Kitty is learning a trick

Our previous cat was a pretty cool guy. He was very interactive with us. I was even able to teach him to sit on command. It's way too funny to see a cat do it, because generally they don't even acknowledge your presence. I decided to see if I could teach Tulip to do it too.

We've been working on this for 3 days in a row now. At night I get out one of those Greenies treats that Jan sent. Kitty really likes them. I squat down and call her name to get her attention. Once she's paying attention I let her smell the treat (since she can't see it). Then she's really paying attention. I hold the treat over her head, close to her. As she starts to reach for it, I move it toward her back. This gets her to put her head back and eventually gets her into a sitting position. While I'm moving the treat back, I tell her to sit. When she actually sits, she gets the treat. She's done it successfully on all 3 attempts. I just need to get her to associate "sit" with sitting down and getting a treat. When she gets fairly proficient at it we'll post a video.

This is a little trickier with Tulip, since she has to smell the treat. A sighted cat will look at it and naturally sit back a little bit easier. It still works though. Try it out on your cat!