How to befriend a cat

Cats are strange creatues, but they have weaknesses.
Hold out your hand and let the cat sniff it.
Then rub the back of the cat's ears.
Use both hands on the cat's ears.
When the cat starts enjoying your attention tickle it under the chin.
Hold onto the cat's tail, without pulling, allowing the cat to pull against you. They almost invariably lie down and become ameanable to belly-tickling. They then tend to gnash you with their teeth & scratch... But you've got'em.

Comments

[nutsandbolts_64]

Explain why our cat is just semi-wild which actually has her territory in our territory which is our house, and she's extremely friendly. That includes her kittens. We keep her outside because, well, she's semi-wild. Besides, her kittens need looking after. Also explain why she understands human language (weird right?). Only one of her kittens survived though :(

[lemonie]

(Old thing, old thing - 2007)
I'm not knowledgable enough, to give you a good answer, but how did you come to have your cat?
Domestic cats learned how to manipulate humans a long time ago, most of it involves being cute and little...

L

[nutsandbolts_64]

Let's see. That was years ago, before I even joined this site... Oh yeah, we just found her in our garage, still a kitten.

[lemonie]

I'll guess that she has the natural instincts a cat has, but that you have effectively domesticated her.

L

[Esmagamus]

You can also let a cat with good taste listen to Opeth. Instant purring.

[TamarGirl]

What's Opeth?

[Goodhart]

This is Opeth....

 

[Father Christmas]

alas, not too many of our feline friends have such impeccable tastes lol

[AndyGadget]

OK, this is going to sound pretty weird, but it does work. It's a method I've developed for attracting cats from a distance of up to 50 yards or so and very rarely fails. 1) Make what I can only describe as a 'hissy whistle' by opening your lips very slightly and slowly sucking in air. This sound is rich in ultrasonic harmonics which attract the cat's attention. 2) Look at the cat then squint and look away for a few seconds. Make the noise again and do the look, squint, look away again. Keep doing this and the cat will pretend to ignore you, but will slowly sidle in your general direction. 3) Look as if you've lost interest, but occasionally make the noise and do the looks again until the cat comes close to you. 4) As it approaches, look away, but leave your hand hanging down. The cat will come and start rubbing against it. You can then start with Lemonie's methods, although I'd be very wary of touching the tail or tickling the tummy of a cat I didn't know - You can get a lot of puncture wounds that way ;¬) Looking directly at a cat wide-eyed is an aggressive move, hence the squint and look away. If you watch two cats who know each other, they will do exactly this. You are befriending a cat by using it's own body-language.

[meowzebub]

never tried a hissy whistle, but the "squint" (in my case, a slow blink while gently staring into the cat's eyes) is really good for connecting with a strange cat.  I've heard people who fancy themselved to be "cat whisperers" call it "kitty kisses".  whatever. I find it helps to relax my facial and shoulder muscles with a conscious effort (if that makes sense).

Basically, try to mimic the kitty Buddha-gaze that dog people find so annoying. lmao

[TamarGirl]

I must try both methods.  My bf has a cat that initially dislikedme (he's a real momma's boy) but once I got my chihuahua cross becameactively hateful.  He will bite and scratch me when my friendleaves the room!!!  Had to stop bringing the dog over, too, coz thecat would lie in ambush for him and have him screaming in fear. Now we have a stand-off situation but I do tend to try and starehim out!  

Thanks guys!

[lemonie]

Interesting. I've been thinking of deteting / removing this for a while. L

[AndyGadget]

I just came across your Instructable in the side-bar when I was answering a question.
Give the method a try and let me know if it works for you. The 'hissy whistle' should vary a bit, with squeaky bits and sort of mew-ey bits in it.
^{(Of course this may all be tosh and it's just my animal magnetism which attracts them ;¬)}

[AndyGadget]

P.S. Best not to do this in public places otherwise the men in white coats may be paying you a visit.

[xxlcamlxx]

Purrr-fect =)

[Violet_blue]

Meww awesome !  ^..^                                  

[bowmaster]

Cats Rule!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lemonie]

If you're a mouse (or a bunny for that...) L

[musicalbee2003]

Or a chihwauwau (my cat stlaks them)

[TamarGirl]

It's chihuahua!  One of my goggies is 1/2 chihuahua.  (I justthink of chi + hua + hua!)

[DELETED_cholo71796]

(removed by author or community request)

[Esmagamus]

I've killed more mice then my cat, even managing to crush one with the refrigerator.

[bowmaster]

How did you manage to crush a mouse with a refrigerator?

[Esmagamus]

The refrigerator was in a cabinet, and I saw a mouse running under the cabinet and jumping to the platform the refrigerator was standing on, so I shaked the the refrigerator to try and make the mouse run out. But he didn't. A few months later, I had to replace the refrigerator so I took it out of the cabinet and then, I saw a pool of blood on the underside of the board that makes the bottom of a storage over the refrigerator. I looked at the top of the refrigerator and there it was: a flattened dead mouse. I managed to get rid of the pest after all!

[musicalbee2003]

My cat does the same thing with anything she catches. She once brought a live baby mouse to my little sister, to teach her to "hunt." She must have been so confused when my sister scooped it up into a bowl out of the cat's reach!

[paravou]

Aww thats cute 'lets teach the human to hunt'

[downwithwikihow]

icanhascheezburger.com is awesome!

[TamarGirl]

I agree.  Wonderful way to have hours of laughter!

BTW - the cat hair problem: my bro solved the problem of cat fur in thebaby's room by putting a screen door on to keep the cats out (but allowthem to hear the baby, air the room, etc.).

I have 2 goggies (Ihascheezburger talk) and keep their fur out of mybedroom with a gate.

[RoddyTheGreat]

i saw on a birthday card: whats the difference between cats and dogs... dogs have owners, cats have staff.

[lemonie]

Yes. You ever see a cat fetch a stick...? L

[dpsilver]

yes i have cats can be trained just like dogs

[Richie15]

Care to tell us how?

[lemonie]

Well done then! L

[darklucifer]

my cat won't leave me alone, no matter what i'm doing. all she wants to do is sleep on me.

[trikkedaddy]

like me wife...you may be doing it right! :0) They love attention from what I have seen and when you give them what they want, they can't get enough. Good for you, but sorry for lack of sleep.

[lemonie]

Yes, they can be pests like that. Shut the door and ignore her (if you can) L

[treesneedtobehugged]

cats are the best. i volunteer down in a humane society every Sunday and clean all the cat and dog cages

[lemonie]

That's very good of you, plenty of people will donate to these societies (my dad saved coins for "the nice pussy-cats") but it needs someone to put the time in. L

[cloot100]

And my favorite animal is a cat!

[lemonie]

Yes they're lovely, fluffy, furry, cute, scratchy noisy pets...

L