Meowllo everypawdy, welcome to miserable Monday. It’s not miserable, we just like callin’ it that cuz it’s da end of da weekend. Anyways, you ask and we’re gonna tell. Today’s posty will be in the human English flavor so it can be translated and/or easily read by anybody as it’s one of me’s educational postys. We were asked many times while searchin’ for a new kitty just what qualities or traits would make a good Service kitty? Is there a particular breed that is predisposed to being good Service kitties? And we’ve been asked many times, “I already have a cat at home, can she be trained as a Service Cat for me/my child/etc.”. And we even had an application turned down by a rescue who didn’t want their kitties to be working cats. We don’t blame the rescue, we blame ignorance. But me will save that for part 2.
Now remember Service Animals are different than Therapy Animals, Companion Animals and Pets. For a complete description please see our Service Animal page in the menu tab or click here. And Please, DO NOT pass off your Therapy animal, Companion animal or Pet as a Service Animal. And remember, there are always exceptions to every rule. You are dealing with living, breathing, thinking sentient beings. The amount of time you spend with an animal will also play a role in their personality. Alright, let’s jump into this.
Let’s answer the last question first. Mommy believes any cat can be trained. So, if you already have a cat that you are bonded too, then YES, he/she can be trained as a Service Cat. The operative word is “Bonded”. A cat will be most closely bonded with it’s primary caregiver. If you don’t have a cat or aren’t bonded with the cat in your home then we do recommend getting a kitten. Kittens have very short attention spans, and see training as an adventure. We recommend adopting a kitten under the age of 8 months. For the purpose of this article we are going to focus on a young kitten between the ages of 6 to 8 weeks.
So, you’ve decided you need a Service animal and you want it to be a cat. Keep in mind cats are fairly small animals so there are limits to what they can do. Don’t expect your Service Cat to perform tasks contrary to their nature or size. Also keep in mind that the ADA doesn’t recognize them as Service Animals. For the full definition please see our Service Animal page. Okay, you’ve thought it over, looked into the laws (state/country and federal) and you’ve determined a cat is the right animal for your needs; where do you find one? Most likely you will have to train the kitten yourself, so decide what training method you want to use and Be Faithful with it. Training is repetition, day in and day out. You can find your Service Kitty in Training anywhere. Rescues, shelters, breeders and neighborhood strays are where you start. We do not recommend ferals or semi-ferals as too much training time is lost just getting kitty to trust humans.
Things to keep in mind when searching for your Service Cat:
How big will kitty be when he/she grows up?
Is kitty chatty or quiet?
Does kitty appear to be outgoing and confident or shy and withdrawn?
Will you need kitty to travel outside your home to perform his/her duties?
Does kitty have long fur or short?
If long, can you provide daily grooming?
Does kitty appear healthy? Get kitty checked by a VET ASAP after adopting!
hank you for this interesting information, Raena Belle, purra ajd hugs to you and your mom!
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Hello!
I have a neutered 9 year old tuxedo cat named Cow. He is already very bonded to me since I got him as a kitten when I was six. Cow is very outgoing, absolutely adoring walks and other people. Considering this, I am currently looking into training him as my migraine alert kitty. Would Cow make a good service cat candidate despite his age?
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Reana is looking really bright and cheerful so the bonding must be going well. The info you give on love reward is spot on. Rumpy Bump is trained to go into the bathroom after he uses the pan because he has a loose sphincter and leaks a bit. Dad used treats and he would go in maybe 75% of the time. Dad switched to lots of praise with “Goood Booooy” and head rubs and kisses with a treat now and then and Rumpy is now 96%. What cards do you need we will send them!
Purrs
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Hi Timmy, Pete here, They use SDHC Class 10 32GB. I just got a couple to send them, but you can never have too many and they aren’t very expensive on Amazon. Here is a link to the ones I got
SanDisk Ultra 32GB Class 10 SDHC UHS-I Memory Card Up to 80MB, Grey/Black (SDSDUNC-032G-GN6IN)
well I guess you cant post hyperlinks in the comments, but cutting and pasting it into amazon should take you to the page.
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Yep Timmy, it’s goin’ great. Even ahead of schedule. She’s a little smarty dat’s fur sure. And yes, mommy found da luv reward works much better, specially fur cats.
We use an SDHC Class 10. Dat’s what’s on da cards we took outta da camera’s says. MOL We’s put one at da top of our amazon wish list. Fank you.
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
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Most excellent post guys! Mommy has been training cats since she was a kitten (that is like elebenty billion years ago) but never as service animals. because she and Daddy moved lots, and tooked us pets with them when they went camping, she trained us all to walk well on leashes, to come when called (tough to do with us cats) among other things. People is always astonished to sees us cats in the car or truck and to be out on long lines in camp grounds. And wes never thought of it as being anything but us getting to go with our peoples. We applaud your Mommy with all the hard work she does to gets yous trained.
Kisses
Nellie
PS mes and all the other cats is not treat trained either, we responds best to love.
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Fank you Nellie. Yes mommy finds kitties do respawnd much better to luv than treats.
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
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hay ewe gals, thiz iz a grate post; thanx for sharin & takin de time ta put it two gether…sew raena; does yur mom start yur trainin when ewe reach a sir tin “age”
or will she start based on how quik lee ewe settle in….sum catz seem two be like
“kittenz” still in ther mid yeerz….R we makin sense ?? ♥♥♥ 🙂 sauce could be trained
…me toona….eye dunno…eye am kinda like a space cadet still at age 9 !!
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Oh Toona we don’t think you’re a space cadet. MOL Those are great questions we’ll answer in our next posty. As fur dat stayin’ kitten like, we Ragdolls don’t fully mature till somewhere ‘tween 2 and 4 years old. MOL
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
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