This video shows cat petting which is too vigorous at the outset and it gets worse at the end when the owner is way too self-indulgent. It is almost as of they are miffed that their cat is moving away from them and yanks their cat back by tapping their cat too roughly under the chin. In fact this form of cat petting is no good anyway. It is simply not something that a domestic cat would enjoy and this cat’s reaction which has been almost entirely edited out demonstrates this – the cat tries to wriggle out of it. It is surprising that the person doing the petting also videoed themselves and uploaded it to social media.
Cat petting should be for the cat’s benefit, gentle and respectful
There is an interesting philosophical discussion about cat petting. Is it for the benefit of the cat’s human guardian or for the benefit of the cat or both? The answer is both but….the rules are set by the cat.
You can only stroke and pet your cat to the standards as set by your cat not by you. And you learn that by reading your cat’s body language and adjusting. Each cat has their own individual requirements but of course all domestic cats, in general, like very similar petting. But I stress that there will be variations in preferences which need to be observed and respected.
Another aspect of cat petting that can go wrong is when the owner relates to their cat as a human baby or over-anthropomorphises their cat and forgets that they are not far from a wildcat in terms of mentality. It is all about that big phrase: respecting the cat, which means understanding at all times that you are living with an entirely different species of animal and you have to fit in with your cat’s preferences.
You have to understand cat behaviour and emotions and respect them. That’s the way to a great friendship. Disrespecting the cat can lead to the cat retaliating and perhaps being aggressive which the owner might misunderstand or misread as the behaviour of an aggressive cat, which would be incorrect because they would have been provoked by bad petting.
