Essential Skills to Teach Your Cat: unlock the secrets to optimal health and happiness

Get ready to unleash your cat's full potential! In this episode of Call the Vet, join Dr. Alex and special guest, accredited animal behavior technician Leili from Supakit, as they reveal essential skills to teach your cat.

From harness training to recall and carrier comfort, discover expert tips for fostering a happy, confident feline. Uncover the art of training, understanding your feline friend's body language, and building a strong bond that lasts a lifetime.

Dive into more cat training tips over in the full show notes

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Transcript

Dr. Alex:

Leylie, welcome back to the show. I can't believe it's been 3 years since we we spoke, with yourself and Kevin about kind of everything we we needed to know, everything that we didn't know we needed to know about cat collars and cat harnesses. Since we've spoken, you've kind of done been diving into the world of cat. So I'd love to know more about about that because I guess it's, you know, core to everything that you were talking about even with with collards and harnesses. It's really, like, crucial for our cats.

Leili:

Yeah. I think we, oh, thank you, by the way, for having me. It's really, really a joy to to be here and I think my journey with cat behavior was a really organic one in that I think When we developed our collars and harnesses at Supercare, we became aware that, like, a good design got you, like, maybe the 70% of the way there, but you couldn't really have success with political harnesses without training. So that was kind of like my first taste of it and then the passion grew from there and I also started volunteering at a local sanctuary with socializing their cats and seeing how important, you know, understanding of cat behavior is at that sort of, very critical moment in a cat's experience. And so I went off and, trained and became accredited as a, an animal behavior technician, so I'm able to, guide humans and their animals in, behavioral first aid and most crucial thing I'm most passionate about is ways of managing and interacting with your animals behavior your cat's behavior to prevent issues down the line, which is obviously so much better than having issues in the first place. So that's, that's a big passion of mine.

Dr. Alex:

Yeah. And I think a lot of, kind of behavioral more behavioral problems in cats. That they often stem for, you know, from, I guess, that lack of understanding of what they what their needs are, and all of the different things that we could do to try and, you know, optimized to provide their needs and and to optimize their their well-being and their mental health as well. And I think, you know, I I've spoken a lot. And, obviously, on this platform, we speak a lot about physical health, but that mental health aspect is just so crucial for a cat's overall well-being.

Leili:

Yeah. I don't know if you can pick up Lola on your microphone, but she certainly agrees She's here chatting away in the background. So if you hear strange squeaks, that's why Yeah, I mean, I think it's absolutely essential I mean, we know it from you know, our own well-being that if you're you're not happy and settled and feel safe and calm and you know, it's all downhill from there. So I think, you know, getting all caps to a place of like complete happiness and, kind of feeling very safe and supported in their surroundings. It's great for them. It's great for your bond together and it basically, I You know, can rule out or prevent a lot of, you know, behavioral issues down the line. So, yeah, I think it's it's absolutely essential.

Dr. Alex:

Yeah. And they were just thinking I mean, the things that spring to my mind are are urinating outside of the litter tray or spraying, which is actually one of the biggest causes of rehoming or even euthanasia in young cats, destructive behavior, you know, clawing at your sofas, and and just, I mean, like, not just not living their best life. So I guess with that with that in mind lately, we're we're we're talking about the essential skills that we can teach our cat. And and we think of dogs as we're teaching them skills. We're teaching them training. And we don't often think of cats really, but that it'd be at the forefront of everything, and we should be thinking about that at the very early stages, I guess.

Leili:

Yeah. I think it does a huge disservice to our cats really and, Like, I've been thinking about this issue a lot of friends of mine recently, adopted some cats and asking I think they'd had friends that adopted dogs at the same time and they had seen how they were the dog owners were embarking on, you know, dog school and all sorts of training and they were really thinking about like the basic commands they need to teach their dogs and they were sort of looking at their cats and thinking am I supposed to be doing this or, or not? And so, I had to think about it with kind of them in mind about actually what are the things That you can do with your cat, especially if you're bringing a new cat home, but I would say at any point in your cat's lifetime or its lifetime in your home, That can kind of pave the way for success, that can keep them happy and healthy, but also set them up for everything They're likely to encounter with you, together so that when those moments come, you have this beautiful body of kind of prep and training, to Yeah. To serve your cat in those moments.

