you share a special bond with your cat but did you know something as innocent as a kiss could actually be putting that Bond at risk while we think we're showing affection some gestures might confuse or even stress our cats out without us realizing it but don't worry these mistakes are more common than you think and after watching this video you'll unlock the secret to understanding your cat's love language and making your bond even stronger we'll reveal eight ways cat parents might accident Mally confuse their kitties and what you can do to make sure your fur
baby feels safe loved and adored if you're ready to be part of a community of cat parents who truly get their cats hit subscribe and let's dive in mistake number one pucker up pussycat one of the most popular ways for us humans to express deep affection is through kissing and it can be natural to try and use this gesture to express affection to your cat but while cats do groom each other as a way of showing affection pressing your lips against their furry forehead isn't likely to mean anything to them they don't even have the
lip muscles to imitate the gesture so it certainly isn't one that comes naturally to them at best your kiss is likely to leave your kitty a bit confused at worst because of how big your head is compared to a cat's head your fur baby might find it kind of intimidating to have it brought so close to their little face what should I do instead you might already have experienced this gesture from the other side called a cat kiss or an I love you blink the feline equivalent of blowing a kiss across the room doesn't involve
their mouth at all but their eyes a cat who wants to express deep trust and affection will lock eyes with their target and slowly close and open their eyes if you spot your kitty doing this gesture it's a good idea to meet their gaze yourself and slow blink back to show that you love them too you don't have to wait for them to make the first move however there's nothing stopping you from slow blinking at your cat just for the sake of it and you can be sure that they'll appreciate the gesture mistake number two
the tummy dreaded trap is one that many an innocent cat parent has unexpectedly stumbled into you walk into a room and your cat rolls over showing off their fluffy tummy it looks so soft often inviting that you can't resist leaning down and giving it a few Pets the moment your hand makes contact with that floof however instead of the sort surface you were expecting your fingers are suddenly met with sharp claws and teeth despite seeming to ask for tummy pets just seconds before your kitty has apparently changed their mind and decided that they'd rather have
a go at eating your hand instead what's going on are they deliberately tricking you one thing's for sure you won't be petting them on their tummy again anytime soon what should I do instead well your cat will actually consider a lack of future tummy pets a sign of a job well done for many cats tummy rubs aren't a fun experience the skin on your cat's belly is very sensitive it's where they keep their delicate vital organs after all so they're really not keen on having it touched for sewn kitties the skin can be so sensitive
on that part of their body that they might actually find being being touched they're physically painful that's certainly not the result you were going for no wonder they reacted badly so why do they insist on showing you their tummy if they don't want it touched well because they're trying to give you a show of trust rolling over onto their back is a feline way of greeting people that they like a lot kind of their way of saying I love you enough that I'm okay with showing you the most vulnerable part of my body the most
appropriate way to respond to this therefore is to say thank you and offer to pet them somewhere else like their head or back while respectfully keeping your fingers off that belly fluff no matter how soft and cute it might look mistake number three what does a cat love more than chasing a laser pointer it's amazing how much fun both you and your fur baby can derive from just that one little red dot them from trying to catch it and you from watching them run around after it but once you get bored and turn the laser
off what does your cat do then their Chase is at an end but they haven't caught anything long term this can leave them frustrated their instinct to Chase is being Satisfied by the laser pointer but not their instinct to catch from their perspective they're having unsuccessful hunt after unsuccessful hunt what should I be doing instead fortunately this is a relatively easy proc to solve all you have to do is provide your cat with something to catch it doesn't have to be a red dot either simply using the pointer to lead your kitty towards another more
tactile toy like a felt mouse or a ball can be enough to turn a failed and frustrating hunt into a successful one in their mind and it's not like it affects your enjoyment watching your kitty chasing after the laser may be fun but so is watching them pretend to wrestle a toy mouse to death it's the best of Both Worlds mistake number four who wants a hug sometimes you might feel like there's nothing you want more than a nice cuddle with your cat just like kissing hugging is another way that humans like to show affection
for each other wrapping your arms around your cat and squeezing them releases happy chemicals in your brain particularly oxytocin which is nicknamed The Love hormone because of the role it plays in helping mammals like us build social bonds but does it do the same for our kitties not necessarily cats don't really hug they don't have arms it's not a natural gesture for them and instead of making them feel safe and comforted it might instead make them feel trapped and confined plus you're a lot bigger than your fur baby and what feels to you like a
gentle squeeze can feel a lot more uncomfortable for them what should I be doing instead well just because our fur babies don't like being hugged like humans do doesn't mean that they don't like being touched even so they just don't want to feel like they're being too confined instead when it comes time to show your cat affection try just petting them instead petting your cat gives you the same burst of oxytocin that hugging them would but this form of touch means that they also get an oxytocin boost and it means that both of you experience
a strengthening of your Bond mistake number five but be careful about when you pet your cat have you ever had the experience of going to pet your cat only to have them duck away at the last minute or seen them snoozing on the couch and found yourself unable to resist the urge to pet them while they're looking so calm and cute only for them to react all annoy well your cat finds being touched unexpectedly annoying for the same reason that you would especially when you try petting them while they're trying to nap and end up
