Stranger who came into a cat’s space to touch them without even trying to play it slow will tell you “cats are assholes who scratch you for no reason!”, after ignoring the ears back, tail making a noise from flicking up and down, wide anxious eyes, tense posture
Something even a lot of cat owners don’t seem to understand is when they show you their bellies, they’re (usually) not asking for belly rubs, it’s a sign of trust by showing you their most vulnerable part (ie where predators would attack them) and expecting you to not touch there. If you rub the belly and they scratch, they got too overstimulated and disembowelment defense instinct kicked in. Some cats will actually attack their own feet if it touches there
Also, I’ve heard autistic people say cats share a lot of traits of autism (and dogs with ADHD?), like having more personal boundaries, taking more time to adjust to change or people they aren’t familiar with, and getting overstimulated by excessive touch/sound
yeah, that’s how you end up with the “the cat attacked me without any warning!” stories.
Stranger who came into a cat’s space to touch them without even trying to play it slow will tell you “cats are assholes who scratch you for no reason!”, after ignoring the ears back, tail making a noise from flicking up and down, wide anxious eyes, tense posture
Something even a lot of cat owners don’t seem to understand is when they show you their bellies, they’re (usually) not asking for belly rubs, it’s a sign of trust by showing you their most vulnerable part (ie where predators would attack them) and expecting you to not touch there. If you rub the belly and they scratch, they got too overstimulated and disembowelment defense instinct kicked in. Some cats will actually attack their own feet if it touches there
Also, I’ve heard autistic people say cats share a lot of traits of autism (and dogs with ADHD?), like having more personal boundaries, taking more time to adjust to change or people they aren’t familiar with, and getting overstimulated by excessive touch/sound
yeah, there’s nothing really special about handling cats. i’m usually just polite, like i’d be to people.
also, that belly rub thing… eh. lots of cats like belly rubs. mine does. others just like to show off their belly and dont like rubs.
my cat starts purring if i blow a raspberry into her stomach. she’s only ever scratched me by accident in 14 years.
true I’ve owned cats and dogs and feel like cats just have a wider range of personality types and habits