Dr. Alex:

And I guess you've then got the skills even if it's not exactly what your cat needs at that time, you've got the skills to implement other other changes and other strategies that that may that may help them. So what what kind of things should we be teaching our cats? Or what what how do we go about introducing this in the first case? It's I guess it's a case of starting off with with baby steps and and building on there maybe?

Leili:

Yeah. I think a really nice place to start because essentially your cat has to understand Like, what's what you're doing together, the idea that you're gonna be learning things together. So it's nice to begin with something quite straightforward so you you can both get the hang of this new dynamic you're kind of embarking on. So I think a really nice place to start is with recall because it's so that's So training your cat to come when you call them. Probably you would end up using their name and, the lovely thing about it, it's a way of getting your cat to checking with you. So it's super practical. I don't know about you, but cat like my cats, they hide, we can't find them in the house or you just need them to check-in with you because you need to taking to the vet or you need them to, you know, just come to a different room in the house. So, yeah, I think recall is a really nice place to begin you can, kind of one of the kind of heartlands of training is finding something that your cat really loves.

Leili:

So it's a good, training environment to test out different rewards for your cat. So probably food based rewards were like an easy win, But, you could also experiment with play or, like stroking, but it has to be something your cat actually likes, not something you like doing To your cat, but once you find that thing that your cat finds really rewarding, then you can use that to, to reward them for engaging in different behaviors. And I think, yeah, so a recall would be an example. You could hold out a little bit of food, get them to take a step or two towards you and then, give them the food when they arrive and then essentially the process of training is lengthening that distance and adding in their name once they've got the kind of the behavior of the recall really, like, well established.

Dr. Alex:

You know, I love that. So I'm just thinking when it comes to to to food treats, is there anything in particular that cats really, you know, go for in your experience and other, you know, other people's experiences as there's some kind of absolute winners. Because I I guess there's a lot of different options there available now. And I think you know, back when I graduated, we say, oh, cats, they don't really do treats. So, but there's so many different op options, which what what are some of the best ones that you find work really well?

Leili:

I find often cats will have a, like, a real passion for a lickable tree, and the nice thing about a lickable tree is you can, of deliver it in very small doses. So with any form of like food based treat, I would say give them as little as you can get away with. So, you know, don't give your cat like a huge like, you know pile of, snacks if they're, you know, willing to engage in training for just one at a time. So, yeah, lickable treats are really nice. One other thing actually I do, my cat has quite a sensitive stomach, is I use her regular food. So it's like a cat sort of pate type food. But I add some boiled water or even just ping it in the microwave for a minute, so it's much more warm and obviously that like releases aromas and she's just more into it. So you might find if a cat's already like a huge fan of dinner time anyway you could keep back a little portion of that and then warm it up so that it becomes kind of more of a treat.

Leili:

So yeah, I would kind of experiment and just you could always just try like little pieces of, you know, like boiled chicken or dehydrated, like a chicken or duck treats often go down quite well. But, yeah, have a little play. That's usually something that your cat will go do lally for, and sometimes it takes a bit of experimentation, but, you'll have fun, both of you, in the process.

Dr. Alex:

Yeah. Yeah. I love that warming trick. I mean, that's a really great way to get a cat who's, you know, maybe not that hungry to to to get the meeting, you know, for whatever reason. They're so that that sense of smell is just so important to drive their appetite that some yeah. It can be just just the turning point that that's needed. And should we be doing these these these training lately? Should we be doing that when they're hungry then? Is that a good this so that they're more motivated?

Leili:

Yeah. I I would say before meal times is quite a good time because if you're using a food based treat, They'll be kind of motivated to work for it. But also, if you're using play as the reward, cats are kind of if you think about their, like, natural hunting sequence, it's like jump around stalk prey eat So it fits into that pattern quite nicely the play they need. So yeah, I think that's actually a really nice nice time to engage in training and I would say it really short, like, just a couple of minutes. You know, our cats do have fairly short attention spans, so don't make it a big deal.

