dryers especially for cats which are generally lower in power. Once thoroughly dry you are ready to place your cat on the grooming area and begin cutting away excess hair. The face, ears and back side of the Persian tend to be the three places where the most excess hair appears and consequently where the bulk of your concentration needs to be focused. Be especially careful when doing the ears however as it is easy to accidentally cut into the ear leather of your cat if you aren’t careful. One way around this is to slightly wet the ears making the leather more easily distinguishable from the hair.

Trimming your Persian cat’s nails is an important part of the grooming process although it does not necessarily need to be done at the same time as the bath. The problem with nail trimming is that cats have a tendency to get inpatient and in particular do not like having their paws held. Even if you only get one or two nails done before your cat wants to be released that’s fine. You can do the rest the next day. In general it’s more important to clip the nails from the front as the rear nails are less prominent and the bulk of damage to household furniture due to cat scratching comes from the front nails. You can either place your cat on your lap or on a grooming table when cutting the nails. Gently hold the paw and apply a little pressure so as to bring the nails out. Once out simply clip away taking care not to cut too much off as you may accidentally cut into the paw leather causing injury.