If you’re learning how to hold your cat, pay attention to the body language of your cat to ensure that they feel secure and secure with you. While some cats don’t like being held, doing positive hand-holding and training your cat to accept the handling of grooming, nail trimming, and brushing can keep your cat content and healthy.
Here’s how to handle an animal correctly.
Does Your Cat Want To Be Picked Up?
Before engaging in a relationship with your cat, extend your hand to the cat and let them decide if you’d prefer to hire. Respecting the cat’s uniqueness and observing your body’s language is crucial to interacting and interacting with them in a manner they’ll love.
According to Liu, body language signals could indicate whether an animal is happy and willing to be held:
Soft, soft eyes characterize relaxed cats. They can blink slowly with almond-shaped eyes, and their ears are pointing forward.
When you are holding the animals, they are relaxed, and their tails may show slow, lazy movements.
Some cats also purr. However, it’s not always a sign of happiness. If they’re scared or aren’t feeling well, cats may purr to soothe themselves.
However, If your cat doesn’t like to be held, Liu states that they’ll display what she calls “the four Fs of stress,” which are fight or flight, freeze or fidget.
Combat. Your cat’s pupils might be dilated, and their ears could be slack against their heads. They may growl, hiss, or scratch their head. They may also bite.
Flight. Your cat might attempt to evade the conversation by escaping or hiding. If you’ve collected them, They may move around and indicate they’d like to go down.
Freeze. Cats with a freeze response are able to maintain their positions and stiff muscles. They could be quiet, and when you grab them, they may limp. This should not be mistaken for a relaxed posture. Liu says that this is the result of learning helplessness. A cat is unable to keep going due to the fact that they don’t think their actions matter.
The Fidget. This might look like a licking of the lips or yawning abrupt grooming, or even a complete body shake following the placement back on the ground, Liu says.
Suppose you find yourself in any one of the scenarios. In that case, Liu recommends watching for negative body language, such as eyes that are dilated, ears that are flattened and a rigid or hunched posture, angry meowing, hissing, growing, or a tucked or shuffling tail. Suppose you observe any of these indicators, you are not at the right moment to pet or pick up your cat. Let them have some space, and let the cat come closer to you for a chat.
How To Pick Up and Hold a Cat
Each cat has its preference for how they want to be handled and held. However, Liu suggests some general rules, which include the first one: not grab, store, or pull a cat with your neck. “It can be painful, lead to significant fear and stress, and takes away their sense of control,” Liu says.
Instead, when you pick off a pet, could you make use of two hands to help them? Instead of facing the cat straight ahead and threatening them, try facing in the opposite direction. Follow these steps and modify the steps to suit the preferences of your cat and you.
When the time comes, Don’t get too upset even if you don’t think physical contact is something your cat enjoys. There are many other ways to connect, such as playing with a toy wand or just enjoying their presence.
