# Can you use a shock collar on a cat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 9, 2006, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-a-shock-collar-on-a-cat/372030 "2006-09-09T02:45:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-a-shock-collar-on-a-cat/372030/1 "2006-09-09T02:45:56Z")
I known people use these with dogs all the time for all sorts of training &conditioning to get rid of bad behaviors. Could you do this with a cat to stop bad behavior like clawing or urinating on things? Will a cat learn the same way a dog does not to repeat these things if they get zapped consistently? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-a-shock-collar-on-a-cat/372030/2 "2006-09-09T03:27:31Z")
[Here’s the general idea with a shock collar cat fence.](http://www.radiofence.com/cat_fence_premium.htm) I’m wondering if aversion conditioning can also be used for behavioral training like it is in dogs. ---
**Author:** ![cadolphin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c37758/32.png) [@cadolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cadolphin)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-a-shock-collar-on-a-cat/372030/3 "2006-09-09T03:41:13Z")
I’ve never heard of one used on a cat and would, personally, have a hard time using it on a dog or any other living being. YMMV May I suggest you invest in a squirt bottle instead. Most cats don’t like to get wet. It does the same aversion conditioning. However, you should know that most cats won’t “train”. They are independent and don’t respond to aversion conditioning or any other training. Kathy ---
**Author:** ![cadolphin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c37758/32.png) [@cadolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cadolphin)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-a-shock-collar-on-a-cat/372030/4 "2006-09-09T04:03:10Z")
After calming down after reacting from an emotional response, I am not qualified to answer your question. I’d suggest you ask your vet as the behaviour may be caused by something medical rather then behavioral plus the vet would be able to give you advice on such a collar. Please forgive my emotional response. Kathy ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-a-shock-collar-on-a-cat/372030/5 "2006-09-09T04:12:38Z")
I don’t know about other people’s cats but I do know that you could shock my Rocky until you killed him but you would never succeed in getting him to stop doing something he wanted to do or getting him to do something else. Not to say that I haven’t been able to get him to stop clawing the furniture; I did, by putting sticky tape on the furniture that he hates the feel of. But not by hitting him or shocking him or any of that. Spray with water works for a little while for some cats but not reliably; it just trains them to scratch on the chair while you are at work. The sticky stuff (or, alternatively, aluminum foil, which he also hates the feel of) works even when you’re gone. Aside from the cruelty issue, shocking just would not work. Not on any cat I have ever known. And by the way I don’t think you were too emotional, **Cadolphin**. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-a-shock-collar-on-a-cat/372030/6 "2006-09-09T04:20:37Z")
[QUOTE=cadolphin] After calming down after reacting from an emotional response, I am not qualified to answer your question. I’d suggest you ask your vet as the behaviour may be caused by something medical rather then behavioral plus the vet would be able to give you advice on such a collar. Please forgive my emotional response. Kathy [/QUOTE] I’m not getting either a cat or a collar. It’s simply an informational question. I know a dog trainer who occasionally uses dog shock collars in training dogs to assist disabled people. The dogs are “rescue dogs” which were slated to be destroyed, and some have (to humans) obnoxious behaviors, like constant whining, she needs to correct them out of before they can be placed. I’m asking simply out of curiosity as the trainability of cats using this method. Apparently the electric fence scenario works or they wouldn’t sell the product, so cats must be able to make _some_ association with behavior and negative reinforcement. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-a-shock-collar-on-a-cat/372030/7 "2006-09-09T09:21:56Z")
The dog trainer at our farm used shock collars occasionally. Primarily on actions that would happen far away, where he couldn’t correct the dog with verbal or body language cues. (A frequent case was young dogs retrieving – many stopped and chewed on the bird for a bit before bringing it back.) He always told the owners before he did this, and gave them a chance to decline. And he usually had the owner try the collar out on themself, so they understood what was involved. They would put the collar on their bicep area, and then press the button on themself. It gave a definate shock, but nothing disabling, and not that painful – nothing lingering, the pain stopped as soon as the shock ended. I’ve done it to myself, and it’s not that bad. Certainly much less than peeing on an electric fence! ---
**Author:** ![Ficer67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Ficer67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ficer67)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-a-shock-collar-on-a-cat/372030/8 "2006-09-09T12:26:23Z")
Absolutely you can use a shock collar on a cat. Some cats need two of them. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-a-shock-collar-on-a-cat/372030/9 "2006-09-09T12:44:33Z")
In the limited amount of “training” I have done with cats, they always seemed to work better with positive reinforcement than negative reinforcement - i.e. reward good behaviors rather than punishing bad ones. I have never tried a shock collar.