Dr. Alex:

Yeah. Yeah. So that's different from maybe dogs where, you know, they're going to the the the training class for an hour, and and they're getting trained for that whole length of time. Keep it short. Keep it sweet. And and and I guess keep it regular as well. It wants to be a daily, twice daily kind of experience if we're doing it that short length of time.

Leili:

Yeah. Actually, I mean our cats are really creatures of habit as well. So if you can commit to like a regular schedule, that's like every day at a certain time of day. That's the best because, essentially, your cat will learn to expect it. They'll turn up. They'll remind you that it's trading time, which is really handy. So Yeah. They want their treats.

Dr. Alex:

Yeah. I love that. So, so we've got the the recall. We started off with that recall. I think that's a, you know, that's a hugely important training mechanism to to implement and to get down because, I mean, especially if, you know, in in in the world of Superkit, when we're getting harnesses on our cats and we're taking them out Safely just having that back up knowledge that they do have a strong recall should anything happen. It it is, I I guess, peace of mind if if nothing else. What's the what's the next thing that we should be training them to do?

Leili:

Then I I would think about kind of a set of, skills that are all around the ideas of handling. So there are ways that we are going to need to handle our cats and our lives with them that they are not naturally going to be used And if they're not used to them could be kind of stressful for them. I know this is something you know you've talked about a lot Alex. So I think it's really beneficial to Practice those handling skills in advance before you need them so that your cat is kind of, I mean there's no intrinsic reason that a cat shouldn't like, For instance, having its claw retracted to have its nails trimmed. There's nothing actually bad about it, but it's just weird to them because it's new. So if we can familiarize themselves, familiarize our cats with that new sensation and get them happy with it then we can, yeah, then it won't be a big deal for them. So I'm thinking about getting them ready for nail clipping Getting them ready for tooth brushing and also being able to pick your cat up which you know, I would say these are skills that we want our cats to know but then I wouldn't force them on your cat if they're not into it if your cat is not naturally loving being hugged and danced around the house like don't use this skill to do that, but it is useful to have it in your toolkit and for all of them kind of strategy wise I would think about taking some time to first of all just watch your cats and I like to think about a traffic light system, so like a green, amber and red zone in terms of how our cat was looking and feeling. So like a green zone cat would be a cat that's like super happy and relaxed.

Leili:

I have a very open body language. Like we all know what our cats are like when they're happy relaxers kind of observe those, those cues in your cat. And then an amber zone cat is a cat just starting to feel a little bit unsure. You might notice them I mean just even looking away or like trying to disengage with something maybe licking their lips their posture often starts like Contract in a little, so they might just like get on there, get their elbows up and, like, hunch down a little bit. They're not like totally freaked out in the amber zone but they are just giving us some signs that they're like a bit bit unhappy with what's going on and then you've got like a red zone cat outside of cat who's super stressed Maybe flat ears maybe backing into a corner. You've probably seen this and you've You might have seen this, I guess, when you've taken your cat to the bed, it's one of the, like, most obvious places that we would see our cat under that sort of stress. So that's the zone we never want to go into. And then you can use those zones in your mind to think about kind of always trying to keep your cat in the green zone.

Leili:

If you see your cat in the amber zone, take things back a step with what you're doing in your training. So if I was training my cat to have their claws trimmed, how do you think about what's like The minimum first step I can take on the path to what I need to achieve. So it might be just touching my cap. It's not a gifting that they're gonna be cool with that. They might be and you can move on a few steps. But so if my cat is not at all, like, comfortable or used to the idea of being touched, I might just stroke them on like an easy to stroke area at the back of their, like back. I might observe their body language in the green zone. Great.

