One of the first things I start doing the first day I have a new foster cat is to teach him or her to come when called. This isn’t just a party trick! Just like for dogs, teaching your cat “recall” or to come to you when you make a particular sound or say a particular word can save your kitty’s life one day. While we very strongly recommend that all cats be kept safely as indoor-only pets, accidents can happen. Visitors, a door or window that doesn’t close properly, or even natural disasters can cause your cat to get lost from your home. If your cat gets out unintentionally, having a recall word or sound will help your cat come out of hiding and come back to you. I’ve seen it work for a newly adopted and newly escaped cat who dashed out of his new home’s front door just a few days after going to her new home! Here’s how to train your cat using positive reinforcement to come to you when you call or make your special cat-come-to-me sound.
1. What’s your cat’s reward? Each cat is different, so first you have to find something that your cat really really really likes. Not just *eh* likes, but the likes the most of all. For most cats, a special food treat does the trick. Try wet food in a can or crunchy treats in a bag, and you may have to try a lot of different flavors till you find the one that your cat goes absolutely bananas for when you take it out. If you can’t find a food reward that your cat over-the-top loves, your cat’s reward may be playing with a special toy. You know, the one you have to hide in the closet so they won’t rip it to shreds? Yes, that one! Or maybe your cat loves getting brushed with their favorite comb by their favorite person. Whatever it is, reserve that reward only for recall. That helps make it very special and valued, to motivate your cat.
2. What’s your cat’s recall sound? Cats have extraordinary hearing, but humans aren’t the best at making very unique sounds. Think about how a foreign language sounds when you don’t understand it, the words all sound very similar. That one reason why we’ve found a unique sound works better than a word (like “come” that’s often used with dogs) for training cats. Also, if you designate a unique sound over a regular word, you’re not going accidentally say it frequently in conversation which might confuse or desensitize your cat.
A sound you can make with your mouth is great because in a real emergency, you’re not going to be running around trying to locate that bag of treats to shake, or can of food and a fork to clink, or a clicker to click. Some unique non word sounds we’ve heard people use to train their cat to recall are a high-pitched “ki-ki-ki” sound, a “pssssst” sound, a clicking sound made with the tongue on the roof of their mouth, or a whistle if you’re good at whistling the same tone reliably even if you’re in a disaster panic. If not everyone in your home is comfortable using a unique sound, the treat bag shake or clinking can is a good fallback as long as you always have extra somewhere you’ll be, like in the glovebox of your car.
3. Repetition for association. For the first month, every day, ideally at the same time of day, you will walk up to your cat, and make your sound while you are rewarding your cat. So if your sound is “ki-ki-ki” you might feed your cat 5 treats and say “ki-ki-ki” ten times as she is eating them. Not before, not after — during the feeding. Repeat that once a day every day for the first month. Yes every day, try not to skip any days! If you feed your cat two or three times a day and your cat comes running when you feed her, you can make the sound a few times while you’re feeding her and while she is eating too. (Don’t forget to add some additional exercise to your cat’s day to work off those treat calories!)
4. Distance gradually. After a month, instead of walking up to your cat with the reward in your hand, walk towards your cat, but stop a few feet away, and then make your recall sound. (While the cat is awake, please, not while she’s sleeping!) She should at least look at you, and she may move toward you. Lots of rewards while making the sound again! Gradually a foot or two a day you can increase the distance away from your cat that you make your sound. Soon you will have a cat that will come to you when you make your sound even from far away!
We hope this article helps you and your cat learn to come when called and will help your cat return to you safely if she ever accidentally escapes.
