Hi Emily. The number of sessions will depend on the cat, the trainer, what’s going on around them, the cat’s emotional state, health… In general, the recommendation is “little and often.” For example, 1-3 minutes daily, or even 2-3 times daily - as long as the cat is doing well and genuinely calm, happy, and relaxed. Less is more and we need to work with the cat in front of us, which may be very different from how people perceive training to be (e.g. with dogs, who are bred to interact & work with humans for protracted periods). Cats are self-sufficient, selectively social, and do cognitive/high energy activities for short periods often. So, we need to be careful to “think cat”, beware of applying pressure, ensure the cat is engaged and enjoying the process, stop before we need to, and allow the cat plenty of down time (which also helps with internalization of the training). While studies show many cats can learn to use an inhaler in 6 days, these techniques and strategies can help teach any cat to use an AeroKat* Chamber.
My cat HATESSSSS his inhaler and fights me with the strength of 10 cats every time I try. His fighting just worsens his asthma attack. I'll try these games, but I'm very doubtful he'll ever willingly put his face in this thing.
I hope it's helped some. It can take a bit more time to unlearn fear responses that are already there, but it's not impossible. We took in a (then pregnant) stray kitty and she's still a bit skittish/fearful, especially if we're handling her for meds. I'm hoping we can get her comfortable with treatment for her sake and mine. I can mostly handle a few scratches, but it hurts to see her scared and the sound of her having an attack is triggering for my anxiety and some old trauma. It's a bad time for everyone. I may train her kitten on the mask too, so she can see that it's safe. He's about 5 months old, still pretty curious, and might also be at increased risk of developing asthma since his mom has it.
Hi Alex. Yes - there are lots of options for marking behaviour during training (as we would with an audible marker, like a clicker) with cats that are deaf. Below are a few examples from the trainer and behaviourist that you could consider for conditioning, with the understanding that: 1. your timing would need to be as precise in pinpointing the behaviour you are working on as it would be with a click sound; and, 2. nothing you use should startle or be aversive to the cat. Alternatives to audible markers include: • a "thumbs up" signal, instead of the click (the cat needs to be looking to see this), • or a gentle & specific touch on the cat's body (only if they were comfortable with this), • or a tap on a wooden floor near the cat to create a quick/gentle vibration (only if they were comfortable with this), • using a pen flashlight (torch) to create a brief flash (never shone at the cat, of course) to serve as a signal. The following resources may be helpful: • Experienced Deaf Dog Trainer | Expert Dog Behavior Advice (positiveanimalwellness.com/deaf-dogs/) • Clicker Training deaf cats - Deaf Darlings (deafdarlings.dk/en/clicker-training-deaf-cats/) Please let me know how it goes.
I think i damaged my cat by forcing and i am just beside myself. She needs this so bad and every time i show this to her little by little she freaks out. Then she leaves to hide for hours. I don't know what to do at this point.
Any luck on a solution? When cats have already built a negative association with something, it often takes more time and smaller steps because they're not starting from scratch. It's not impossible to do, but it does take more time and some cats never fully settle in. I have infinite respect for people that do long-term and fospice care for ferals. If you're still struggling, maybe there's a group like that in your community that could give you some more direct guidance on working with fearful cats.
We have a cat who has multiple severe asthma attacks every day. There wouldn't be enough time to train her to use this comfortably. I never used an inhaler on her and am wanting her vet to prescribe one. Her attacks get so severe where she collapses on her side, gasping for air with her mouth wide open. I don't know why her vet isn't recommending a rescue inhaler?! I'm thinking of taking her to a different vet. She NEEDS this. They're only treating her with prednisone...which they say she has to be on indefinitely. She's been on it for a little while now without much improvement. It's uncontrolled and I KNOW more can be done for her. 😥
Hi! My cat also has asthma maybe not as bad as yours. He is learning to use the inhaler now. Immediately find another vet! Prolonged oral steroid treatment will harm her liver and can cause diabetes. Small dosage corticosteroids and bronchodilators thru an inhaler has much less side effects. Did they do bronchoscopy with bacterial/fungal culture and cytology yet?
@@bmanooo Sadly, not too long after I wrote this, she had a massive attack that killed her. She had an appointment to see another vet that morning, but died some time the night prior. Everything you wrote, perhaps if she would've been treated properly the first time around, she may still be here. I don't know. It's really upsetting. Thank you for replying. I honestly forgot that I even commented on this video.
This is an excellent video. I had been trying to train my cat for a while now. I’m going to use your tips. Thank you!
Thank you so much for making these videos. How many 1-minute training sessions do you recommend per day?