Leili:

Giving rewards on pairing that with a reward. And then I might, if they're in the green zone at that stage, I might take things on a little level. So maybe could I actually touch them in the vicinity of their pause? If they're in the green zone, great reward, carry on, amber zone. They're like, I'm not sure about that. I can take things back a step so I can go back to stroking them on a safe area. And essentially you let your cat dictate whether it's like a green for go, like try to try the next thing pairing with the rules all the way or like an amber. I'm not ready for that yet. Let's, work more on the easy stuff before we progress so you can do that with all of these camping skills with picking up, you know, just getting your cat at first use to having your hands on the side of them without lifting them up at all and take things 1 step further And, yeah, I think, you know, those are really nice things to work on with your cat because you can essentially take the stress out of those situations and tell them from something where your cat's like, I've never experienced this before, so it's probably a no go.

Leili:

I'm not into it. Stop. To, oh, that's the thing that comes with treats. I'm really into that. Let's Let's go. I'm into it.

Dr. Alex:

Yeah. Yeah. No. Wonderful. And and and if we're trying to push because the because because it can in some instances. Those those baby steps can be so small and almost so painfully slow that we want to try and push them a little bit further. But if we do that, then actually we can end up just going backwards, kind of, you know, 1 step forward to 2 step back because they just go, no. I and, actually, what was a green now becomes a a a yellow, and and you have start from the very beginning again.

Dr. Alex:

So those those really small small baby steps are important. And I guess the benefit of doing it really early in a cat's life as well, thinking of, claws. You know, a lot of the time, we don't actually need to clip our our cat's claws if we're providing them, you know, with the scratching posts and and, you know, that that stimulation there. As they get older and then maybe they become arthritic and they're a little bit painful, if that's the 1st time we're trying to touch their sensitive feet because their claws have actually grown round into their pads, which is unfortunately something that I do see on a not irregular basis. Mhmm. You know, they're almost never going to accept that because they've got that level of pain and discomfort and anxiety that's just built up over time that, you know, makes it really challenging than in our older cats.

Leili:

Hopefully, I think with all of these things, it's kind of nice to teach them before you need them because, like you said, we're going at our cap pace. Don't know what that's gonna be. Some things they might be really cool with straight away, but some things might take more time. I mean, like, it's not a huge investment of time. We're talking a couple of minutes a day.

Dr. Alex:

Yeah.

Leili:

But, you know, a period of time. But, you know, you don't want it's like you don't want to start learning French the week before you go on holiday to France. You wanna have been doing it for a few years in advance. That's what I'm thinking about here is like establishing those, core behaviors when the day comes that you need to use it your life. Well done past May. You know, well done past Kat. Like, we're ready for this. Let's go.

Dr. Alex:

Yeah. Yeah. And then, I mean, it's also great bonding, isn't it? Like, you just to spend time with your cat. I mean, it's it's intentional time as well where you're actually properly concentrating on them and learning to read their body language. Grid. So, you know for your relationship as well and yeah, it's it's just amazing

Leili:

Yeah, it really is. It's just it's so much fun if it's not fun like reassess and have a think about like, why is it because it should be? It should be fun for both of you and it should be a period of your day that you look forward to together. And then also like the identify, but I say that sort of green amber redsides. I use that all the time with my cat and sometimes she really surprises me like I'm not expecting to see an amber and I'm like that is an amber sign like what are you not who with him and then I can start to unpack it and it's it's just because I'm kind of Kind of willfully tuned into those queues, so I can't ignore them. They really stand out to me now when I see them in our day to day lives.

Dr. Alex:

Yeah, we probably all have them as well as people, don't we? And we should be aware of what our, significant others' green green, amber, and red signs are. Same luck at the same time. Yeah. So so we're so, yeah, I mean, Nelt Neltrim was fantastic. You know, looking in their mouths, in their ears. They're all kind of quite sensitive areas as well. I mean, if you see a, you know, like a body map of, you know, nerve density in people, you know, your hands are massive and your head's massive and your body's really small. So it's often all all those sensitive areas that are the important bits as well to look at, aren't they?

