Question
We have a tall climbing tree, which has the lowest resting platform quite high up. All but one of cats know how to climb down tail-first, but the 4-month old kitten comes down head-first. Climbing head-first is not easy, so he falls down often. Being that young, I would bet it hurts a bit, but he doesn't seem to mind. Anyway, is it possible to teach a young cat to climb down tail-first?
My idea with the tree was to offer a good continuous climb up without distracting platforms in-between. Should I change the tree / just let the kitten drop himself down like a rock / try to train him to climb down safely?
Answer
In my experience (having owned over a dozen outdoor cats), they tend to learn this skill on their own through trial and error. It helps if they have siblings and/or other cats they can watch and learn from as well. Although I was unable to find any formal documentation or guides on "how to train your cat to climb down", I did find this one which details how one owner trained their cats to climb down through the use of a harness, patience, and treats; the basic gist being, have your cat climb the post, then physically move their paws backwards/down.
Personally, I would be hesitant to attempt to "force" your cat to learn through physical intervention because if its unpleasant for them, they may come to associate the climbing post with discomfort and avoid it altogether. If you are concerned with the cat injuring itself, you may do well to add some kind of padding underneath the post, or lower the platform some, though I would dissuade you from going overboard with such measures because if it becomes "easy" for the cat to simply leap off, then that will impede the speed at which they learn to climb down.
Answered By - n00b