The Science of Petting Your Cat
Many people live with feline companions, and anyone who lives with a cat knows that being affectionate with them is an art. It turns out, there is also a science to petting your cat. Researchers note that “stroking [petting] has been shown to have stress-reducing effects for a range of social species, including farm animals, companion animals and laboratory animals.” However, not all petting is created equal, and results from past studies have shown that “human instigated tactile interactions” have the most positive results when the petting focuses on the areas of the body that nonhuman animals appreciate the most. Research into cats and human touch has shown that cats tended to prefer petting in areas that are also gland sites, but the findings are subject to limitations.
Researchers for this study wanted to address the methodological issues of past studies and assess how the cat’s familiarity with the handler may have an effect. They studied 34 healthy cats (22 females, 12 males) between 6 months and 12 years of age who had been in their current home for a minimum of 2 months. The cats were studied in their own homes. Overall, researchers found that, “while the sequence of handling different body areas had no apparent effect on behavioural responses,” the handling of the tail and surrounding areas “produced the greatest number of negative behavioural responses,” regardless of the handler. This comes as little surprise to anyone familiar with cats.
Oddly, the study found that when comparing familiar versus unfamiliar people, “the greatest number of negative behavioural responses was elicited during handling by the familiar person.” The researchers note, however, that this may be because of the experimental procedure and sequence, which may confuse the cat about their familiar person. In general, while the subject of this study may seem light and breezy, the research could have implications for shelter welfare, laboratory welfare, and the enrichment of cats’ lives in our own homes. It’s useful for people to be reminded that our physical interactions with nonhuman animals should be on their terms, not ours.