If you teach your cat one trick to show off, make it the high-five. It’s quick to learn, endlessly charming, and — bonus — it gets your cat comfortable having its paws touched, which pays off at every nail trim for the rest of its life. Best of all, high-five works with a behavior cats already do: pawing at things to investigate them. You’re not inventing a new movement; you’re putting an existing one on cue.
This guide uses clicker shaping — rewarding successive approximations — to take your cat from a tentative paw lift to a confident palm tap, then adds the cue and fades the food.
Why high-five is easy
Pawing is hardwired into cats — they bat, tap and test the world with their front feet constantly. High-five simply takes that natural pawing motion and channels it onto your open hand, on a cue. Because you’re building on something the cat already does, the trick comes together fast, often within a few short sessions. It’s an ideal first or second trick, and a great way to learn the shaping technique you’ll reuse for everything else.
Charge your marker
Before teaching anything, make sure your marker means something. “Charge” your clicker (or the word “yes”) by clicking and immediately giving a treat, ten to fifteen times, until the click alone makes your cat perk up. The marker is what lets you tell the cat the exact instant it did the right thing — the moment its paw lifts — bridging that split second to the treat that follows. Good marker timing is the whole secret to a clean trick.
Reward the paw lift
Now the fun part. Hold a treat inside a loosely closed fist and present it to your cat at about chest height, close enough to investigate. Most cats will sniff, then paw at the fist to try to get the treat out. The instant a paw lifts toward your hand — even a little — mark (click or “yes”) and open your hand to deliver the treat. Don’t wait for a perfect high-five; at this stage, any paw lift earns the reward. Repeat until your cat is reliably offering a paw to make the click happen.
Shape the tap
Once the paw lift is reliable, raise your standard one step at a time — this is shaping:
- Require a touchNow only mark when the paw actually touches your fist, not just lifts toward it.
- Open your handSwitch from a fist to a flat, open palm, and mark when the paw lands on it.
- Ask for a real tapHold out for a clear, deliberate tap on your open palm before you mark.
- Raise the heightGradually lift your palm to high-five height so the trick looks the part.
Move up a step only when the current one is solid. If the cat stalls, you’ve asked for too much too soon — drop back a step and rebuild.
Add the cue
With a reliable palm tap, attach the cue. Just before you present your palm, say “high-five” (and/or use the raised-palm gesture as a hand signal). After enough repetitions, the word and the open palm come to trigger the tap on their own. Then begin fading the food: present an empty open hand as the signal, mark the tap, and deliver the treat from your other hand or a nearby pot. Now the high-five is a true cued trick, not a treat-lure.
Polish & troubleshoot
Keep practice short — a few minutes — and always end on a success. If the high-five gets sloppy (a swipe instead of a tap, claws out), simply raise your criteria again, marking only the version you want. From here, high-five is a perfect springboard: the very same shaping process teaches shake, wave and a whole list of tricks. And every time your cat offers that paw, it’s practicing the paw-handling that makes nail trims and vet visits easier — a charming party trick that quietly does serious work.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I teach my cat to high-five?
Shape it from a paw lift. Hold a treat in a closed fist near your cat; most paw at it. Mark and reward the instant a paw lifts toward your hand, then raise your standard — a touch, then a clean tap on your open palm — before adding the cue and fading the food.
How long does it take to teach a cat to high-five?
Often a few short sessions over a few days — it works with a cat's natural pawing. Adding a reliable cue and fading the lure to an empty hand takes a little longer, but most cats have a solid high-five within a week of brief daily practice.
Why won't my cat lift its paw?
Usually the treat isn't tempting enough, your hand is too high or far, or the session ran long. Use a loved treat, hold your fist at chest height and close enough to nudge, and keep it short. If the cat noses or bites the fist, just wait and mark the moment a paw moves.
Is teaching tricks good for my cat?
Yes. It's great mental enrichment, strengthens your bond, and high-five builds comfort with paw handling — making nail trims and vet visits easier. It's also pure fun, and a cat that enjoys training is more engaged and content.
Sources
- American Association of Feline Practitioners — Positive Reinforcement Techniques
- ASPCA — Cat Training & Enrichment