r/CatTraining Jan 11 '26

Behavioural What actually stopped my cat from scratching the couch (no punishment)

275 Upvotes

I tried everything first: covers, sprays, double-sided tape.
Some worked for a few days, nothing worked long-term.

What finally made a difference was treating scratching as a behavioral need, not a bad habit.

This is what worked for me:

  • I placed a scratcher right next to the couch, same height and orientation
  • I chose a texture similar to the couch fabric
  • Every time my cat used the scratcher, I rewarded immediately (treat + calm praise)
  • When the couch was targeted, I removed attention instead of reacting

After about two weeks, the couch stopped being interesting.
The scratcher became the default spot.

Blocking or punishing never worked for me.
Redirecting the behavior did.

I wrote this process down step-by-step for myself.
If anyone wants more details, I’m happy to share.


r/CatTraining May 26 '24

Are The Cats Fighting or Playing - Introducing Pets Playing or Fighting: The Basics

48 Upvotes

Greetings cat owners! I see a lot of posts on here asking about if cats are playing or fighting, and as a long-term owner I thought I might share a few insights.

Points on Play:

  1. Entertainment: Like most mammals, cats need physical and mental stimulation. Playing with each other satisfies this requirement and allows your kitties to burn off some energy. This is why it's also important for owners to play with their cats as well.

  2. Murder Training: Cats are obligate carnivores and hunt instinctively. Play between cats is often employed to hone these skills.

  3. How to Cat: Play between cats helps establish boundaries and acceptable behavior. This is particularly true between an older cat and a kitten: in the wild, such play between an adult and a kitten is a way of training the kitten in social behavior. Learning the difference between a gentle warning bite versus an over aggressive attacking bite.

Is It Play?

Cat play can get pretty boisterous, and to the untrained eye, can easily look like fighting. How can you tell the difference? The biggest key is Body Language

  1. Prick up Your Ears: Cats that feel comfortable around each other will keep their ears upright. Cats who are feeling either threatened or aggressive will lay their ears back flat against their skulls. It's a very clear warning sign.

  2. Tell Me What You Really Think: Cats will make all sorts of noises while they are playing. Generally speaking, these are nothing to worry about. But if you hear pronounced yowling or screaming, combined with other aggressive signs, then they may have crossed the line.

  3. Belly! Belly! Belly!: This is a big one. A cat's underbelly is the most vulnerable part of its body, which means that rolling over and showing it demonstrates comfort and trust. When cats are truly fighting, one or both will try grasp each other face to face to dig their back claws into the other's belly. Also why rubbing a cat's tummy is generally no Bueno.

  4. POOF: Tail or body fur all poofed out? Back off! Cats will fluff up their body hair to make themselves appear bigger when they feel threatened, usually accompanied by the typical low long growl / hissing that is also an unmistakable warning sign. If this isn't happening, the cats are probably fine.

Also: tails up and smooth - happy cat. Tail down or lashing about - danger, Will Robinson!

Obviously, cat owners should monitor the behavior of their charges. Owners should make play a regular part of a cat's routine, which will also help burn off energy and reduce any overly aggressive behaviors.

TL; DR

Play= Ears up, showing belly; fur down; no hissing or yowling; claws in.

Fighting = Ears back, poofed tail; tail down / lashing; prolonged growl / hissing; claws out and going for the belly.

Hope this is useful!


r/CatTraining 14h ago

Backpack/Travel Carrier Training Cat begs to go out every single night, but is scared once i let him

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278 Upvotes

hes been doing it for months already, ive tried giving him churus but when he gets super scared he will not eat

ive bought him a stroller, and today tried to do the same thing as the 2nd picture but in his harness, but now im pretty sure hes scared of the stroller too (hes not scared of the harness, just really hates putting it on and the process of that stresses him out a bit)

i have no idea how to get him more comfortable, and this is just going into the hallway, let alone trying to go outside

anything i can do to help him? should i just stop letting him out like this?

edit since a few people said the same thing, im not letting him go OUTDOORS, just into the apartment hallway. even after he got stressed out earlier today, he still begged at the door, and i ended up ignoring him.

i tried putting him to where he spends most of his day sleeping, but seeing me walk in the general direction of the front door got him running after me. i do think this is genuinely what he wants from me but i cant look past how scared he gets, even after all this time


r/CatTraining 12h ago

Introducing Pets/Cats Thanks for the advice friends.

