Megusta
“My dog is trainable and he is pro at doing tricks.” “So is my cat!” “Excuse me, what?”
Training sounds pretty foreign to cat owners since they love to see their cats being naturally intelligent and independent as they are. But Nipa the Toyger cat is going a further path, he is famous for being a therapy cat at the elderly care in Finland. Moreover, this brilliant cat knows a lot of tricks versus the dogs: walking up the stairs atop a human’s feet, riding a skateboard, doing a handstand jump, rolling a barrel, and so on.
More info: Instagram (h/t: boredpanda)
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Meet Nipa, a very talented Toyger cat who knows over 50 tricks
Nipa is a smart cat who was enrolled in a cat crash course in 2019 by his human mom Tiina, she was the person who made him more special and talented. The reason behind that was Tiina wanted to prove cats can be trained and they would be more than what you expected. In the previous article, we’ve mentioned about 13 myths about cats written by the cat psychologist Tatiana Kulikova and one of them was cats also needed to have a training time just like other pets.
Every day, this smart cat from Finland proves that cats are also trainable
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Tiina the cat mom shared that she was inspired by an online account who also taught and trained cat tricks, and Nipa was potential enough to join the cool cat club. And guess what, Tina’s cat son graduated the cat school novice!
“I saw @cat.school’s videos on how Julie, the cat school teacher, has taught her cat tricks, and I got inspired so I signed up for cat school and learned the basics in clicker training.” – Tiina said.
Nipa’s training started when his owner, Tiina, brought him to work with the elderly and decided it would be safer and easier if she could control the cat’s behavior
She added that training was a critical session for cats to get away from the depression but also benefit for both the cat owner and themselves. Training cat tricks requires a lot of patience and love. One thing you need to keep in mind is that you should never punish the furballs or else the progress is completely failed.
“It is an activity for the cat, it helps the cat to overcome boredom. I think the training makes Nipa happy. Also, the training strengthens the cat-human bond and with clicker training, you can teach your cat practical behaviors.”
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Being a cat therapy is more common, and Nipa has already signed himself up to be a therapeutic member for the seniors.
“Nipa is like an ‘ice breaker.’ The seniors immediately light up when they see him and start talking to him and me. Even seniors that don’t want to join in other activities or talk to me individually welcome me when I have Nipa with me at work. Nipa brings a lot of joy to seniors and to see them happy makes me happy.” Tiina said.
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Nipa graduated cat school with a basic knowledge in clicker training and has kept learning with Tiina ever since
Tiina also shared with us about their daily routine and it dedicated that Nipa was so smart, lovable, and beyond the averageness.
“I wake up and dress for work. Meanwhile, Nipa wants to smell the fresh air from the window. After that, I go to the toilet and Nipa comes with me. Fun fact: he usually also pees in his litter box when I sit on the toilet. When I brush my teeth, he usually lays on my shoulders. Then we clicker train for about 5-15 minutes. He asks for it by running over to his clicker training toolbox and when we start the training, he usually starts purring. Then I go to work and when I come home, he is waiting for me at the door. Some days, I bring him to work to cheer up the seniors.”
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Nipa is now a wholesome therapy cat—he lays on seniors’ laps and lets them pet him to cheer them up
Using a clicker to train pets is really popular recently. This can be the announcement of completing things successfully and once your pets know it (after being fed some treats), they will constantly repeat that behavior. Tiina revealed they had a second training session twice a day.
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“Now, in the summertime, I put him outside in his catio for about two hours after work, or I walk him on a leash. In the evening when I watch TV, Nipa is somewhere close to me, often in my lap cuddling. At some point in the evening, we have a second clicker training session for about 5-15 minutes. When we go to sleep, Nipa sleeps next to my pillow or in his nest beside my bed.”
And what trick do you think Nipa is best at? Surprisingly, it’s skateboarding! “He tells me in the middle of a training session that he wants to skate by walking over to the skateboard.”
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You can see some more tricks on the Instagram account, Tiina advised cat parents should let them join the cat school training and spend about 15 minutes practicing those tricks.
One of Nipa’s favorite tricks is “cop cop”—walking up the stairs with his paws atop a human’s feet
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He also likes skateboarding and putting shoes on. And yes, it’s still about a cat
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Here are a few more of Nipa’s adorable tricks
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“Nipa is social, curious, and loving. He follows me around the house and keeps me company. He is also great at car rides”
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