El Paso Humane Society’s cat ‘Paw-sitive’ program teaches cats new tricks

Contrary to popular belief, cats are trainable animals. They just require more specialized training compared to dogs.

This past spring, the El Paso Humane Society introduced their “Cat Paw-sitive Program.”

“It’s really simple, anybody can do it even little kids can so it’s a lot of fun,” said Kim Lambert, the Enrichment Coordinator for the shelter.

“It’s basically a clicker training for cats. So, we got a grant for some treats, some clickers and equipment and we went through some training on how to train cats,” said Lambert.

Thirty to thirty-five cats have gone through the program since it began.

“I have a fairly small team that I kind of work with and we kind of pick cats that may be a little bit more shy, a little bit more timid, and come out of their shell,” said Lambert.

Through the program, the cats in the shelter are taught behaviors like sitting on cue, high fives and other responses that challenges the cats mentally and gets them to think about something other than napping in their kennels.

The program has already made an impact when it comes to getting cats adopted.

“It’s also really neat because when we see people come in and they see cats working and doing cute behaviors like high fives, we can also teach customers how to do it at home,” said Lambert.

The ‘Cat Paw-sitive Program’ is also a great way for cats to transition at a new home.

“They’re in a stressful environment here at the shelter. So when they go home to a new environment the transition can be kinda rough so we encourage the customers to continue that training. It helps the cats overcome the stress of the change in their environment.”

You can take part in changing the lives of the dozens of animals at the Humane Society by taking part in our “Be a star – Save a life” Telethon happening right here on ABC-7 on Saturday August 3rd.

The telethon goes live starting at 4 p.m. and will stay on the air through 11 p.m.