Leili:

Yeah, definitely. And I think it's also about building trust together, right? So your cat has to trust that like when you touch them or when someone else touches them, But bad things do not happen and you can only really build up that trust through a body of experience. And that's why, yeah, that variety that, like, you know, calm in home training. I think it is just just so important.

Dr. Alex:

Yeah. So so you you said that one of the times we'll see, one of the red or the red signs of of them being really stressed out is at the vet clinic, which is unfortunate, but also it's true. I think a lot of that comes down to the buildup to that vet visit. And they're going in their cage, which they only ever do when they go to the vets, and they're not familiar with it. They then go in the car, which they never do, and then they're already super wound up at the vet clinic. And then they have a stranger like me poke and prodding all those sensitive bits that we may met or may not have got them used to. So that is probably one of the next places we can really target with with these skills that we can train our cats to to actually enjoy even.

Leili:

Yeah. A 100%. I think the carrier is a really important one to to because it's an it's an easy win actually, I think, to get your cat comfortable with their carrier. I would say, you know what a lot of us do and I've been guilty but myself is kind of like buy a carrier, chuck it in the garage, get it out on vet days bundle our cat into it because you're late and you've had to look for them because you haven't trained their recall. And And the whole thing is such a stressful experience that, like, never mind arriving at the vet. I'm already, you know, having a really Bad day. But what you can do very easy to get your cat used to that carrier is, first of all, put it in the heart of the home, the place That it's kind of like your cat's inner sanctum. I know it sounds weird, but I think we would all know where that is in our home.

Leili:

Yeah. For sure. Yeah.

Dr. Alex:

Where where they where they feel safe and where they love to spend their time. Yeah.

Leili:

Yeah. Exactly. So put the carrier there, open it up, make a little maybe a bread crumb bread crumb trail of treats leading up to it to encourage them to explore it, fill it with their favorite blanket, their favorite toys. When they get into it, Give them food rewards or engagement play or stroking, something they really love. So essentially, the camera becomes like the fun palace. Yeah. And then over a couple of weeks, once you've established the idea that this is the place where, like, really good things happen, Then you can start to think about maybe putting the lid on or maybe closing it. But, again, like we talked about with the handling, these need to be baby steps.

Leili:

So, like, if it's a carrier with a that. And you've had the zipped opening open until now. I would say step 1 is touch the zip. That's it. And then maybe, like, pull it closed an inch and then open it again. And at each stage again watching for our cats, making sure they're they're in the green zone, pairing these new experiences with the things that they find rewarding so that they learn that it's totally cool that it's like yes it's new It's a new experience, but it comes with treats, and I'm having fun and it it's all good and safe. I would also add actually if you can If you've been guilty of the the garage bundling scenario, maybe if you can consider getting a new carrier so you can kind of start From fresh rather than having to work to undo those maybe bad associations that they've built up that that can help. But even if you can't, you can undoing bad associations just by, building up the good associations.

Leili:

So it it's doable, definitely.

Dr. Alex:

Yeah, they might take a little bit longer if we're trying to override previous bad bad experiences. In terms of in terms of carrier lately, I'd I'd wonder if you've got thoughts on what the best type of carrier is that cats enjoy and maybe feel safest in because there's so many different types out there. I mean, I've been a vet for 17 or so years now, and I'm still seeing new designs of carrier that are still horrendous. But what kind of carrier, you know, is is really cat friendly in terms of comfort and and safety and security when they're in stressful situations because they've got dogs in the waiting room or, you know, they've got really loud vehicles or or or what have you?

Leili:

I mean, things I look for in a carrier is You want it to be like decent size. It doesn't need to be palatial, but you don't actively want it to constrain your cat. I think it's nice if it has a solid base because we want our cats to feel safe and if it's like a very flimsy cloth face underneath them, that's going to be harder to get used to It's easy to think, oh, I want it to happen in the window so my cat can look out. But if you're taking your cat into an environment where there were stressful visuals, I would say actually having a carrier that can be kind of closed down visually or bringing a blanket to, toss over it is is gonna be Helpful for your cat. But, yeah, I think just I mean, think about what really strange thing to say, but, like, think about what you would wanna be carried in. I'd want feel at least sturdy. Like I wouldn't want to feel like the floor was going to drop out of it any time. I wouldn't want it to be like, Yeah.

