Friday, February 25, 2000
Coach a cat? Come on!
Hollywood trainer shares secrets at this weekend's show
BY MIKE PULFER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Drumroll, please. And a little fire on that hoop. Next, there's a subtle signal from you, and your obedient cat comes running down a ramp, bounding in the air and hurling itself through the proverbial licking flames. Or maybe not.
Give the signal to most cats, and you get a yawn and a look that says, “I'll get back to you on that.”
But cats can be convinced to do things we want them to do, and animal trainer Karen Thomassays it's not that difficult.
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IF YOU GO
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• What: Cincinnati Cat Club Show.
• When: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Celebrity cats shows noon, 1:30 and 3 p.m.
• Where: Albert B. Sabin Convention Center, downtown.
• Tickets: $5, $4 seniors, $12 families.
• Competitors: More than 300 pedigreed cats and kittens.
• Information: 244-1152; www.cincinnaticatclub.com
• Sponsors: Cat Fanciers Association and Friskies.
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Ms. Thomas, who lives in Southern California and trains cats for television and movies, appears with five celebrity cats at the 46th annual Cincinnati Cat Show, this weekend at the Albert B. Sabin Convention Center, downtown.
“People are always surprised to learn that cats can be trained,” she said in a telephone interview from Chicago, where she was appearing at another cat show.
Cat training, in addition to making things safer for the cats and more convenient for their humans, helps bond owner with pet, she said.
“Training will help cat owners strengthen the relationship with their special feline,” she said. “Domestic cats need people.”
The key is to consider your cat's peculiar personality and instincts.
“Don't expect a Chihuahua to herd sheep,” she says, joking. And likewise, “Not every cat is going to retrieve.”
But some will.
She teaches cats to sit, lie, heel, applaud, walk a tight rope and play the piano, among other things.
Ms. Thomas has trained cats for performances in movies including the currently playing Stuart Little; Honey, I Shrunk the Kids; and Star Trek: Generations, and for television: Murphy Brown; Murder, She Wrote; General Hospital; Tracey Ullman; Beverly Hills 90210; and a “Got milk?” commercial.
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MORE INFO
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For more information on cats and cat breeds, contact the Cat Fanciers' Association, cat show organizer and the world's largest registry of pedigreed cats, at www.cfainc.org or (732) 528-9797.
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The toughest challenges?
“Natural behavior is hard to teach,” she said. “(Pretending to be) sleeping . . . on a set with a crew of 200 people watching . . . getting him to curl up in a ball, with his eyes closed . . . It's a bit spooky.”
For more practical cooperation, such as getting your cat to come when you want it to (or at a minimum, not to run away and hide), remember to tie all your training techniques to food.
“It's no surprise that cats love . . . food,” she said.
“The first thing to remember is to try to do it (training) around meal time. But don't make them hungry on purpose. That's not fair.”
And always use a unique sound — she uses a hand-held clicker — for a conditioned response. The cat eventually will associate the sound with being fed.
Laid-back cats best
Generally, “laid-back cats (Persian, Burman) can be taught to sit, lie, wave a paw,” she said. “More active cats, the ones that are bouncing off your walls, will jump through hoops, retrieve, roll over, things more appropriate for them.” Examples: “Abyssinians and the Oriental breeds,” including Siamese.
Cats can be trained at any age, she said, but, “remember, their personalities may be changing as they get older.
“Everybody can do it,” she says. “If you put your heart and some time in it.”
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TRAINING TIPS
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Telling your cat what to do can be a risky proposition. These are some preferred approaches, according to the folks at Friskies:
To sit: • With cat on a table edge close to you, pet him and make him comfortable.
• Say “Kitty sit” while moving a spoonful of food over his head.
• When he tips his head back to watch the food, his body will naturally follow into a seated position.
• Click a clicker (or make other predetermined sound) and say “Sit, good, sit” to reinforce the connection between sound and food. (A clicker is a hand-held shell encasing a thin metal plate with which you make a cricket sound.)
• Repeat the pattern until the cat automatically responds to “sit” command and click.
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Ms. Thomas, who has coached dogs, birds, bees, reptiles, rats and cockroaches for movies, commercials and music videos, began her career in 1989.
She says she has always been an animal lover, always appreciating a natural bond with them. “I like all animals,” she says.
As a child, she spent time on her grandparents' farm with goats and chickens and peacocks, cattle, dogs and rabbits.
Today, in her 30s, she keeps cows, horses, dogs and cats, which are her favorites.
If you're shopping for a cat, she says, “Keep your lifestyle in mind . . . If you're never home, you don't want an active cat or a cat that needs a lot of grooming.
“And it's always important to know if the cat likes children and if it gets along well with the elderly.”
People who are going to this weekend's cat show will see cats who have had a lot of training.
Fairfield's Sue Johnson and her husband, Bruce, who have entered seven Egyptian Maus in the competition, said training for show cats has a different meaning from training for house cats.
“The key is to get them used to being handled and groomed,” Mr. Johnson said. “In competition, a stranger (judge) takes them out of the cage and, in some cases, stretches them out, and you have to get them to put up with it.
“It's exactly the opposite of what you would teach your children to do.”
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