People who prefer to take care of dogs instead of cats say that cats are not smart enough for them because they cannot be trained. While dogs may be much easier to train than cats it is not true that cats cannot be trained. You just have to be very patient with them and ready to face challenges. Like dogs, training older cats can be more difficult that training kittens but it can still be done. Training older cats will just take more time to do than when training kittens but you will also see some results.
Training older cats to use a litter box for the first time may prove to be a challenge if all along it has been allowed to pee and poop anywhere it pleases. What you can do is position the litter box in your bathroom and remove any soft surfaces like the rugs on the floor. Make sure nothing in the bathroom will pick-up the scent of the cat. Introduce the litter box and place the cat inside of it, this will introduce the cat to the soft and sandy surface of the litter. The cat may probably jump out of the litter box immediately but let it be. Keep the bathroom door closed for 10 to 15 minutes. When you come back and the cat has still not used the litter box you can introduce the poop of another cat by placing some of this inside of the litter box. Since cats have a very strong sense of smell, they may be able to relate the smell of the poop to going to the bathroom. The older the cat is, the longer the time you have to spend training it to use the litter box. When the cat finally uses the litter box, remember to give treats or some kind of reward in order for them to associate what they did with good behavior.
Introducing new cats and kitten to older cats may be a difficult task. Training older cats to interact with other cats may test your patience. Older cats usually don’t like to be in the company of very naughty and curious kittens. You will have to supervise their interaction for the first few weeks. You will also have to assure the older cat that even with a new kitten around the attention you provide will still be the same. You can provide them toys to play with and just supervise them when together. Make sure that they have separate litter boxes and separate food bowls so no jealousy will happen. Training older cats to getting along with other cats or kittens may not be as hard as you think it is. You just need to dedicate enough time and energy to accomplish the task.
Training older cats just might be more rewarding than training kittens because of the amount of time you will use up. Once you see the results you were hoping for than you know that all your hard work has paid off.