Leili:

Very flimsy. So I think that's something to to think about when you're looking for carriers. What what are your because I know vets have really strong views on carrier. Oh, I feel like they do. So Let's

Dr. Alex:

hear it. So I'd I'd I'd yeah. I'd I'd agree with all of those points nice and sturdy. I think somewhere where they can we can easily take the lid off, because we don't want to I mean, and I get them that either they're not able to separate them or they're bolted shut, so you would need your your wrench to to get them apart, which you're never going to do. But but you don't want to be reaching into the carrier through that tiny door and then pulling the cats out. That's, you know, really, really counterproductive in terms of them feeling safe and secure. So being able to lift the lid off, being able to easily get back together as well, just some of these things that are full of plastic clips. An yeah.

Dr. Alex:

A reasonable size, not too big. I think carrying how we carry a carrier is actually quite important. So they've all got handles at the top, which then swing as you walk, and the cats really don't like that. So, actually, quite aside from the fact that you're worried that the panda might break and they plummet to the ground, but also just carrying them kind of like, you would a heavy parcel, I guess. So from the bottom, I think is quite a good way regardless of what what we're we're getting. So, yeah, a few a few thoughts there there. I guess a big enough door as well that it's easy to get your to help encourage your cat in if they're a little bit more reluctant, shall we say, but never trying to get to the stage where you're kind of cramming them, you know, cramming them in and ending up battered and bruised yourself. So, yeah, those are my thoughts, I guess.

Dr. Alex:

But but familiarity, whatever you're familiar with and they're familiar with is is going to be the most appropriate thing for sure.

Leili:

Definitely. It makes total sense.

Dr. Alex:

Yeah. And then so we've got them in the carrier, then it's getting into the car. And I guess we're talking you know, we've spoke about baby steps. It's very similar to get them used to being in a vehicle.

Leili:

Yeah. I mean, if you think about most cats' experiences of vehicles, they probably got in one to kind of arrive at your home, which although it's like a joyous day was probably very stressful for them because it's a lot of new. And then you probably put them in your car to taking to the fact. So chances are if you sort of randomly pick a a cat out of the population, their association with cars are not off the bat gonna be great. So we can completely undo that it's not a problem but it's worth just bearing in mind that probably with car training like really think about those baby steps. So I would actually start in the home like get your carrier training done, put them in the carrier and then maybe literally just open front door, take a step outside And we're back in. I mean once you get to the car think about it from your cat's perspective So, You know, when a human thinks of driving in a car, you think, oh, I don't know. It's going to be, maybe slightly more noisy when I'm driving.

Leili:

But think about, You know, the slam of the car door, the rush of the air as the pressure changes inside, the sound of the ignition, the bumps, the like changing lives, the fact the world's moving past faster. Those are all things that if you break them down individually you can get your cat used to but it kind of you need to put your cat senses on And think about I would almost go for a drive yourself and just tally up all the things that would be new to your cat and then work on them 1 by 1 using that kind of Gradual process.

Dr. Alex:

Yeah. Yeah. And then they absolutely can love it. I mean, I think we have a lot a big, population of people who, you know, travel around in camper vans or caravans, and they bring their cat with them. And the cat loves, you know, the cat loves it. They they're not restrained, which is, you know, maybe not ideal, but, you know, sitting up on the dashboard, looking at the world goodbye, and I'm absolutely loving it. So maybe it's, you know, the one of the biggest myths out there that cats hate traveling in cars. It's just that it's so familiar to them.

Leili:

Yeah. Exactly. I mean, it's just new. I mean, take the example of the carrier. You might think that cats are generally scared carriers, but you bring a cobble box home. Your cat's not scared to get in that. There's nothing intrinsically like scary about these things. They're just new and weird and cats to just not into new and weird.