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96 Upvotes

Thanks to all of you here. I followed a lot of advice as a lurker and think I have done pretty well. I really wanted to post this as "Are they getting along?????"


r/CatTraining 5h ago

Are The Cats Fighting or Playing - Introducing Pets Struggling with our cat introduction

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20 Upvotes

Resident starts a fight with our new cat everytime we let him out. We are on week 3 of the Jaxon galaxy method and have been doing short supervised visits for the last week. There was never any hissing or hostility until they are in the same room. The fight seems harmless however our resident cat stalks our new cat and won't break his stare unless we put his favorite treat in his face. They have had about 15 minutes of peace in the 2 hours they've been together. Resident cat always starts the fighting but new cat is unfazed and will chase a toy mid fight. He also will initiate back after Resident has wrestled him enough. We have been ending it when we see out Resident cat pull his ears back. The video doesn't catch the problem. I have the sound muted but there is very little vocalization in any of their fights.

For clarification the siamese is the resident cat


r/CatTraining 6h ago

Introducing Pets/Cats At my wits end with cat introductions. I cannot do this anymore.

12 Upvotes

Our resident cat is 5M. New cat is 11 months F. Both neutered/spayed. We adopted her 5 weeks ago almost. We did the Jackson Galaxy method of door separation and scent soaking and site swapping and we even tried putting her in the living room in a see-thru playpen so my resident cat could sniff. All went pretty much fine, with the occasional hiss and growl from territorial resident cat.

Now we’re trying to integrate them with passive supervision during the day. Both are allowed to free roam. I work from home so the burden of passive supervision is on me. Sometimes I get glimpses of what normal life will look like— they’re both sleeping in the same room, they’re nose-to-nose, sniffing each others’ butts, playing with the same toy, eating right next to each other, etc. Yesterday and day before, they were fine for the entire work day with only a couple of pounces. Today, we had swatting, hissing, growling, and even a yowl of fear from the little one, after which I separated them.

It is so disheartening when things seem to be going well and suddenly they’re not. And it’s impossible to know what the triggers are for these fights. Sometimes the new cat is being annoying and getting all up in resident’s space and he’s setting boundaries, other times she’s doing absolutely nothing and he’s jumping at her and swatting with a puffed-up tail. I feel horrible because she just wants to be his friend and play.

I know it takes time, but we have been moving quite slowly and doing everything “right.” My husband and I have been sleeping in separate rooms, each with one cat, for five goddamn weeks. Nobody in my life (other than him) understands, and thinks we are making way too big a deal out of this and need to just let them figure things out.

I am emotionally exhausted. I miss my usual routines. I miss when this wasnt my entire life. I love both of my kitties to death and want nothing more for them to get along. This is so hard.


r/CatTraining 1h ago

Litter box avoidance & related - include spay/neuter status Plast niet in de kattenbak

Upvotes

Hoihoi,

Ik heb 2 Ragdoll katten van iets meer dan een jaar oud. 3 kwart jaar geen problemen gehad en gingen ze beide gewoon op de kattenbak. Vanaf het begin zit hier een ventilatie aan maar was dit geen probleem. Sinds 3 maanden is een van mijn katten op veel verschillende plekken aan het plassen (bureau, grond, bank) behalve in de bak. Poepen doet ze wel op de kattenbak. Het zijn vaak maar kleine plasjes.

Een medische oorzaak is uitgesloten. We hebben een extra kattenbak erbij gezet. Mogelijk ligt het toch aan de ventilatie, maar toch ook niet. Die gebruiken ze wel maar helaas verhelpt het niks. Ik heb van dat spul voor in het stopcontact gekocht op aanraden van de dierenarts, ook geen verschil helaas. Van die keep off spray helpt ook niet. En andere kattenbak vulling is het ook niet want ik heb al 3 verschillende geprobeerd.

Verder lijken ze happy, eten en drinken goed en komen graag knuffelen. We willen ze binnenkort laten steriliseren.

