Frontiers in Psychology journal confirmed that pet owners are likely to be less stressed as compared to individuals who don’t have a pet. Every day, if you interact positively with your pets, it can lower down the stress level in humans. But now the question is, do your pets feel the same? Do animals like cats want to be petted? How would they want to be petted?
Well, numerous feline owners confirmed that the cats love to a pet in their head. Their reaction changes as you pat them slowly and rub their forehead. But what proves that the cats love petting at the head? In this article, we will be discussing this phenomenon in detail.
Do cats like to be pet on the head?
Felines are fickle in nature. There is no single way to make them feel pleasant or destroy their mood. However, with the owners, they become highly secured if there is a personal touch. The applied animal behavior journal conducted an experiment and analyzed the behavior of 34 cats of 6-12 months old. The result proved that cats love to be touched, and they tolerate the physical expression of love by stroking.
The pet owners, strangers, and vets were introduced to this experiment. They were asked to stroke on different parts of the cat, including head, chin, cheeks, chest, tail base, and at the back. But out of 34 cats, only 20 cats felt nice and show similar reactions based on the stroking. However, the results were recorded and categorized as positive and negative behavior changes. While positive behaviors include sniff, blink, head-butt, and more, the negative changes include biting, ear flicking, tail swishing, etc.
Based on the reaction, the positive and negative behavior scores were marked. The positive responses were seen when stroking was limited to the head and chin areas. Some cats also liked touching their base tail. However, they did not like or behaved a bit arrogantly when the cats were touched on other parts. The important conclusion of this experiment came later.
Even though the cats preferred to a pet in the head regions, they did not allow the fellow cats to do so. As you know, the cats groom each other, but they never touch these parts. Unless they trust the fellow cat well, they never allow them to touch their base tail or the head region. The study was hypothesizing to say that cats have a particular area for the pet owner to pat or show their intimacy. Also, frequently this space would be their head region only.
The very next question people ask is how they can make their pets to trust them. Well, it is very simple. From the age of being a kitten, you need to practice them by playing, snuggling, and build some physical connections with the cats. They are very picky when it comes to sharing the love. Only if you are playing or feeding it like in a routine, the cats will be able to reflect the same. You can even start with the ball toys like Pet Favorites Original Mylar Crinkle balls. Cats love playing with these kinds of balls, especially in the kitten age, and it will improve your chances to bond with them more.
