Count down, in your head, with the same tone an inflection that you would as if you were speaking out loud but then say "One" out loud.
Interested in hearing your results as I've never gone the route of giving an animal, let alone child, such treatment.
It's interesting, because I also suspect that cats are psychic hunters. I think they literally get into the brains of their prey and cause them to allow the cat to catch them. (If you've ever seen a bird land right in front of cat to be caught, you know what I mean.) Most of the time, the cats get a countdown when they want in or out and then just stand in front of the open door. After a couple of beats, I'll start, "Five, four, three," and they will end up moving just in time to get out before I get to one and shut the door.
My main point was about exercise on inflection and intent. I've been around enough cats to know that they know when to be at the right place at the right time and how to be at the wrong place just as equally.
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