By Jenee Osterheldt

Source: The Kansas City Star, Mo.

"Dogs are more willing to please owners, whereas cats want to please themselves more or less, but that doesn't mean cats aren't trainable."

-- Allene Tartaglia, spokeswoman for the Cat Fanciers' Association

When you've fallen and you can't get up, the last thing you'd expect is for your cat to be the one to help you.

But that's what happened last week in Ohio when Gary Rosheisen, who has osteoporosis and balance problems, fell out of his wheelchair. His cat, Tommy, pressed the speed-dial button for 911. Rosheisen had tried to train the cat to do that but had never been sure whether Tommy had learned to do it.

Dogs have been known to rescue people from all kinds of danger, but when it comes to cats being trained to do things beyond staying off countertops and not scratching up the couch, it's just not common.

But Kansas City area animal behavior specialist Wayne Hunthausen says cats can be trained the same way we train dogs, by using the food-lure-reward method. It's a method in which food is used to lure an animal into a specific behavior, and once it achieves the behavior, you reward it with the treat.

The only real difference between dogs and cats is you can't force cats to do things the way you sometimes force dogs, Hunthausen says. You have to find a way to make the desired behavior easy for the cat rather than force it, he says.

Using speed dial is something he says wouldn't be that difficult to train a cat to do. The younger, more active and more curious the cat is, the easier the training will be.

"You would have to find some way to get the cat to touch the phone," Hunthausen said. "Initially you might put a piece of food on there or something that is of interest to the cat to get it to touch the phone in the appropriate area. Reinforce the behavior with food.

"Cats are finicky, and that could be a challenge -- finding something to reinforce the behavior -- but once you get the cat to touch it, you form a cue word so you can get the cat to do it on command."

Toni Woolard says she knows training is possible but not easy.

"Cats aren't as trainable as dogs. I have two Labs and my cats, so I know. Cats are just so darn aloof and independent," says Woolard, an owner of two Burmese show cats and secretary of the Mo-Kan Cat Club. "I play with them with teasers and get them to do stuff with cat toys, but as far as training them, it's just not a requirement."

But cats trained to do the extraordinary, such as jumping through hoops and running obstacle courses, is becoming more common, says Allene Tartaglia, spokeswoman for the Cat Fanciers' Association based in Manasquan, N.J.

Also, cat shows are adding agility courses to their competitions, she says.

"Cats can be trained to jump through hoops, go through tunnels, go up stairs and do all of those things. Some cats do very well at it, and some don't care. A cat has natural curiosity about things, and it makes them trainable," says Tartaglia, who owns three cats that do not jump through hoops.

People train their cats to stay off things, but Tartaglia says she isn't sure why they don't train them to do tricks.

"Dogs are more willing to please owners, whereas cats want to please themselves more or less, but that doesn't mean cats aren't trainable," she says. "I think people have never taken the time to train cats or didn't know how to train cats."

But with patience, toys and treats, it can be done.

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