No matter how much we try to believe, cats don’t understand a peanut of the words which come out of our mouth, irrespective of how emotionally moving or full of affection our words are. Hence, the easiest way to express your feelings towards your pet is to pet! Unlike dogs, which, you can have your way with, and be as frank as your buddy from the fourth grade, cats are more like mistress. You either go their way or you maintain your distance. And if by chance, you dare to take things in your hand, make sure you have enough bucks to treat the bleeding scars your cat leaves you with. Yes, cats are very specific with their likes and dislikes especially when it comes to touching them. All you need to do is to harness your urges, turn your mobile phone or any other distraction away and keep the steps mentioned below in your mind. The mistress shall be all smitten if done right!
Getting started-
- Find the right opportunity
Petting your cat is not a thing to be dealt with haste. Make sure you have time at hand and relaxed state of mind. It is best if your cat itself picks up the time to get cosy. Your kitty will let you know by gestures like curling next to your leg or calmly gaining your attention with touch. If your kitty approaches you by rubbing its head over you, yes your pet wants it! If you find yourself desperate to initiate, study your cat’s routine and pick the time to approach her when your little friend is calm and resting.
- Approach
Let us first know what all to avoid while approaching your cat for some petting time.
Cats love their freedom, hence they dislike being restrained or put on leash. Also forcing your hand on them would only draw them away from you. Avoid sudden or desperate movements if you don’t want to end up chasing them.
Then what is the right way? Learn to approach gently, with a smooth movement of your hand bring it at the eye level of your cat, close enough for them to sniff and record your scent. If your kitty is in the mood, she will give you her accordance by rubbing either her head, chin or side of her body on your hand. Hurrah!
The tricks!
- Give gentle strokes on the middle of the forehead of your cat ranging from between the eyes. Doing this not only relaxes your pet, but also affects its nerve function.
- After soothing your cat using a gentle touch on her forehead as mentioned above, you can go for a tricky one. Once having your cat in a mood to be pleased, brush the back of your hand gently alongside the face of your kitty. Provide a transition by simultaneously stroking the cat’s whiskers with a gentle touch as well as petting her between her ears at the very same time. This shall provide your cat with some exclusive pleasure if executed with gentle and patient approach.
- A soothing caressing stroke with your open palm, growing slowly from their throat to chin can impress your cat very well!
- It is one of the oldest tricks in the book, one that we have seen English women do to their kitties involuntarily in decades old cinema flicks. Yes! It involves running your palm across the entire length of your beloved cat’s back. The trick is to work your open palm from neck till the very beginning of the tail of your cat. Iterate the same procedure maintaining a gentle pace yet increasing the pressure gently with each turn up to a comfortable limit. Avoid any contact with the tail and save your hand from wandering and you shall do just fine. Keep your eyes on your pet for response and adjust accordingly. Avoid experimenting with patting or reaching the sides unless you know the cat very well.
- Massaging in small circles around the cheeks of your kitty can be pleasing to them. It also positively affects their digestion! Make sure to enroll this trick in your routine.
- Using your fingers, lightly caress the head of your cat. Limit your area to between the ears, often scratching gently behind the ears too. Most of the cats relish this feeling, especially scratching them from back to front and hardly anything can go wrong with it. If you are well familiar with the cat, you can risk petting the cat under the chin as most of them thoroughly enjoy the sensation.
- Avoid their tummy, no matter how much you think your cat is asking for it. Yes, majority of the cats don’t like being caressed on their belly. Though, some may get in a playful mood when done so but that aggressive act of playing will leave you with scratched arms scarred memories.
- Some cats can enjoy their feet being given attention, yet some don’t. Start by touching just one foot, if there is no sudden repulsion you may pet your cat’s feet with a finger, going with the flow of fur.
If your cat withdraws itself from your petting, digest it, you were not good enough. Do not try to amend yourself by pulling back your pet, polish your skills for the next time instead. Pulling ears back or cowering is another sign by your cat that your pet is just not into you or at least what you are doing. Your cat may express satisfaction by purring occasionally. Quite opposite to us sapiens, the ultimate achievement of pleasure for a cat by petting still lies in the outcome where your cat falls asleep while your hands are still doing their job. That is the right time to bid farewell with a wide grin and a pat on your own back.