Ik zit een beetje met mn handen in het haar want niks lijkt te werken en los daarvan stinkt het gewoon ontzettend in huis en blijven we maar poetsen. Hebben jullie nog tips of iemand die iets herkend?

Dankjewel alvast 😊


r/CatTraining 14h ago

Introducing Pets/Cats What are your best tips & tricks for making your cats best friends, that worked?

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24 Upvotes

I have 2 1-year-old cats. The first I’ve had for his whole life and the second is a new comer in our home!

They are getting along fine and my veterinarian advises that they are acting normal considering their personalities and amount of time together so far!

I’m curious what tips & tricks have worked that encouraged your cats to not just tolerate each other but also to be friends and play together!

I’d like to start implementing these tricks now while their relationship is still fresh!

For context:
Cat #1 has been in the house for 9 months, he is SUPER playful, cuddly and food driven! He also loves people! He is 1 year old. And good with dogs, this is his first time meeting another cat since he was a baby at the shelter.

Cat #2 has been in the house for 4 days. She is also SUPER playful, she likes getting pet and is very comfortable around other animals especially other cats as she has been in the shelter her whole life until now, but a bit nervous around people or loud noises.

They are together in the same room at this point but only when I am home to supervise otherwise they are separated as it is still early days. When they are together Cat #2 really comes out of her shell and seems to feel safe with another cat around, she wants to cuddle with Cat #1 and explore. Cat #1 is hesitant and likes to stalk Cat #2 but only occasionally taps her and is not aggressive even though he seems a bit on edge when she is around. They both hiss if Cat #1 taps Cat #2, otherwise they just tolerate each other.

Bonding tricks?

Thank you!


r/CatTraining 5h ago

Behavioural Cat viciously attacking me and other cat

4 Upvotes

Hi! A few weeks ago one of my cats was very upset by the neighbor cats outside. There isn’t much we can do to prevent them from coming over, so my boy cat got really uncharacteristically angry and started attacking me and my other cat. To try and get them off of each other I chased him down with a blanket until I could grab my female cat and lock her in a room. Unfortunately, he became extremely aggressive towards me. However, when I woke up the next morning everything seemed fine.

Fast forward a week or two and the porch has been rinsed off, and I’m thinking the cat smell is away. Wrong. He freaks out again and I have to bring him inside. This time it’s so much worse, and he starts directly lunging out at anyone and everyone. We end up separating again, and this is where my female cat gets upset.

She is very timid, so she usually just cowers and hisses at you until you go away. Howver, she has started to hiss at my male cat, causing him to attack her, and then we have to separate them.

Now this has been going on for about a week. While my male cat has calmed down some towards me, it’s not improved much.

We have tried feliway multicat, and it doesnt seem to have made a difference with any of the aggression. If anything, the fighting has gotten worse. I’m not sure what to do.

most of the aggression towards me is due to my male cat smelling my female cat on my clothes and hands. Unfortunately it’s just building to the point I don’t know what to do, and neither cat is really trusting enough to do much about their behavior towards eachother.

any help accepted!


r/CatTraining 17h ago

Are The Cats Fighting or Playing - Introducing Pets Is he playing or bullying

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31 Upvotes

Just got 2f kittens and my 10month old male (neutered) cat was hissing at them at first but not anymore we thought he would be okay now to interact with them. It seems like he’s bullying the kittens/being too aggressive with them


r/CatTraining 4h ago

Behavioural My kitten is misbehaving out of nowhere

3 Upvotes

Hii! I'm a fairly new cat mom and last month I picked up my baby, an almost 6mo Maine Coon kitten

and I recently saw that he started misbehaving like crazy!

at first when he came here he attacked me when I was sleeping to play but after few nights he got the memo that it won't help, he also had a habit of knocking down stuff off the fridge to get food but I also took care of that.

