November 7, 2009 - 1:00am

He'll teach you how to train your cat

Training a cat to walk a tightrope sounds preposterous to the average cat owner who can’t get their cat to come when called. Yet getting cats to jump through hoops and push dogs in buggies in front of thousands of people has earned Ukrainian-born juggler Gregory Popovich a fortune in North America and fame on Letterman and Leno.
Popovich admits that at first the notion of training house cats seemed nearly impossible “given their famously independent streak that knows no rival in the world of domestic animals.” But now, having trained dozens of stray cats to perform in six circus shows a week in Vegas, Popovich is able to share for the first time his techniques for teaching a cat everything from circus stunts to how to stop pooping outside the litter box.

In his new book You CAN Train Your Cat, Popovich writes that it was important to figure out “how to get inside a cat’s mind.” While a dog “will go through all sorts of contortions in order to gain a doggy treat . . . most cats prefer a loving pat or a little kiss on its cheek from its master, accompanied by an exclamation of praise, such as, ‘What a good kitty you are!’ The human voice, when used correctly, can have a hypnotizing effect on a cat.”

If you’re adopting a cat to train for tricks, Popovich advises, search the shelter for a cat that’s less than a year old, with an outgoing personality.