It is said that we should not stare at our cat. It will intimidate him. Our cat will perceive it as some sort of threat. Some people describe it as a “predator stare”. Other people think that if we stare at our cat, he might attack us! Some cat owners spend their entire life avoiding eye contact with their cat. That can’t be right.
In this short post I provide my ideas about making eye contact with our cat. I don’t think there is much on the Internet in the way of useful information about staring at your cat. There is a lot of chatter about it (which I ignore) but I have never read anything in all the books that I have about the domestic cat which says that it is a bad thing to stare at your cat. I have lots of reference works and have read most of them – I can’t remember anything on the stare.
As a consequence, I think there is no problem about making eye contact with your cat and certainly judging by my own experiences I cannot agree that it is a bad thing to stare at your cat. I frequently have long eye to eye sessions with my cat, Charlie, when I’m talking to him.
When I look at him in the eye and talk to him gently he will blink slowly at me indicating that he is content and he likes it.
I think people’s ideas about staring at your cat probably it comes from discussions about wild cats. People say that you should not run away from a large wild cat because in doing so you give a strong indication to the cat that you are prey. The cat will chase you and pull you down.
Whereas if you stand your ground and make yourself as big as possible, create noise etc, it is said that you can see off the mountain lion in America. You can stare down a mountain lion and win the psychological battle about superiority.
It is interesting to note that in the Sunderban tiger reserve in Bangladesh where there is conflict between people and the tiger it has been found that if people wear a mask on the back of their heads the tiger will not attack indicating that when a person looks a tiger in the eye he is much less likely to attack than when walking or running away from a tiger.
There is, therefore, certainly a psychological effect when looking your cat in the eye. However, the domestic cat is domesticated and sociable. Your cat knows you well. You’re close to your cat and you are friends. There is nothing hostile or intimidating in your stare that is directed at your cat.
If while you are making eye contact with your cat you are speaking in a calm voice and showing all the signs of being friendly, I think it is a positive interaction with your cat. There is nothing bad about it but perhaps it does depend on the circumstances and how both cat and person are behaving at that particular moment in time.
I have a feeling that some people will disagree with me. It probably depends on the cat and the person. Some cats may find it intimidating. Perhaps these are more the timid and submissive cats. More confident cats are perhaps more likely to accept and enjoy it.
What do you think?
My cat has no problems at all with me looking her right in the eyes. She looks into mine too. She’s a feisty vocal little girl too. 😉
Nice point. Perhaps there is a difference in staring at a cat and gently looking at your cat in a loving way speaking with a friendly voice. Perhaps it is also about attitude and there is the question as mentioned in my post about the circumstances under which it happens.
Personally though I think the potential problems are overplayed somewhat. The bottom line is that if a cat does not like you looking into his or her eyes they simply avert their gaze and look somewhere else.
Love your comment about your crocodile cat! And I’m glad that you agree with me that it is perfectly okay to look into your cat’s eyes as I do. I look at my cat’s eyes for a long time and he looks right back at me for a long time as well. It is a great way to connect with your cat. I can look into my cat’s eyes very comfortably but I find it much harder to look into the eyes of a person.
Good point. It is much easier to look in to my cat’s eyes than it is for me to look into the eyes of another person.
I’m pleased that you agree with me. I have never had a problem looking my cats in the eye. Especially when you talk to them really nicely and gently with a melodic voice. Cats know when we are friendly towards them and that friendship can come through in the way we look at them.
It is one of the best things when you look into your cat’s eyes and you speak lovingly to him and he returns with that slow loving blink which you know means that you are communicating with him and him with you and the communication is: we are together, we are with each other and we are close friends and from our point of view is an expression of deep affection. I also believe that from the cat’s point of view it is also an expression of affection.