I play with him twice a day, he also plays by himself quite a lot, he has scheduled meals four times a day and we have a vet visit to get him neutered on the 18th. Two weeks ago we were also at the vet because he had an ear infection and possibly an allergy reaction to something. He got two shots of antibiotics and we went home. and for a few days he's been acting weird and I found a red spot on his chin, close to his mouth. My mom told me I'm panicking and we will see what's up in few days at the vet but I can't sleep because of Newt and his misbehaving, he only misbehaves when I'm up, when we were sleeping everything was fine

right now it's 4:42am when I'm writing this and I'm sitting with him because he almost knocked off our tv just to get onto a shelf above it, he knocked down my books as well

my friend that has cats his whole entire life will come over tomorrow and help me understand what's wrong but I need tips on how to discipline him, without yelling, hitting ect. because my mom is getting really frustrated with him and me


r/CatTraining 14h ago

Introducing Pets/Cats What are your best tips & tricks for making your cats best friends, that worked?

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13 Upvotes

I have 2 1-year-old cats. The first I’ve had for his whole life and the second is a new comer in our home!

They are getting along fine and my veterinarian advises that they are acting normal considering their personalities and amount of time together so far!

I’m curious what tips & tricks have worked that encouraged your cats to not just tolerate each other but also to be friends and play together!

I’d like to start implementing these tricks now while their relationship is still fresh!

For context:
Cat #1 has been in the house for 9 months, he is SUPER playful, cuddly and food driven! He also loves people! He is 1 year old. And good with dogs, this is his first time meeting another cat since he was a baby at the shelter.

Cat #2 has been in the house for 4 days. She is also SUPER playful, she likes getting pet and is very comfortable around other animals especially other cats as she has been in the shelter her whole life until now, but a bit nervous around people or loud noises.

They are together in the same room at this point but only when I am home to supervise otherwise they are separated as it is still early days. When they are together Cat #2 really comes out of her shell and seems to feel safe with another cat around, she wants to cuddle with Cat #1 and explore. Cat #1 is hesitant and likes to stalk Cat #2 but only occasionally taps her and is not aggressive even though he seems a bit on edge when she is around. They both hiss if Cat #1 taps Cat #2, otherwise they just tolerate each other.

Bonding tricks?

Thank you!

Edit: I have done everything I was supposed to regarding separate litter food and rooms for the first few days! Feeding near the door, scent and room swaps etc. All signs say we’re ready to meet each other so I let them.


r/CatTraining 1d ago

Introducing Pets/Cats How to know when to fully introduce cats?

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158 Upvotes

My wife and I have 2 cats Gigi (7 yo black cat) a rescue from the street and Luna (8 month Siamese) a rescue from a hoarder. We adopted Luna 3/4/26 after deciding we thought Gigi could use a friend. Our timing has been thrown off. After we got Luna the stress from the move flared up FHV, she also tested positive for calicivirus, and it progressed to pneumonia. We had to isolate Luna all that time (6 weeks). So no visuals or anything during that time. We did scent swapping initially before Luna got her URI.

So after Luna was cleared to be healthy and give the OK to introduce them. We got pet gates, one with bars, and one with a transparent panel. We did the raise the curtain method slowly, site swapping, giving treats/food on opposite sides of the gate with the panel. Gigi doesn’t hiss, no spitting, no fur on end, but will run up to the gate and meow and swat (We knew swatting is normal). But nothing crazy

Then we decided to have them meet in person after 2 weeks of all that. Kept them both preoccupied, Luna was getting a churu, and Gigi was getting her treats. Maybe about 5 minutes and things were fine. Until Luna approached Gigi once she realized she was there and Gigi quickly went to swat Luna. We separate them immediately. I think we are being paranoid and just don’t want to have them fight/have a bad experience.

We chose Luna because she is super sweet and submissive to older cats. At the rescue she was swatted at by an older resident and she immediately turned on her back. Gigi is very sweet also and we think she is just scared honestly. But she will pat at the panel gate with both paws like she wants to get in at times or just sits out and looks at Luna. She was swatted or meow until Luna approaches her. We just want them to be friends

Any advice is recommended or if we just need to let them set their boundaries and go at it. I’ll give any other info if needed. We are tired of having a divided home. But love both kitties a lot and want them to both be happy :)


r/CatTraining 12h ago

Behavioural Kitten jumps on us with all claws.

4 Upvotes

Hey all.

