Training a cat n=to be afraid of cars

Hi guys,

Well I am a senior poster on usenet and I know this post may cause some
arguments but pls understand that I have no option but to resort to this.

My QT got run over 5 yrs ago. My cats are indoor since and I have written
many posts and have many arguments in cat newsgroups as to why cats should
be indoor cats. So that is to clear what I am about.

However

I rescued a cat (Sparky) from someone few months ago and my neighbors
adopted him. For one reason or the other he has been staying with me and is
due to go there any day now. My neighbors are wonderful people who adore
their cats, and have helped and took in many cats over the last 30 years.
Their current 4 cats are outdoor and have a cat flap. For Sparkie to be
indoor only will be impossible. We tried, keeping the cat flap locked, but
Barney(the biggest one) headbutted it so much not being used to locked cat
flap, that he eventually broke it. So that's not gonna work.

I can;t keep Sparkie, so the only other option is for me to train him how to
NOT go on the road, or run like hell when he sees the car. I wondered if
anybody has done similar training. I know that Guide Dogs get training like
this but cannot remember how it's done. Please if you have any ideas of how
to train him, or any web links let me know.

And please refrain from hate/argumentative posts, I wish I could keep him,
or keep him indoors, but it's simply impossible. So I just wanna do my best
for the little one. He is about a year old and a sweetheart.

Thanks
Gee

"minerva nine" wrote in message
...
There is no way to train a cat out of the instinctive need to run when
pursued, which is how most cats are killed by cars. There are worse
things
than death, for cats. Being run over by a car is one of them; others
include dying of an infection from a wound inflicted by another animal
(really painful), being killed by another animal (really really painful),
dying of an incurable disease (maybe not so painful, but also not as
likely
as the painful outcomes), being killed by people who like torturing cats
(beyond painful), taken into a lab as a test animal (you get the idea).
You
*do* have other options, you just aren't willing to do the work to make
them
happen, and Sparkie is the one who will pay for your laziness -- M9

M9, your post is patronizing, unhelpfull and displays you NOT understanding
what I am talking about. I have asked specifically for people like you to
refrain from hate mails and argumentative posts, as I have clearly stated
and explaned all the why's where's and when's. So what did you think you
will accomplish by telling me not only stuff I laready (CLEARLY) know (read
again my introductory statement) , but also offering abusive end comment!
Finally telling me I DO have other options, but not stating which???!!!!

So please if you wanna help, help, cos trust me, with this kind of posts,
you will get nowhere and gain nothing. And nor will I. I asked for help, not
for your abuse. Thank you.

Gee

"minerva nine" wrote in message
...
There is no way to train a cat out of the instinctive need to run when
pursued, which is how most cats are killed by cars. There are worse
things
than death, for cats. Being run over by a car is one of them; others
include dying of an infection from a wound inflicted by another animal
(really painful), being killed by another animal (really really painful),
dying of an incurable disease (maybe not so painful, but also not as
likely
as the painful outcomes), being killed by people who like torturing cats
(beyond painful), taken into a lab as a test animal (you get the idea).
You
*do* have other options, you just aren't willing to do the work to make
them
happen, and Sparkie is the one who will pay for your laziness -- M9

M9, your post is patronizing, unhelpfull and displays you NOT understanding
what I am talking about. I have asked specifically for people like you to
refrain from hate mails and argumentative posts, as I have clearly stated
and explaned all the why's where's and when's. So what did you think you
will accomplish by telling me not only stuff I laready (CLEARLY) know (read
again my introductory statement) , but also offering abusive end comment!
Finally telling me I DO have other options, but not stating which???!!!!

So please if you wanna help, help, cos trust me, with this kind of posts,
you will get nowhere and gain nothing. And nor will I. I asked for help, not
for your abuse. Thank you.

Gee

"Adam Helberg" wrote in message news:jdSjc.13165

I don't have a lot of ideas on this. If a road was just outside I would
not let a cat roam
free. One thing that may help is a bright collar with tag, as I believe
people are more
careful when they see a collar on an animal.

Adam


Thanks Adam. Yeah we bought him a reflective collar straight away. With
bells to scare off birds

Gee

"Adam Helberg" wrote in message news:jdSjc.13165

I don't have a lot of ideas on this. If a road was just outside I would
not let a cat roam
free. One thing that may help is a bright collar with tag, as I believe
people are more
careful when they see a collar on an animal.

