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Cats are greatly popular, and among the top favorites to have as pets. They are cute, fun, and greatly independent, making them easy to have around. However, if you don't know how to train them, your cute kitty, can turn into a great pain.

If you've ever spoken to someone about training a cat, they have probably told you that training a cat is one of the hardest things you will ever have to do. Cats aren't dogs, however they most definitely can be trained. Though they are known to be stubborn and known not to listen to anyone, cats are generally easy to train if you know what you are doing.

These are a few cat training tips to ensure a successful training program:

1. Don't give up

Two seconds into starting to train your cat, you might realize that's not a piece of cake, but it's not rocket science either. If you have trained another animal before, you have probably noticed that it's not easy, but it's not difficult once you look back on it. With training a cat, you have to stay focused and willing. Though it might take a little more effort, you can train your cat.

2. Respect Their Limits

In order to train your cat, you have to know what his/her personality is like. No two cats are the same, so if you know how your cat acts, it will make training much easier for you. You need to learn what your cat likes and doesn't like and go from there.

3. Know when to train your cat

When you are training your cat, you want to do it at the proper time. You shouldn't have to wake up your cat in order to train it. If you do, the cat probably won't listen to you. Also make sure that the time you do use training the cat is short. Don't drag out training sessions for hours at a time. The cat will get bored, and you will probably end up frustrated.

4. Use Positive Reinforcement

This is the most crucial part of your cat's training program. When your cat does the desired behavior you reward them with praise or a treat. Don't reward them out of the blue, because they will associate rewards with doing absolutely nothing. Also, remember not to punish them. If they do something wrong, don't react at all! This is important, you don't want them to associate what they did wrong with any attention what so ever.

5. Small steps

Though this might cause the training process to take a little longer, you have to take things slowly. You're teaching a new cat, new tricks, so it will take time. If you want your cat to learn something, you can't expect him/her to know how to do it that first day. For example, if you want to train your cat to use the toilet (yes, people do it these days), then it is best for you to gradually move the cat's litter box closer and closer to the bathroom that you want him/her to use. Don't immediately push the cat into the bathroom and expect that it will learn to use the toilet. Small steps will get you and your cat where you want to be.