My cat, Charlie, likes to hold my hand as a sign of affection. Does your cat do something that you consider to be a sign of affection other than rubbing against you and licking you?
This is a bit of fun with a tiny dash of seriousness to ponder on. Without any training, my cat, Charlie, through his actions, tells me that he likes to hold my hand. It is nothing spectacular by the standards of cat-video-spectaculars. It is actually very unspectacular. It is nice though – for both of us; a little bit of bonding.
Charles first indicated to me that he liked to do this when I was resting my hand on the duvet and he put his hand on mine. The beginning of this happy routine was instigated by him. It is a habit now. All I have to do is put my hand out and he’ll hold it. Well, he is not exactly holding it but I hope you’ll accept a bit of poetic license. It is a near as a cat can get to holding a human’s hand.
I take it as a clear sign of affection. He likes to be in contact with me. This is flesh to flesh – “pressing flesh” as the saying goes for human handshaking.
Sometimes when I pull my hand away he’ll keep hold of it. He doesn’t use his claws. He just grips me with his toes.
A lot of the time a cat’s owner instigates the signs of affection. Their cat is the recipient. It isn’t always that way. Cats often lick their human companion. Mine does. And Charlie comes to me when I bang on the bed 😉 That is a type of training, I’ll admit. However, he likes to come to me. His behavior is reciprocated. He’ll ask for food and I’ll leap into action.
Cats often rub against us, which is the classic sign of affection and a scent exchange procedure. That and licking are probably the most common but, I am sure that, holding hands is less often seen.
However, occasionally, you will see it, cat-to-cat, as is shown by Dorothy’s Marvin touching/holding hands with his friend Daisy:
Dan, your Nicky sounds like a wonderful cat. Until Abby, I never had a Maine Coon so this was a new experience to me. I never ever thought I’d meet and feel the same way since my beautiful tortie, Sadie, crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Abby came back into my life the same time her human passed, so it was kismet! I’d love to post Abby’s picture – I just don’t know how. Michael, can you help me with this? I use Abby’s photo in place of mine on some sites, but I can’t figure out how to do it on this one. Thanks!
Thank you, Michael. Abby is just a sweetheart. Another thing she does is when I’m using the loo, she’ll jump up on the sink for me to turn on the water. As she’s drinking from the tap (her back to me), she wraps her tail around my arm. It’s just so sweet!
I am pleased that you have had the pleasure of cat hand holding. Perhaps the age of the cat and the age of the human facilitates this sort of thing. More time, more wisdom (from the cat ;))
That is a sweet story Dan. I can feel that friendship. Good communication too.
Charlie is 16.7 pounds. Not bad for moggie! He is a little bit overweight but not much. It’s more middle-aged spread. He is not young. He’s the biggest cat companion I have had.
You have very nice communication. This comes partly because you are very receptive to Abby’s communication and signs of affection. When cats know they trust a person and receive responses from that person it opens up and encourages communication.
Lilly does this with me, and I think the other 2 will when they get a bit older. Being young they don’t have much time for this kind of thing because they are always playing. Molly knows how to cuddle but Gigi has a long way to go. IT’s like she really wants to be affectionate but she doesn’t exactly know how to yet. I always follow her cue but I must say it can be confusing. She often looks at me and rubs against things and meows like she wants a cuddle but then when she comes running she is a little confused. But she watches me and the other 2 cuddle alot and is learning I think.