Can you see the excitement on my foster cat’s face? He has been listening to me oooh and ahh over the ideas in Jackson Galaxy’s newest book Catification – Designing a Happy and Stylish Home for Your Cat (and You!) and he can’t wait for me to get started on some of the projects I bookmarked! You may be wondering, what is catification? Jackson says, “The Catification process starts by understanding how your cat sees the world.” It ends with you making your home into a well-designed environment for both you and your cat! This book starts out by helping you understand where Catification ideas come from, as well as the terms Jackson and his co-author Kate use when talking about cats and the designing process. If you start out by skipping ahead like me you may miss out on the full meaning of what’s a Beach Dweller or The Cat Superhighway, and part of the fun of this book! Speaking of fun, I counted thirty-four “Catification in Action” projects in this advance copy, wow. Even if you are DIY challenged and on very tight budget, there’s such a range of ideas for all types of people, cats, and homes. The projects are a mix of photos and stories from Jackson’s TV show My Cat from Hell, along with user submitted projects and photos. Even if you’ve seen every episode from all five seasons, the TV episode ones are behind-the-scenes looks at the cats, the issues, and the Certification part of the behavior solutions. The user submitted projects are from around the world, and include the projects described in their creator’s own words, along with comments by Jackson and Kate highlighting what’s so great about them and sometimes how they could go even a step further. So which projects will I be taking on? Read on to find out…
There’s just something so appealing about the smooth or shaggy top of a dog’s head. Cats too, but humans haven’t passed down the tradition of patting a strange cat on the head! The truth is, most dogs don’t like be patted – as in a tap tap tap motion with our hand – on the top of their head. Look at Gizmo in the photo, a classic closing of the eyes and moving his head away from being pat. So why do we humans continue this tradition? Well, dogs heads are often the closest part of the dog to our hand that isn’t a part that we obviously don’t want to pet, like say their nose or their eyes. Then there’s what we learned as children, since humans often show each other affection in this way. Think of a mother comforting her child, stroking their hair soothingly – essentially petting them on the head. Humans learn from other humans and that’s why we continue the dog pat on the head routine.
Last month I moved with my pets. It had been over a decade since I last moved, even though I consider myself a “pro” at moving with pets, there were still some surprises! My moving experience has been mostly long-distance moves, the kind that took me and my dogs and cats around the world or across the country. This time I was “only” moving about a half an hour away, but as anyone who’s done a local move with or without their pets before can tell you, you still have to pack everything and plan ahead to make sure everyone arrives safely! Here are some planning and safety tip checklists for locally moving with your pets.
Whether you rescued a pet from a shelter, one you found abandoned in the street, or from a home that could not or no longer wanted to keep him or her — you are a pet hero! Thank you for helping a pet in need and trying to find him or her a new loving home. (If you are trying to 
Thank you for caring enough to try to find a good home for your pet! (If you are looking to 
Here at Adopt-a-Pet.com we receive all types of email from potential adopters. Below is one email we received recently that struck a chord with us. Nothing saddens us more than a wonderful potential home who gets frustrated trying to adopt a pet, to the point where they are considering turning to a breeder or pet store. That means instead of a homeless pet being saved, that home might be funding one of the causes of pet overpopulation — and as a result, pets being killed in shelters. That’s tragic! Especially because we KNOW that no matter what the type of pet a home wants to adopt, that pet can almost always be found in a shelter or rescue, hoping to be one of the lucky ones that gets adopted. It is true that if the potential adopter is very specific and set in what they want (say, a rare breed purebred puppy) it may take more time or driving farther. But isn’t a little patience and extra effort worth saving a pet’s life? Here’s our recent email exchange… and find out which puppy in the photo is from a breeder and which is from a rescue!
If you said trick question, we’d have to agree with you! Choosing one pet might be impossible – as they are each so special and wonderful. But choosing a bunch of your favorite pets? Well that could get a lot easier. Now, when browsing Adopt-a-Pet.com you can login with Facebook and select your favorite pets from the site to be included in your Favorite Pets List, the newest feature we’ve rolled out. You are going to love this cool new tool. Here’s why:
We love Summer! With warm temperatures, sunshine on our faces, and social events galore this season has a lot of great things to offer, but there are also some potential dangers lurking for pets in warmer months. Do you know how to keep your pets safe? Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered. Our mini Summer-Safety roundup guide has the basics you need for a fun and safe season with your best friend!