waking them up cats are very nervous about where and when they sleep because in the wild their ancient ancestors would have had to be constantly on the lookout for Hungry predators and while they were sleeping they would have been especially vulnerable to attack your own modern fur baby shouldn't have to worry about being attacked while they're snoozing but old instincts die hard and being woken up unexpectedly even by their beloved human friend giving them some nice pets is less likely to be relaxing for them and more likely to give them a bit of a nasty
shock what should you do instead before you pet a cat you should always try to ask permission first not with words of course as your kitty is unlikely to be able to understand you however you can ask using body language simply reach out your hand and hover it over the top of the cat's head if they are a strange cat who doesn't know you very well they might try having a sniff at this point cats are very scent oriented creatures and sniffing your hand lets the cat have a whiff of your pheromones which will tell
them important information about your physical and emotional state this will help them decide whether or not to trust you if you know them already then they probably won't bother with this step because they'll already know that you can be trusted if they want to be pet then they'll then raise their head up to butt it against your hand letting you know that they want want you to touch them otherwise they'll duck away letting you know that they're not in the mood to be petted right now and you should try again later mistake number six your
cat is your adorable little baby yes they are yes they are who doesn't love holding their fur baby close to them and cradling them in their arms like the little cutie pie that they are but this isn't so enjoyable for your cat like we mentioned earlier cats don't like having their tummies touched or unexpectedly exposed and they don't like being held in such a way that they can't escape so being held in your arms in such a way that they can't escape and their tummy is fully on view is basically their worst nightmare it's uncomfortable
for them if they know you well enough and love and trust you then they'll likely get to the stage where they can tolerate being held that way but it'll never be as fun for them as it is for you what should I be doing instead cats don't enjoy being held that much but sometimes it's necessary to carry them places or else you just really really want to have a cuddle in that situation the proper way to pick your cat up is to scoop your hand under their chest and lift them into the air put your
other hand under their bottom to support them and then hold them in a sort of sitting up position so that their head is peeping over your shoulder and their torso is pressed up against your chest this ures that they're able to look around easily and if they feel like escaping they can easily wriggle out of your arms and jump to the ground mistake number seven ever talked to your cat only to find that they seem strangely unwilling to listen to you you might think that your cat is just a bit bored with your conversation sparkling
as it might be but it's likely less to do with the content of what you were saying and more to do with your volume humans are often a lot louder than cats are our ears are less sensitive and as a result we're often less conscious of how loud we're being your fur baby on the other hand is much more sensitive to loud sounds especially since as we mentioned earlier they evolved in an environment where they were frequently hunted by vicious predators and had to be constantly on their guard when you're talking to your cat and
you get too excited your voice might raise automatically and hurt your poor fur baby ears what should I do instead just because your cat doesn't like it when your voice is raised doesn't mean that they don't like your voice a 2022 study revealed that cats are fully capable of distinguishing their human friends voices from the voices of strangers and respond to them with significantly more attention they also prefer certain tones more than others cats like high-pitched voices because their ears find high-pitched sounds easier to hear here they like quiet tones because as we mentioned their
ears are more sensitive than ours as a result their favorite tone of voice to be spoken to in is adorably enough baby talk that's right Studies have shown that cats love to be spoken to in baby talk but they only like to be spoken to this way by their special humans your fur baby might not like to be held like they're your baby but they certainly don't mind if you talk to them like it mistake number eight taking a hold of your cat's tail can be hard to resist it's just so fluffy and sweet you'd
never pull your Kitty's tail of course but it's just so tempting to try petting that fluff but it's not nearly as much fun for your fur baby see the thing is getting their tail pulled for a cat is much more dangerous than you might think not only is it painful but it risks causing them significant neurological damage your cat's tail is attached to a tangle of nerves at the end of their spine called the kada aquina from the Latin four horse's tail on account of the fact that the tangle of strands looks a bit like
a horse's tail these nerves help control a lot of the muscles in the back half of their body meaning that victims of tail pull injuries can often suffer from incontinence and issues with mobility in their back legs which can potentially last for a lifetime as a result even if your fur baby knows that you'd never even dream of pulling their tail just being touched on such a vulnerable part of their body like with their belly can cause them significant discomfort what should I do instead petting a cat's tail might be out of the question but
if you know the cat quite well you may want to try petting them somewhere close to it petting your cat at the base of their tail in the small of their back often provokes a pretty dramatic reaction they've got a lot of nerve endings there so if you don't have their trust then they might find it a bit much but if they do know you well enough then you'll find that most cats adore being pet there and will likely arch their back into your hand to encourage you to pet them more helping your cat feel
loved and supported is very important even if some of the things they want from you might seem a bit strange if you're curious about more surprising ways to make your kitty feel safe and appreciate it check out this video there are some things your cat secretly loves that might just surprise you