Hi Emily. The number of sessions will depend on the cat, the trainer, what’s going on around them, the cat’s emotional state, health… In general, the recommendation is “little and often.” For example, 1-3 minutes daily, or even 2-3 times daily - as long as the cat is doing well and genuinely calm, happy, and relaxed.
Less is more and we need to work with the cat in front of us, which may be very different from how people perceive training to be (e.g. with dogs, who are bred to interact & work with humans for protracted periods). Cats are self-sufficient, selectively social, and do cognitive/high energy activities for short periods often. So, we need to be careful to “think cat”, beware of applying pressure, ensure the cat is engaged and enjoying the process, stop before we need to, and allow the cat plenty of down time (which also helps with internalization of the training).
While studies show many cats can learn to use an inhaler in 6 days, these techniques and strategies can help teach any cat to use an AeroKat* Chamber.
My cat HATESSSSS his inhaler and fights me with the strength of 10 cats every time I try. His fighting just worsens his asthma attack. I'll try these games, but I'm very doubtful he'll ever willingly put his face in this thing.
I hope it's helped some. It can take a bit more time to unlearn fear responses that are already there, but it's not impossible. We took in a (then pregnant) stray kitty and she's still a bit skittish/fearful, especially if we're handling her for meds. I'm hoping we can get her comfortable with treatment for her sake and mine. I can mostly handle a few scratches, but it hurts to see her scared and the sound of her having an attack is triggering for my anxiety and some old trauma. It's a bad time for everyone.
I may train her kitten on the mask too, so she can see that it's safe. He's about 5 months old, still pretty curious, and might also be at increased risk of developing asthma since his mom has it.
What can you replace the sound "marker" with if your cat is deaf?
Hi Alex. Yes - there are lots of options for marking behaviour during training (as we would with an audible marker, like a clicker) with cats that are deaf. Below are a few examples from the trainer and behaviourist that you could consider for conditioning, with the understanding that:
1. your timing would need to be as precise in pinpointing the behaviour you are working on as it would be with a click sound; and,
2. nothing you use should startle or be aversive to the cat.
Alternatives to audible markers include:
• a "thumbs up" signal, instead of the click (the cat needs to be looking to see this),
• or a gentle & specific touch on the cat's body (only if they were comfortable with this),
• or a tap on a wooden floor near the cat to create a quick/gentle vibration (only if they were comfortable with this),
• using a pen flashlight (torch) to create a brief flash (never shone at the cat, of course) to serve as a signal.
The following resources may be helpful:
• Experienced Deaf Dog Trainer | Expert Dog Behavior Advice (positiveanimalwellness.com/deaf-dogs/)
• Clicker Training deaf cats - Deaf Darlings (deafdarlings.dk/en/clicker-training-deaf-cats/)
Please let me know how it goes.
I think i damaged my cat by forcing and i am just beside myself. She needs this so bad and every time i show this to her little by little she freaks out. Then she leaves to hide for hours. I don't know what to do at this point.
Any luck on a solution? When cats have already built a negative association with something, it often takes more time and smaller steps because they're not starting from scratch. It's not impossible to do, but it does take more time and some cats never fully settle in. I have infinite respect for people that do long-term and fospice care for ferals. If you're still struggling, maybe there's a group like that in your community that could give you some more direct guidance on working with fearful cats.
We have a cat who has multiple severe asthma attacks every day. There wouldn't be enough time to train her to use this comfortably. I never used an inhaler on her and am wanting her vet to prescribe one. Her attacks get so severe where she collapses on her side, gasping for air with her mouth wide open. I don't know why her vet isn't recommending a rescue inhaler?! I'm thinking of taking her to a different vet. She NEEDS this.
They're only treating her with prednisone...which they say she has to be on indefinitely. She's been on it for a little while now without much improvement. It's uncontrolled and I KNOW more can be done for her. 😥
Hi!
My cat also has asthma maybe not as bad as yours. He is learning to use the inhaler now.
Immediately find another vet! Prolonged oral steroid treatment will harm her liver and can cause diabetes. Small dosage corticosteroids and bronchodilators thru an inhaler has much less side effects.
Did they do bronchoscopy with bacterial/fungal culture and cytology yet?
@@bmanooo Sadly, not too long after I wrote this, she had a massive attack that killed her. She had an appointment to see another vet that morning, but died some time the night prior.
Everything you wrote, perhaps if she would've been treated properly the first time around, she may still be here. I don't know. It's really upsetting.
Thank you for replying. I honestly forgot that I even commented on this video.
@@thatgirl634my condolences to your passing… may your cat find rest. ❤