You’re Petting Your Cat All Wrong!

My cat wrote down some detailed instructions on how to pet her. She made me sign a contract. Whenever i pet her wrong she threatens to sue me and take me to court.

I pet my cat when she comes to me and leave her alone when she doesn't. Seems to work out alright.

My cat is blind and deaf. When I pet him, he probably thinks, "Dang it, it's the giant noisy claw thing AGAIN!"

I had a cat that literally had no petting limits. He was the most loving cuddled, who drooled and loved belly rubs. He never met a stranger. I miss him still- RIHP Bob ❤️

I notice that a lot when I see how people who didn't live with an cat pet them. They often pet them very fast and with too much force, many times in a row... no surprise they stand up and leave immediately or get into "aggressive" play mode.

my cats just a freak. he will alow me to rub his belly until my hand goes numb.

My balloon just bit me.

I'll never forget the look on my Cat when he realised that he was stuck with me as his new Owner...

I have had cats for 4 decades and all loved lots of cuddling and petting, until Argyle the Maine Coon. Jackson, your videos have been essential. Argyle's nervous system is finely tuned such that that the slightest action on my part has a big impact on him. The finger-nose, which initially felt like deprivation, was received with purring, soft curl at the end of his tail, and rolling onto his back and exposing his tummy. He was so cute! I had to discipline myself not to do a big cuddle and instead 1) touch only his nose 2) talk softly and slowly. He loves it! Less is more.

My cat does the cutest thing when you hold up objects or hands to her. Everyone who know her calls this inspection. She must first smell the item, consider it carefully for a couple seconds, and then either look down in disapproval or head-bonk it if it is approved. The finger-nose thing reminded me of that. Anyway, it’s so cute! Any time she wants attention and there are items nearby, she just looks up at the local human until they hold up an item and say, “Inspeck?” And she just lights up when someone asks her to inspect something, it’s so goddamn cute

The ‘MichaelAngelo finger pointing’ at my cat changed my life thank you lol. Thought my cat had a three pat tolerance haha now she adores the gentle concentrated affection from just simple head scratches and head strokes. She’ll never be a lap cat but my ‘slow blink’ at her which I also learned from you is our telepathic ‘I love you’ hehehe 😽💗

Cats are like the oldest poker players, learn the “tells” and you’ll never go wrong.

Great advice, Jackson!   

I appreciate this! I got bit by my cat a week ago because I was petting her exactly like you mentioned. I'm used to petting my family's dog all over; belly, head, chest, etc. Your videos have been for informative and have helped me understand my cat much more.

Dude as someone with anxiety and ADHD, you just described what overstimulation feels like almost perfectly! I’ll add that all inputs (sights sounds etc) can also become jarring and even painful, and anything even close to touching you can start feeling clausterphobic, even your own body hairs. “Static buildup” describes that “trapped in your own skin” feeling perfectly omg! I’m a lot better than I used to be as a kid and teen about respecting cats’ cuddle limits, and my current kitty really loves snuggling and being pet, but she and I are still working on communicating about her stopping point. She’s really sweet and patient, so with petting to long, the only thing other than a “claws in” warning smack I’ve gotten is a “I’m gonna bite ya, move bitch!” Threat that results in a slow non- skin breaking bite if I don’t listen to her fast enough. Like a mama would give a kitten. I do my best to notice when she’s had enough before then, but if I miss that point or come back too soon after stopping there, the “final warnings” she gives definitely makes it clear she’s done. I respect the hell out of her patience, and I’m trying to make sure I respect her boundaries better.

This is such good advice. My favorite technique is to just start gently scratching my cat somewhere on his head, then I leave my hand in the same spot with my fingers making the scratching motion, and he moves his head around to get the scritches where he wants them. And no matter how you do it, as Jackson says, watching their body language is absolutely key. If you pay even the least amount of attention, you will never face a "surprise" attack again.

I love his descriptions of static and overstimulation because I have epilepsy and that’s how I feel when I’m overstimulated

My cats don't care how I pet them, they just love it.

I'm 6 years late to this but my cat doesn't have that reaction. Usually, when I pet my cat, he will settle down and relax. Sometimes he will lay down and fall asleep. Often, he will look at me with semi closed eyes and just chill out with me. However, I pay attention to my cat and know his stimulation points. Usually, the areas I pet him are places I know he likes the most. Usually, that's around his face, on his cheeks, under his neck and on the top of his head. However, I stroke him slowly on those places and don't do it for long. Basically, I took the time to get to know him. I also know when to stop based on his body language. It takes time to get to know a cat but once a relationship is built and knowing their level of comfort, things can be absolutely great between a cat and his parent (the human companion).