Tag Archives: Relations

How to handle a cat

Hug Your Cat Day 2015

Thanks to Ann from Zoolatry

Our humans love our contact ; however, there are some rules to be respected so that this moment is a shared pleasure : choose a moment when your cat is quiet and relaxed, and don’t hug him if he doesn’t obviously want it.

 

 

How to carry a cat ?

  • to lift the cat, place a hand under his breast before his front paws, and the other one under his backside to support his weight
  • put him against your body and let him put his front paws on your forearm or your shoulder. The cat has to feel free of his movements
  • don’t hold the cat by force in your arms ; put him slowly down on the ground when he shows that he’s fed up

How to pet a cat ?

  • our favourite places are the chin, the throat, and around ears
  • we also like be petted on the neck and on the back, but not in the wrong way !
  • a caress on the belly ? Caution ! This place is reserved only for some rare privileged persons : don’t try to caress us the belly on the first meeting, because you risk be bitten or scratched

Today, it’s Hug Your Cat Day, but in fact we snuggle every day !
Pixie et Zorro 35

Why does your cat mew ?

PIXIE : I am a chatterbox, Claire, Momo, and Zorro all agree on this point. I often express myself by mewing, in particular if I want to play.
Pixie et le Cat Dancer
Grown-up cats rarely communicate among themselves by mewing ; kittens, them, use much more the mewing to indicate to their momcat that they have a problem or that they need something.
The verbal communication among grown-up cats occurs most of the time in situation of conflict, but we cannot really speak about worldly conversation : they are rather growls and hostile hisses !

However, Zorro explained me that the humans were not generally very talented for nonverbal communication : they know how to interpret the movements of tail or the position of ears, but decipher with more difficulty subtle expressions, visual marking, or olfactive signal. On the other hand, humans are particularly susceptible in the mewings and learn quickly, because to make noise is the main way of communication of their species.

The mewing of the grown-up cat is thus favored to address a human. And as I said it, it works very well ! A well-trained human can recognize about ten different mewings : hello, play with me, give me food, cuddle me, leave me alone, I am bored, I want to go out, I am going to vomit, I bring you an alive present, I bring you a dead present, I am afraid of the vacuum cleaner…
The more the human quickly reacts, the better he’s trained, and the more a cat as me is encouraged in the fact to mew to express her needs.
Pixie180
An excessive mewing can however indicate a medical problem, or a beginning of senility by an old cat. It’s the moment to go for a checking at the vet !

A cat can also mew because he’s bored, in particular during the night. A good play session followed by a meal (for the cat!) just before the extinction of the lights should be enough to insure a quiet and restful night to your human.

Finally, certain breeds like Siameses for example are more talkative than others : it’s necessary to expect that these cats share in detail all that they do during the day !

And you, how do you communicate with your human ?

Zorro’s second Gotcha Day

We counted 52 comments, which means that we’ll give 52 CHF to the Haut-Léman shelter, and we’re delighted too to announce that Connie from Tails From The Foster Kittens is the lucky winner of our giveaway ! Thanks for celebrating with us !