Gentle petting and speaking to shelter cats reduces stress, improves their health and adoptability

Shelter cats are sometimes not given a chance to show their friendly character

It’s been found that when shelter cats are gently petted and talked to their chances of developing an upper respiratory infection are reduced. They are healthier because their immune system picks up. And if shelter cats are not stroked and talk to gently, they are 2.5 times more likely to become sick due to …

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3 reasons why your cat bites you during petting

Biting after or during petting session

I can think of three reasons why a domestic cat might bite their owner during petting. The first is often discussed which is that domestic cats can be overstimulated by petting whereby the cat interprets it as play and, as we know, play incorporates biting. It’s not malicious biting but what I would describe …

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Stroke your cat with the back of your hand

Stroke with the back of the hand

This is a little tip that occurred to me this morning, on Christmas Day 2020. Happy Christmas by the way (an odd Christmas due to the pandemic). Try stroking your cat with the back of your hand. This is something that I do. It is an alternative to the conventional way of petting a …

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The pleasure of being touched by us is the main reason why cats like to be stroked

Petting cat's head

“The ritual of cat owners stroking their cat and their cat asking to be stroked and petted is a bonding process based upon mutually delivering pleasure to each other through contact.” – Michael Domestic cats do like direct contact between themselves and their significant human on their terms. This underpines the ritual of petting. …

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Do cats know that hugs and kisses are a sign of affection?

Kissing a cat!

Do cats know that hugs and kisses are a sign of affection? As both hugs and kisses are not part of the domestic cats natural range of behaviours they’ll have to be learned by the cat for them to be understood and liked. When we kiss or hug our cat we are demonstrating an …

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Why does the stray cat I’m petting try to reach my face?

Feline head butt

This is another question on Quora.com. The answer is quite straightforward. The cat you are petting is much smaller than you. The cat regards you as another cat and she wishes to be friendly towards you by rubbing against you, merging scents, head butting your head and perhaps touching noses. These are all friendly …

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In the Valley of the Shadow of Death…

There is nothing so pleasant as living with a cat and having him near you while busy and at rest. There is also nothing so motivating to get well during a serious health scare as the desire to not be separated from your furry friend. I know this from experience, because I recently took …

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