How to Teach Your Cat the High Five Trick

By Julia Williams

I’ve never been very successful at teaching my cats tricks. It’s not because training cats is impossible – I’ve seen plenty of performing cats in videos and at cat shows to know that felines definitely can learn tricks. My cat training failures stem mostly from a lack of patience and motivation. Since my cats run and hide from nearly everyone who comes to visit us, the payoff of teaching them tricks doesn’t seem worth the effort.

That is, until now. I’ve actually found a cat trick that is pretty easy to teach, most likely because it’s a fairly natural behavior. One of my cats, Rocky, is picking up the High Five trick quickly, and although we’re not at the “perform on command for your friends” stage, I’m betting it won’t be long. Of course, then I will have to find a way to keep Rocky from hiding under the bed when people come over.

If you want to teach your cat the High Five trick, keep reading for my step-by-step instructions. But before you actually start your cat training, make sure you have plenty of their favorite treats on hand. Cats are not usually motivated by praise, but most are quite motivated by food, especially if it’s something they love. So keep the cat treats handy, because you’re going to need them.

Step One: Take your cat and the treats into a quiet room where the two of you can practice without distractions.

Step Two: Have your cat sit in front of you on the floor or the bed.

Step Three: Hold one of the treats in your hand. Let your cat know you have the treat and allow them to sniff it.

Step Four: Slowly move your hand with the treat back and forth, above your cat’s head. If they get up on their hind legs or try to grab the treat with their paw, just move them back into a sitting position and try again.

Step Five: Hold your hand with the treat off to one side above your cat’s head to encourage them to touch your hand with just one paw. If your cat reaches for your hand and touches it with their paw, say “yes” and give them the treat. If they use their claws or mouth, pull your hand away and try again.

Step Six: Repeat step five several times. Next, make the same motion but without a treat in your hand. When you are able to get your cat to touch your hand, say “yes” and give them a treat you’ve stashed somewhere nearby.

Step Seven: Practice step six several times. Next, place your open palm in the same place above your cat’s head. Say “high five” if they touch your hand with their paw, and then reward them with a treat.

Step Eight: Repeat the entire sequence a few times each day until your cat learns the High Five trick. Just like people, every cat is an individual and they don’t all learn at the same rate. Some cats might pick it up with just a few training sessions, and others might take weeks. Be patient!

Tips for Teaching Your Cat the High Five Trick:

● Make sure your cat’s nails are kept trimmed for training.

● Keep the training sessions short and try to make them fun.

● If your cat becomes agitated during training, stop and try again later.

● Schedule the training sessions before mealtimes so your cat will be more motivated to get the treat.

If you decide to teach your cat the High Five trick, let me know how it works out! In the meantime, I’ll be working on Rocky to get him up to speed. Then I can work on teaching him to stay in the room when company comes over.

Photo by Michaela Kobyakov

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The Right Way to “Treat” Pets

By Julia Williams

Doling out the dog treats and cat snacks is one of the more fun parts of pet ownership. It’s a ritual we all enjoy, but none more so than the pets themselves. I like giving treats to my cats because they really seem to love them, as evidenced by all the meowing, purring and leg rubbing that occurs when the treat canister comes out. They recognize this container and literally go wild when they see it. If treats make our pets so deliriously happy, there’s no harm in giving them, right? Well, not exactly. Too many treats, or the wrong kind of treats, can actually do more harm than good. Our dogs and cats can’t read labels, and they don’t know a thing about calories or what ingredients might be good for them or bad for them. Which means it’s up to us as responsible pet owners to make sure we’re “treating” them right.

Calories count!

People often joke about fat cats and pudgy pooches, but overweight pets are not funny. Excess weight can contribute to many serious health problems and can make a pet’s life miserable. To avoid over-treating your pet, ask your vet how much to feed your dog or cat each day, and include the calories from treats in their daily food allotment. A good rule of thumb is to make sure that no more than 10 to 20% of the day’s calories are coming from treats. Be aware that some treats have significantly more calories than others, so read the nutrition labels and choose your treats wisely.

Quality counts too!

Pet treats vary a great deal in terms of the nutrition and health benefits they provide. Some treats are as nutritionally devoid and bad for pets as a greasy bag of chips is for us. They contain little in the way of healthy ingredients and may also contain unhealthy things like by-products, chemical preservatives and fillers. Other pet treats, like the CANIDAE Snap-Bits™ and Snap-Biscuit® dog treats, are made with premium quality ingredients and other things that actually benefit the pet. Such as: viable micro-organisms for GI tract health and good digestion, balanced omega 6 & 3 fatty acids, essential vitamins and minerals, skin and coat conditioners and natural preservatives. These nutritionally complete treats are low in calories and fat, and high in protein. I don’t mean to sound like a commercial for CANIDAE here, but honestly, I consider these to be the crème de la crème of dog treats.

Don’t give treats for begging

Dogs and cats are incredibly smart creatures. It doesn’t take long for them to figure out that they can use those “sad puppy dog eyes” and feline wiles to manipulate their owners into giving them a treat. It can be hard to resist those plaintive looks or insistent meows, but resist you should. Giving in to their begging is rewarding them for inappropriate behavior, and once you do, they’ll never stop begging. I made this mistake with my cats. I started giving them each a handful of crunchies before I went to bed. Now, every single night without fail, as I am getting ready for bed there is loud, insistent meowing and pacing going on in the kitchen. I am 100% certain this begging is not from a place of “We’re starving here, give us some food already!” Nevertheless, it can be awfully hard to resist, and I hate that I created a situation where they expect – no, demand – these treats every night.

Use treats as a reward

During and after playtime is a perfect time to offer your cat or dog treats. This helps them to associate positive things with exercise, and they’ll look forward to this daily activity even more than they already do. Treats are also great to use for training sessions and teaching your dog or cat tricks (don’t laugh – cats can be taught to perform tricks!). Just remember to adjust the amount of their regular food to avoid overfeeding.

Giving treats is a pleasure, and it builds upon that amazing human/animal bond we have with our beloved pets. When we “treat” them right, they give us many years of love and companionship in return.

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