Cat socialization training is a process that can help cats trust humans, quickly adapt to the home environment, and be willing to interact with other animals.

Cats that have not been socialized are timid, sensitive, less trusting and may even be aggressive (see Dabai). Cats that are good at sociability will be more well-behaved, lively, courageous, and more trusting of people.

If you have children or elderly people at home, then this socialization training is extremely important to avoid being accidentally injured by cats during play.

Socialization training is mainly divided into two parts: habituation and localization. Habituation refers to the process of letting your cat adapt to the stimulation of sounds, smells and sights; localization is the process of letting the cat get used to the home and office environment and integrate into it.

Age for cats to be socialized

The best age is mainly between 2-7 weeks after the cat is born (the longest can be extended to 14 weeks). At this time, the cat’s brain perception system is still developing, so the information and stimulation received during this period will affect its subsequent development.

However, the social level of a cat requires neutering its natural personality and genes. It does not need to spend too much time every day. Even only 15 minutes of interaction and petting can help gain its trust and make it more relaxed.

Note: If your cat is older and you still want to socialize it, it is not impossible, it just requires more time and energy~

How to train a cat to socialize?

·A small room

Imagine that there are only you and the kitten in a compact environment. Isn’t this a great opportunity to increase intimacy? It can still hide and observe the familiar environment and you secretly, and a small environment makes it easier for it to adjust and adapt.

· Food temptation

Some cats are not resistant to food. Maybe when you feed it at first, it will approach it cautiously and then take it away. At this time, you must not scratch your cat with your hands, as this will increase its fear. As time goes by, it will gradually get closer to you and slowly be able to stay beside you and eat relaxedly.

They will even ask you for more things. (Refer to Xiao Ming, now I have to avoid it when opening cans, for fear that it will "come upon hearing the news")

· Let the cat take the initiative

Cats are very sensitive animals, especially those with timid personalities. Your approach and excessive enthusiasm will frighten/stress them, making them extra nervous and more anxious.

Therefore, I advise you to let nature take its course. If your cats don’t want to get close to you, just let them go. If your cat is familiar with the environment and feels comfortable and safe, he will take the initiative to get close to you. (After about a week of adaptation, Dabai can now take the initiative to come out of the carton and come to you to smell you.)

·Relaxing caress

If your cat is willing to take the initiative to approach you, you can try petting it. First, let it smell your scent and get familiar with you; then touch its head and behind the ears. If the cat shows enjoyment or does not resist, you can hold it in your arms and pet it, and then feed it some snacks. Let it relax completely.

·Interactive games

You can buy some special toys for playing with cats, and play and interact with them more often, maybe 2-3 times a day, or more, to reduce the cat’s destructive behavior due to boredom, and at the same time, it can also increase your intimacy.

·Introduce your cat to others

The prerequisite for this step is to ensure that the cat completely trusts you, and it must be carried out in an environment that is familiar to it. Before your friends come into contact with cats, you need to inform them in advance not to be overly excited or enthusiastic in front of cats, keep quiet, and speak softly and gently. Because cats’ hearing is several times higher than that of humans, they can be easily frightened, especially sensitive and timid cats.

Note: If the cat is unwilling to socialize, please do not force it, as it will only make the situation worse.

You can create more different contact scenes and objects

Understanding new things during the social training stage is beneficial to the development of the kitten's sensory system, and can help it quickly adapt to different scenes, environments and objects, without hurting people out of fear, and is also conducive to character development. Think about it from another perspective, just like after you have seen a spider as big as a house, you will probably just laugh when you see a spider as small as a fingernail.

·Environment

Flight box

Outdoor

Different indoor environments

Car

​Office space

·Animals

​Other cats/kitten

Dog

​Other animals you have the opportunity to come into contact with

· Scene

Bathing

Trim claws

Take photos

Various toys

Different guests

Notes

Kittens are usually brought home around 7-8 weeks, so it is very important that the cattery can do socialization training before then. Until your kitten is fully vaccinated, avoid contact with other cats or animals to avoid exposure to infection.

Health cat expansion

An animal shelter in Newcastle, UK, once recruited professional cat nannies. The job content is to play and cuddle with a group of cats until these kittens are adopted, and the purpose of this work is the "cat socialization" we mentioned today.