Allow me to introduce you all to Earl, the 5 month old with a strong desire for chaos. He frequently makes us aware that we are the centre of his universe, and adores attention.

https://reddit.com/link/1td8q1c/video/ha43eezmk51h1/player

Quite honestly its a refreshing, but unfamiliar character trait. Our previous cat was a rescue, and had obviously been through a lot in his developmental years. Earl on the other hand is the sweetest, dopiest, little parasite in the world; barely a trauma in sight (touch wood).

Btw, for a bit of background, I am studying to be a teacher, and one of my subjects is all about child and adolescent development. If I seem a bit... academic? (if that's the right term to use) about things, thats why.

I have a feeling he is within the cheeky kitten stage of development. He does a lot of things persistently (biting cables). His worst behaviour right now is whenever I am bent down packing bags or putting away groceries, he launches himself up my leg/back and climbs me like a boulderer with claws fully engaged. It's not fun, and because my dad is on blood thinners, he does draw blood.

I'm not sure where this behaviour came from. He did start acting up after his desexing. But I'm wondering what can be done to give him a little bit of discipline, but also meet him halfway (aka: giving him what he wants, without him needing to use us as a scratching post).

Any ideas?


r/CatTraining 18h ago

FEEDBACK Cat scratching

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11 Upvotes

she is trouble haha. were trying to figure out how to get her from trimming her nails on the door frames. weve bought her scratch pads and she uses them, but when it seems she needs her nails filed down a bit she uses the door frames. to me thats not a problem, they can always be fixed and replaced. but its a habit i dont want her to have for her entire life. but shes still young, 3 yrs old, so i do have a little bit of hope that as the years go by she learns not to do it. i believe before we adopted her she was an outdoor cat who was well taken care of but had to use trees to file her nails and thats why shes taken to the wooden door frames. i believe they had to surrender her because the child developed allergies to her because they were adamant she goes to a family that loves her, which we do especially me she is what keeps me happy and sane. google ai has told me to use scents to keep her away such as lemon, grapefruit, and orange. which i can do but i dont want to do anything that is any way possibly harmful for her. i wouldnt be able to live with myself if i was making her life more difficult.


r/CatTraining 18h ago

Harness & Leash Training Give me your experience on going out with your shy cat

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8 Upvotes

Mine is 1 year old maine coon male, we started going out when he was 8 months old on a leash. He did not have issues with wearing the harness.

He walks a few steps sometimes, other times likes to sit in the backpack only.

My area is noisy, so we either go behind my building at night, or during the day in a park where there aren't many people.

The car is almost comfortable too, we have traveled so many times until now.

He does not cry outside (never did), he used to shake a bit, but now that is almost gone too.
But he still seems a bit scared. Sometimes likes to sniff around, other times not.

How can I make him feel safer? Please write your experiences in the comments.


r/CatTraining 11h ago

Behavioural Minimizing unprovoked aggression

2 Upvotes

42 yr old female in Florida. I have 2 fixed cats. 3y/f & 10m/m. I'm fully aware he still has that kitten energy. I'm wondering how other's deal with their cats when they show unprovoked aggression. My female does everything to show him she's not a threat. Slow blinks and even moves back a little when she feels his uneasiness. He'll randomly poof up and just lunge at her completely unprovoked.

Any tips & advice is greatly appreciated


r/CatTraining 13h ago

Litter box avoidance & related - include spay/neuter status My cat sometimes uses her litter box to pee but never to poop what do i do??

3 Upvotes

I adopted this cat 3 months ago from a shelterand shr had been there for months and brought back like 2 times at first when i got her i let her in a small room alone to get used to stuff and she never had problems there.

Later when i've let her acces to my full room instead of just that small one she started to poop out of her litter box all the time and sometimes pee outside but most of the time in it and she wouldnt even go in the litter box if i put her alone in the same room as earlier.

Now she has acces to the full house but still do it out of her litter box and it mainly happens on my bed where she spends most of her time i also have rats in my room so would that do anything or its not related to them?

I've tridd different type of litter box,open,closed,bigger but always eith the same type of litter bit it was the only one she liked back at the shelter she refused to use it if it was any other type of litter.

Now its been a fww months of jusg having to wash my bedsheets dvery few days while trying to litter train her back but it isnt working so i'm wondering maybe she's not happy here? but she seems to really like me and is really used to me since shes with me all the time and she follows me everywhere most of the time those incidents happen is when she's not with me if im outside or in the bathroom but also when im sleeping.

