What's it like training kats?  (For Sandusky, did you get any training, and what was it like?)

I noticed that when I taught my domestic cats a couple of tricks (sit and sit up), I had to either coax them into it (for "sit up", I held a cat treat above the cat's head so that she'd reach for it) or wait until they did whatever it was naturally (like sitting).  

I tried once or twice the conventional training to teach "sit", where you push the rear end down to get the animal to sit, and although it works on dogs, cats seem to be too annoyed by being pushed to understand the trick.

What are kats like in training?

Depends on the cat and the task really.  They are creatures of habit, so if you can create an operant activity then it becomes very easy to "train" them to do simple things.  For those they like, they do want to please.  But when it's over, it's over.

But negative reinforcement is generally speaking a BAD idea  They respond well to positive reinforcement.

I've been astounded by large cat's ability to 'synergize' a complex series of tasks--or an unconventional task.  It is very difficult though to tell whether or not it is actual training or taking advantage of instinct

My kat has me trained VERY well. He enforces the head butt and the licking discipline. Very effective.

My 2 domestic kitties do have me pretty well trained.  My cat Rachael has taught me that when she wants water (although she has a water bowl), that I should pick her up and put her on the sink counter and turn on the water so that she can drink straight out of the faucet.  Then, before she drinks, I have to make a fuss over her.  She's a sweet kitty, though.