Leili:

So you just gotta guide them gently through that process when they come out on the other side of it. Usually, it's a bit like, you know, the kid at the top of the water slide that's get to go down and then once they've been down once they want to go down like a 100 times Our cats are normally like that once you guide them through to the other side of feeling a bit weirded out by something normally They're like I'm into this. Let's do it. I'm ready for my treat. Let's go.

Dr. Alex:

I love that example because that was my son in, a recent holiday. He was really scared of that really steep steep slide and and chickened out at the beginning, but then got there at the end and then really regretted the fact that he hadn't hadn't gone for the whole time down the really scary water slides. Was quite pleased because I was having to follow him on all of those. But, yeah, absolutely the same for our cats. And then, I guess, lately, kind of coming on to, yeah, one really important thing, and we spoke about this last time we had the conversation, is is the importance of collars, and the importance of harnesses for those that are, you know, maybe in indoor that's when we want to allow them to explore the outdoors in a safe, controlled, manner. But getting them used to collars and harnesses clearly then has to be the next the next step.

Leili:

Yeah. Definitely. I would it's like it's very easy to kind of think I'll just put it on my cat and they'll just get used to it like but The a, that doesn't work, and you're gonna have to undo it in the kind of, like, association in the long run, but b, it's so much more joyful to make it something your cat actively looks forward to wearing is kind of into and, and accept rather than something you foist upon them. So, you know with collar training, I would I mean it's the same thing. The nice thing is once you learn how to do these things you can apply the techniques to any new thing you need to introduce your cat to. So you know with a collar I was wouldn't start by putting it on them. I would start by you know letting my cat just be in the vicinity of it and pairing that experience with rewards. So they're like oh when that things out good things happen and then I would think about maybe letting them sniff it like and explore it that we are rewarding my cat for taking a positive interest in it and only then would I start to think about well, how am I gonna need to position myself to put this collar on? You know, where are my hands gonna go? Am I gonna brush their whiskers as I put it on because I should maybe you know just brush their whiskers and getting used to that feeling if they're you know keeping them in the green zone obviously and then you know just do it up like so it's under their chin and then take it away and then work up to the experience of fully closing it.

Leili:

And it sounds a bit laborious, But it's really like it's very fast. We're only talking about a couple of minutes training and the difference in how our cats react to them versus just popping a collar on and then be like, what is this thing that's new and it's around my neck? It's completely night and day. So I think it's well worth it like probably cumulatively 10 minutes of training to get your cat, you know, happy and used to wearing their collar. And I would also say start off with just the collar so don't put, you you know, big accessories, your tracker, your ID tag on it at first. Like, introduce those things once your cat is used to wearing their collar.

Dr. Alex:

You know, and having yeah.

Leili:

Yeah. Exactly. And like you said, jangly is a really important thing because it will have a noise and so That is another thing to familiarize our cats too. So getting used to just the sound of it before you put it on their collar. So, yeah, that's that's kind of how I would approach call a trading. And I think it's really, really essential. And People can't believe it when they try it. They're like, my cat loves it, Colin.

Leili:

When I take it off to put their feet treatments on, my cat misses it. And it's like, that's that's right.

Dr. Alex:

Success. And I guess partly that's, you know, how our what our collars are made of and how they fit and and all that kind of thing, which I know we spoke a lot, and I'll link our last conversation in the show notes as well. But since we last spoke lately, because you you know, the the the collars and the harnesses that you produce at Superkit, were originally all leather, a wonderful, kind of nice soft leather. I got a couple for for my cats as well. But you've got a new product, and I think, actually, Kevin kind of hinted at it when we when we first spoke, but you've got kind of the the cork products, I guess. And that's not something that I you know, certainly me not knowing about cork thinks of as a a secure, reasonable product that we could make a cat collar and harness out of, but I you know, there's lots of benefits as I understand it.

