The purrrrfect pet
vladans/iStock/Getty Images Plus
There’s more than one way to pet a cat, but what’s the very best way? Cats are notoriously fickle – one second they could be enjoying a nice back rub and the next, you’ve been eviscerated. How do you avoid this fate when you’re just trying to bond with Mittens? Science has your answer.
A surprising amount of studies are done on domestic cats (surprising to this dog lover, anyway). Unlike man’s best friend, domestic cats display only a slight genetic divergence from their ancestors, which means they still have strong wildcat instincts. That’s right, your precious Snowball knows she’s actually a lion. It might be best not to dissuade her of this notion.
Cats vary widely in whether they like being touched or not. Many cats simply tolerate their humans in order to receive food – although a tolerant cat is not always a happy cat. The best way to pet your cat is to let them be in control. A study on the human-cat relationship found that the most successful interactions happened when the cat initiated. Basically, just wait until your cat pets you. As any cat parent will tell you, they don’t own a cat – the cat owns them.
