Having never heard of it myself, a friend of mine introduced me to cat breading last weekend. Here’s how the conversation went:

While admittedly most cats probably aren’t thrilled by this hot new internet meme…

… I don’t think it’s any worse than putting hats or e-collars on cats. It may sound a little far-fetched, but I can see integrating breading into a training plan to help a cat learn to be OK with having items on and around her head and face. This would help with pilling, administering eye drops, cleaning ears, etc.

While an untrained cat will quickly remove a slice of bread and probably avoid his or her owner for hours and possibly days, I don’t see why a trained cat can’t learned to love it! Or at least tolerate it.

Here’s how I would do it. (Keep in mind I do not have a cat and have never breaded one myself). I would be more than willing to try this on a volunteered kitty. Otherwise, you should try it, film it, and send me your videos. I’ll feature the best video right here, on my blog, and give you one of any of the recommended cat products from my site.

To increase your chances of quick success, start with a kitty that really enjoys rubbing his or her head against objects. Fearful kitties and cats that show aggression toward people are going to take much longer to train or may never accept breading. A good rule of thumb is to not force or push a cat too far; a characteristic as specific as the cat your are working with.

Steps

1. Start with a soft, light piece of fabric (i.e., a towel, blanket, old shirt) and let kitty rub her head all over it. Reward her with food for each rub.
2. Cut a large hole in the fabric, lure and reward kitty for putting her head through the hole. Never force anything onto her head.
3. Gradually, over several training sessions, decrease the size of the hole until it’s 1/2 an inch larger than the size of your cat’s head. Continue to reward her! If she acts worried or scared, stop training, make it easier for her and start again once she’s calm. Reward continuously while her head is through the hole. Slowly start to space out treats, milliseconds at a time (I’m not kidding!). She should voluntarily put her head in the hole and you should remove the fabric before she backs out.
4. Introduce a really soft bread first. The experts recommend starting with a soft white. Let her rub and sniff the bread. Reward for any interaction.
5. Repeat the training steps above except the goal hole for your bread slice will be 1 inch larger than your cats head.
6. Gradually work up to your stiffer breads like multi-grain and rye.

If you take your time and do it right, there really isn’t much (within reason) you can’t teach your pet.

So why hasn’t breading dogs caught on?

Most of the bread is gone before you can grab your camera!

Happy cat training!