Leili:

You're lucky Kevin isn't here talking about court because he would have a 5 hour long podcast because it but but it comes from a real amazement with this kind of want the material that is natural because I think most of us we might have encountered well probably wine corks is like the extent of our experience with cork but that's Really not reflective of what Quot can do. So the Quot we use, it's from local, oak forests to our, workshop in Spain. And it's, made into this like super flexible, super smooth, kind of leather analog, I guess is the best way to quite a bit because it moves and feels like leather, but it's just made out of the Processed bark of oak trees and the oak trees survive which is is nice but I mean people often ask us like which one should I choose for my cat? Is the cork as good as the leather? I'm like, no, the cork is better than the leather because it's waterproof as well. So if you have like a real water baby adventure cat, then definitely steer you towards our our cork range. But yeah, it's just so soft and supple. I can't believe it honestly, but it is just like a wonder material and it's vegan and it's great for the environment.

Dr. Alex:

Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean and and I think that's really an important point because there is more and more evidence of the the environmental impact that our our pets have. And to be honest, I'm only aware of the figures for a dog, but a dog can be a a a, you know, medium sized or Labrador can have the same kind of impact as, as as us almost. You know, it's huge, and cats, okay, they're a little bit smaller, but it's still gonna be significant. And so anything we can do to reduce their environmental impact through sustainable you know, I guess using sustainable products, but also products that are gonna last a long time. Right? Because if you're not having to buy 4 collars because your cat hates them and keeps losing them or because they're cheap and nasty, you know, that's better than, you know, having them in landfill filling, you know, by just replacing with a single product that then lasts them for a really long period of time.

Leili:

Yeah. It's something that's obviously, like, at the core of of what we Do because I think it's really important that we have things that like you say last a long time I mean we found a super cab of frustration with collars that we just you know to be fair that our cats put in organic landfill every couple of weeks because they would lose them and shed them and we just have to buy a new one so Yeah I think and obviously luckily our cats are passionate about natural materials as well so they prefer the scent of things like leather or the cork and it becomes imbued with their natural scent as well. So it becomes like part of them. So it's a really nice situation where, you know our own ecological ideals and like, principles as consumers really align with a 100% is what's best for our cat. So, it's like a it's a very holistic, set of demands that our cat mate cats make.

Dr. Alex:

Yeah. And the the other thing lately that I I love about kind of Superkit as well is that because you you donate, meals to shelter cats as well, don't you?

Leili:

Yeah, we work with an amazing sanctuary called Blind Cat Rescue that is, the lifetime care sanctuary for blind and f IV and f e l v positive cats, the cats that, have maybe had a very tumultuous start to their lives are not really suitable for re homing, and would be at high risk of euthanasia. They get this amazing forever home where they are lavished with every care. And every time someone orders a super kit, it's a great honor to, To donate 2 meals, for every order to the cats at Blind Cat Rescue. And, if you head off to our YouTube channel, you can watch their stories because they are just Amazing cats who have found who've locked out and found an incredible home.

Dr. Alex:

Wonderful. So YouTube, where else can people go lately to find out all about Superkits and the work that that you do and, you know, dive into to your products as well if they're suitable for them.

Leili:

Yeah. So we probably the best, Hub is our website which is www.superkit.co, so just.co, where you can find our products but also our blogs and resources. Also the courses I run for harness training for cats. So, yeah, that's a great place to dive in. We could catch us on social. We're at Superket store on most social channels.

Dr. Alex:

There's a lot of there's a lot them. It's hard to keep up sometimes.

Leili:

Yeah. Probably not true, actually. I can't keep up with them.

Dr. Alex:

Well, Leylie, well, thank you so much for coming back to talk to us. I know our cats are gonna be so much better off for the information that you shared and and hopefully the the encouragement, to that that this really is a worthwhile thing that we should be doing that will improve the lives of our cats and our bond with them them as well. Just as a little teaser, Leily also came up with another amazing topic to talk about, so we will have her back on the show next year at some point. But, yeah, thank you so much for your time. It's been an absolute pleasure to talk to you again.

Leili:

It's been such Such a joy. Thank you so much for having me and for, letting me talk about this subject that I'm so passionate about. I really hope that this information has been useful.