Adam


Thanks Adam. Yeah we bought him a reflective collar straight away. With
bells to scare off birds

Gee

"KellyH" wrote in message news:54wjc.51339

OK, what I don't understand is, WHY is adopting Sparkie to this
indoor/outdoor home the only option? I could kind of understand your post
if you took in Sparkie and he was already an indoor/outdoor cat, and you
were having a hard time keeping him in. Why take an already
happy-to-be-inside cat and turn him into an indoor/outdoor cat?

Cos new owners have outdoor cats.

Can't you find an indoor-only home for this guy?

I tried, but had no luck. These are the only people who wanted him, and they
are absolutely fab with cats, so he cannot find better humans.

Are you anywhere near Southern New Hampshire?

No, I'm in London

Gee

-Kelly

"KellyH" wrote in message news:54wjc.51339

OK, what I don't understand is, WHY is adopting Sparkie to this
indoor/outdoor home the only option? I could kind of understand your post
if you took in Sparkie and he was already an indoor/outdoor cat, and you
were having a hard time keeping him in. Why take an already
happy-to-be-inside cat and turn him into an indoor/outdoor cat?

Cos new owners have outdoor cats.

Can't you find an indoor-only home for this guy?

I tried, but had no luck. These are the only people who wanted him, and they
are absolutely fab with cats, so he cannot find better humans.

Are you anywhere near Southern New Hampshire?

No, I'm in London

Gee

-Kelly

I understand your being irritated by my post -- it was a bit over the top,
as I shot it off before giving myself a chance to think. My apologies.

In a perfect world, all cats would live indoors. However, given that many
still live outdoors, perhaps it's best to accept that reality and try to
make life better for those that do live outdoors.

If I could give one suggestion to Sparky's new owners, it would be to keep
him inside at night, as this is when most car accidents tend to happen, due
to low visibility and cats being more rambunctious at night (hunting, etc.).
I'm afraid there really isn't a way to train cats not to run after things or
flee when chased, as I said before, so probably the best thing to do would
be to limit their access to the roadway as much as possible at the most
dangerous times (night time, rush hour, etc.).

I should also mention that it's not difficult to build an outdoor cat run
for a nightime "lockdown" for Sparky and his buddies -- essentially it's an
extra-strong screened porch. My cats spend whole days happily in mine, and
if built correctly they can hold even the most inveterate jailbreaker. In
fact, someone posted here recently with some good links to website showing
examples, and I bookmarked a few:

http://www.cat-world.com.au/cat-worldenclosures.htm
http://www.just4cats.com/index.html
http://www.lisaviolet.com/cathouse/backyard.html

I dearly hope Sparky lives a long, happy and healthy life.

M9

I understand your being irritated by my post -- it was a bit over the top,
as I shot it off before giving myself a chance to think. My apologies.

In a perfect world, all cats would live indoors. However, given that many
still live outdoors, perhaps it's best to accept that reality and try to
make life better for those that do live outdoors.

If I could give one suggestion to Sparky's new owners, it would be to keep
him inside at night, as this is when most car accidents tend to happen, due
to low visibility and cats being more rambunctious at night (hunting, etc.).
I'm afraid there really isn't a way to train cats not to run after things or
flee when chased, as I said before, so probably the best thing to do would
be to limit their access to the roadway as much as possible at the most
dangerous times (night time, rush hour, etc.).

I should also mention that it's not difficult to build an outdoor cat run
for a nightime "lockdown" for Sparky and his buddies -- essentially it's an
extra-strong screened porch. My cats spend whole days happily in mine, and
if built correctly they can hold even the most inveterate jailbreaker. In
fact, someone posted here recently with some good links to website showing
examples, and I bookmarked a few:

http://www.cat-world.com.au/cat-worldenclosures.htm
http://www.just4cats.com/index.html
http://www.lisaviolet.com/cathouse/backyard.html

I dearly hope Sparky lives a long, happy and healthy life.

M9

I sent an email but did not notice you spooked your address.

The latest word in cat "training" appears to be clicker training.

Karen Pryor wrote a book on this, Clicker Training Your Cat.
She has a web site, clickertraining.com.

Wendy Jeffries has a Yahoo Group on training cats with clickers.

If you are serious about training, then why not talk to the
professionals who train cats, big ones like tigers and little pussy
cats.

There may not be any solution but that would seem a logical place to
start for serious questions - the professionals.

They know how to train dogs not to chase cats, so maybe they know how
to train cats to be wary of cars. In a hunting situation, that may not
be possible. But it's worth a try. A clicker is only $2 USD and easy
to operate. That and some food and you are on your way. It's also good
for entertaining a cat and perhaps, and this is extremely important,
giving the cat something else to do, namely learning tricks, like
enjoying a harness.