Training Kittens to Come to You

I have two new kittens and they do not want to come to me when I call them. I have tried using treats and toys to entice them and they still don't come to me. Does anyone have any other tips on how to get a cat to come to you? Thanks!

 

Have you had cats before?

Most cats are going to need a reason to come to you.... and then the rest will just take time. They aren't going to associate their names or whistling, etc, with you wanting them to come to you yet. Keep doing it, though, and offer treats and cuddling, etc, when they're around, and they'll eventually associate you with things they like.

 

Also, if you're having trouble with them not even being in the same room with you, narrow down their space. Keep them isolated to one room and then you only go to them. It'll help force them to associate you with good things and they won't be roaming around all over the place. They'll know to come to you because there are limited options otherwise when it's in a small room.

 

It took our first cat almost a year to warm up to us and start coming up to us. Now she does it all the time. Prior to that she did not like to be handled, and would regularly bite us.

 

Mine are trained to come when I call them. I don't know how i did it. The first step is to teach them their names. I would point at them, and touch them when I would say their names. So I would pick him up and say "Bandit" or give him eye contact, etc, so he knew i was taking to him, and not his sister.

Then once they knew their names, I would call them every time i fed them, so they would come. Now the always come, I say "Bandit do you want to come up stairs?" and Ill stand on the stairs, and He'll come running up through my legs.

 

That's some good advice, Scotty. That's kind of how we did it, too.

Any time we interacted directly with one cat or the other, we would use their names. I'm not sure they really learn their names so much as they learn the sounds, so enunciate the beginning sound especially, or if there are any Ss or Ps in its name, then hang on those a bit longer for the first while so they associate it with themselves.

 

When I first acquired Zod as a kitten, I kept him very close to me. He sat on the back of our sofa against the wall the very first night we got him, and I had my head leaned against the cushions, where I could stroke him, and talk to him softly. I fed him small bits of kibble within about an hour of him being here, and he nommed the lot very quickly. When he realised I was his source of food, he would come to me immediately. Keep kittens close from the outset, stroking, cuddles, soft words and food. That's the best advice I can give you.

 

I think its all about building a good relationship between you and your cat, if you have that, and patience, the rest will come.

 

I used to have Dorian and Sibyl trained to come if I shook the can of treats. I'd give them treats and shake the container while they ate every time, then one day they started coming running when they heard it. It was a nice way to have them trained! Sibyl will only sometimes do it now and I haven't had the chance to train Alice that way yet. It shall happen though!