The Trainable Cat: A Practical Guide to Making Life Happier for You and Your Cat Hardcover – Illustrated, September 13, 2016

This is NOT about teaching tricks to your cat. This is the most detailed analysis on cat behavior and how to condition or recondition your cat to all the obstacles that appear during a cats life life; like adding a new cat, adding a dog, the carrier, driving in the vehicle, etc.I have been working with cats and an owner for over 40+ years. I also work very closely with a volunteer non-profit cat organization, I have access to all the members for questions and solving problems, YET I HAVE NEVER obtained this level of psychological assessment and training from any of these sources including ALL the vets I have encountered throughout these years.This has been the most valuable resource to date. I was also able to find the audio book version (11 hours) through my local library. I have listened to this multiple times. The book has been a quick way to jump to the chapter and the specific instructions in writing to refresh my memory. If you are a cat fancier or just want to get through our everyday challenges with the cat, THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU. I highly recommend this book. Like I said, this isn't about teaching your cat tricks.It's a lot of data, but so well worth it. ENJOY

Update - 1 month of training and my cat...:- sits- jumps- comes- goes to any place I point out...on comand.We keep making videos and share them with friends who are struck in disbelief "in general already, and about YOUR cat especially".How?:I tried to apply everything the author explained and also followed her recommendation of using a target stick with clicker (Karen Pryor Clicker Training Terry Ryan Clik Stik for Pet Training https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CDRJ3FG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_0NwjybY8QCCKK)Original Review:First and foremost, as this lately starts to irritate me here on Amazon: I did NOT receive this book for free for an "honest" review.Me and my cat:I am the owner of one 6 year old tabby cat with quite a bold (some might even say "evil" lol) character. My primary goal was to spend quality time with him and perhaps teach him a trick or two that I could show off to guests, lol. Only while reading the book I realized how achievable and useful training of my cat may be as we all have to administer medications here or there, or need to get the cat to the vet, and many more little situations.Background:I listened to an interview with the author, a scientist with a PhD in cat behavior, on the radio (NPR) and found that everything she explained made a lot of sense to me. Hence, the mediocre ratings on Amazon did not concern me as much as they usually would.The Book:Pros: I learned incredibly much about my cat through this book. I cannot count the times I thought "this is so obvious, why did I never think about it (this way) before". The author provides just the right amount of science to me without aiming to make me a PhD in cat behavior myself. I personally like to understand things a bit deeper, learn about the how's and why's, rather than someone telling me "Just do it. Here is step A.". Additionally, with this deeper understanding I felt the author equipped me with the knowledge and flexibility to adjust to my cat's (very special, lol, or not?) personality. This book comes with a plethora of very useful, relevant tips that made me very excited during reading (better me than the cat), so that I could not wait to start trying those things out. And, besides all explanations and tips, it will give you many, very clear, very simple step-by-step instructions broken down in achievable mini goals for any cat.Cons: It is not really a Con of this book as such, but this book is clearly not for you if you dislike reading a book in general and rather prefer pictures, illustrations, or solely simple statements. You really do not need to be a rocket scientist at all by any means but it will be more pleasurable for you if you bring a bit of intellectual curiosity into the game.I hope this helped.

I have to say this book is great. One thing I would say about reading it is to read the first 3-4 chapters serially, and then choose the topics that are of interest to you from there on out. The "key skills" are the most important, as well as understanding some basics about cat psychology. The rest of the book are examples about how to put those skills to use, and how the authors organize the training activities from there.The results are not instant, and I would encourage the other reviewers to be patient and keep training their cats. Although, they're pretty quick. I bought the book when it came out, and I've been training my cats for two months. Granted, my cats are fairly good natured to begin with, and I was really looking for one thing in particular... To train my indoor/outdoor cats to come inside at night when I called.I was inspired to write this review when I called my cat Juniper in tonight, calling "Juniper -- come here! come here!" which is here command to come, and.... She ran at lightening speed across the yard and into the house to get her treat. I couldn't be happier. It's taken a couple months, but, that kind of result is just amazing.There's other things I'd like to train them, and also one of my cats is not food motivated at all which is making training somewhat difficult, but, I'm slowly learning what rewards he does respond to and I'm certain I can have success if I'm able to figure out the training method that works best for him.

This book is a must read for all cat owners! It's not about teaching your cat to do tricks - it's about guiding their behavior to increase their well being and safety. It provides not only many practical training techniques, but extremely useful information about cat behavior. And the training techniques work. My cats love their carriers (and don't mind going for a drive in them), and actually come when called! I still find it odd when I issue a command and my cat's expression goes blank and obeys as if being driven by an invisible force. Kinda unsettling, eh? But it's really for their own good. This book also teaches you how to avoid accidentally training your cat to behave badly! It's all about positive reinforcement so there isn't much here about how to keep your cat from doing something he shouldn't. How do you reward your cat for NOT doing something - he won't know what he isn't doing! Maybe the next book will explain.

John Bradshaw can do no wrong, as far as I am concerned. His intelligent, easy style is a pleasure to read. He is never cloying, over sentimental, or patronising. He evidently has a great deal of respect for cats, and everyone who has responsibility for one of these delightful creatures would do well to read everything he has ever written on the subject.This book is an interesting and entertaining look at how to put the most into your relationship with your little chum, thus enabling him or her to get the most out of life. Well worth reading.As a life-long cat hater, I have totally changed my position and become the more than willing slave to a Bengal. Because he is confined to barracks, I have spent many, many hours reading about cat psychology and behaviour to make sure I am as well equipped as possible to provide a happy and interesting home for my feline companion, and this is the latest book in my library

Great book full of great ideas for training your cat to overcome its fear/anxiety related to strangers, other cats, dogs, medication and suchlike.Not light reading, but not difficult to follow.

A lot of obvious stuff. I'd hoped to learn something new. Good for someone who's never lived with a cat.

Informative, easy to read & useful. I have found this book helpful despite being knowledgeable about cats.& thier training etc.

Excellent guide to cat behaviour and the reasons for it, leading to appropriate training methods to try. An interesting read if you want to learn about cat behaviour even if you don't intend training yours.