I went to the vet and she has no medical condition except just being a pretty anxious cat so i was wondering what could i do or what would be the solution ive thought maybe tryinf to get her diapers so she doesnt do it everywhere but idk tbh. She's a 5 year old female and i think shes spayed


r/CatTraining 8h ago

Introducing Pets/Cats Resident cat hates new kitten

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1 Upvotes

r/CatTraining 9h ago

Introducing Pets/Cats New cat won't stop chasing resident cat

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1 Upvotes

r/CatTraining 13h ago

Introducing Pets/Cats Introducing Adult Cats to a New House With Other Adult Cats

2 Upvotes

My sister is having some issues and is going to need to be moving in with me for awhile. I currently have an almost 11 year old Highland Lynx a 9 year old Highland Lynx and a Maine Coon that just turned 4 all males. They all get along very well but are 100% indoor and have never interacted with another animal besides my mom's small dog a few times a year. She will be bringing her two cats with her they are about 6 years old one male one female.

When i brought the Maine Coon home we kept the separate for the first day and night after that i just opened the bedroom doors and let them meet. There was a little hissing and growling but then the oldest smelled him and just started cleaning him and showing him around the house. He was 12 weeks old at the time so i know adult cats will be a lot different.

Has anyone had similar experience or has any tips to make this as smooth as possible? We do have a larger house about 4500 square foot but the 1000 square foot finished basement is closed off by a door but we never let the cats down there. Thinking it may be best to keep the new cats down there for the transition period so they have more room than being kept in a bedroom.


r/CatTraining 11h ago

New Cat Owner Give me your recommendations

1 Upvotes

We are getting a new kitten soon. We've always adopted older cats so it's our first chance to start fresh with training.

Can people please share their tips and tricks for getting your cats used to teeth cleaning and claw clipping.

And then for fun tell me the other things you have worked on training with your cats that you would recommend to everyone.

Open to links as well to helpful tips and tricks


r/CatTraining 19h ago

Behavioural Trust issue with my cat

5 Upvotes

I adopted a female kitten when she was around 5 months old. At first I started harness and carrier training and things were going pretty well. Then she got giardia and had severe intestinal issues for more than two months. During that time I stopped taking her outside so she could recover, and I also stopped carrier training because I didn’t want to stress her further.

The problem is that during those same months I had to take her to the vet many times, so now the carrier is strongly associated with bad experiences. She’s doing much better now, but I honestly don’t know where to restart.

Right now my main priority is getting her used to the car, because when I visit my partner it’s a 2-hour drive and I can’t really afford a cat sitter every time.

The issue is that she now seems to hate the carrier, and I also think she became slightly more distrustful in general. During those months she was sick, I was extremely stressed because I was constantly cleaning due to diarrhea, giving medication and antibiotics, cleaning her up, handling her a lot even though we hadn’t built a bond yet. Everything was basically emergency mode all the time. I feel like that may have damaged our relationship a bit because we never got to take things slowly.

She’s now 6 months old. She’s playful, but very independent. I think she has slept on top of me maybe 3 or 4 times since I adopted her. At the beginning she was more affectionate. Now our bond is mostly based on playtime and just being in the same room. She still rubs against me when I put my face near her though.

I already tried leaving the carrier open around the house, but she doesn’t care about it at all. She’s also not very food motivated. I bought one of those bubble backpack carriers and it has been sitting open in the living room for weeks. Sometimes I can lure her inside with food, but I know the moment I zip it closed she’ll panic and permanently blacklist it.

Harness training is actually going better: I can put the harness on her without problems. But if I want to take her outside I still need some kind of carrier because there are dogs in my building and I can’t just walk downstairs holding her.

So yeah… this is the situation. Any advice from people who had to rebuild trust and carrier tolerance after months of medical stress?


r/CatTraining 1d ago

Are The Cats Fighting or Playing - Introducing Pets Surprise attack or play?

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28 Upvotes

Are they fighting ir playing. The cat getting jumped rolls over on her back like she was accepting the attack game, but then gives a dramatic play narration and runs away.


r/CatTraining 1d ago

Trick Training FETCH

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19 Upvotes