DO THIS and You Will Win Your Cat's Trust for Life

Building trust with your cat can be challenging. One wrong move could set you back. But you can make your cat feel safe and loved with a few simple actions each day. And the best part? It's easier than you think and the rewards are immediate. So stay tuned and discover how these simple daily steps can lead to a big transformation in your relationship with your cat. And this first one might sound a bit counterintuitive, but it actually works. Tip number one. Think about when you have guests over. Which kind of person does your cat tend to find most appealing? The adoring cat lover who just wants to cuddle them? Or the person with allergies who's been nervously trying to avoid them the entire evening? Your cat's preference for the latter friend isn't as perverse as it might seem. They're not rubbing up against them and jumping into their lap because they want to see them suffer. They're doing it because the signals that humans give when they want someone to stay away from them happen to be similar to the signals that cats give when they like someone. Remember, cats and humans are coming at the whole social interaction thing from very different angles. Humans are a highly social species. So when we want to be friends with someone, we tend to send all of our social signals outwards. We make eye contact. We talk to them. We shake hands. We move closer to them. Cats are a relatively asocial species that became more social relatively recently due to being domesticated. As a result, to a cat, a lot of the human social signals come across as kind of threatening. Avoiding eye contact. Shooting quick, shy glances in their direction. Sitting at a distance and not moving towards them, on the other hand. These signals mean to a cat that this person is cool and chill and probably wants to be friends. It may seem counterintuitive, but you might achieve better results from your cat by playing hard to get. Tip number two. Continuing from the last point, an important aspect of winning the trust of a cat who doesn't know you very well is to make as much effort as possible to appear non-threatening. Remember, what seems threatening to your kitty might not seem at all threatening to you. One of the most intimidating things about humans from a feline perspective is our towering height. When interacting with your cat for the first few times, try crouching or lying down to get on their level. Avoid clothes made of materials that rustle loudly or jewelry that might make rattling sounds that could scare your cat. Finally, an unusual tip. Consider removing your glasses. Some cats think that glasses look like massive eyes and may find this threatening. Only do this if you are able to see reasonably well without the glasses, however. No matter how creeped out your cat is by your large, inhuman eyes, you can assume that they'll be more scared by you tripping over them because you can't see where you're going. Tip number three. One of the most direct roads to a cat's heart is through their stomach. A regular supply of tasty food will usually convince even the most misanthropic moggy that you want to be friends. To try and build trust with a skittish cat who won't let you touch them, start by leaving a small supply of treats a bit away from the cat and then moving back so that they can come and get them without coming close to you. Then, slowly decrease the distance that you move away from the treats until the cat is within reach. Then you can start prepping for pets, which brings us to... Tip number four. When you want to pet a nervous cat, don't just reach over and start doing it, especially if they don't know you that well. Instead, put your hand near their head, but don't actually touch them. Wait while they sniff at your hand to get a whiff of your scent. If you smell like a cool person that they'd like to get to know better, then they'll close the gap themselves by headbutting or bunting your hand. You should then direct your pets to the top of the head and the sides of the face, being careful not to touch the whiskers, before moving down the neck, along the back, and ending at the base of the tail. Not touching the tail itself. If a cat is enjoying themselves at this point, then they might start moving under your hands to guide you to their personal preferred petting spots. Tip number five. The first step to making a cat comfortable around you is to make them comfortable in your home. Catification is when you arrange your home so as to make it more suitable for your pet. It can take the form of anything from just buying some cat trees, dens and scratching posts to scatter around the house, to adding permanent platforms and ladders on your walls for your cats to jump around and climb on. The important thing is to ensure that your cat has access to the three H's. Places to be high, places to hide, and things to hunt. Hunting doesn't have to involve, and in fact almost certainly shouldn't involve live prey, by the way. Instead, you should try and get your cat some prey substitutes to chase, like a feather wand or a toy mouse. Tip number six. One of the best ways to earn anyone's trust is to have a good chat, and that goes for your kitty as much as for anyone else. Although cats can't understand us when we talk to them, or at least they can't understand most of what we say, they certainly seem to recognize the word food easily enough. They can recognize tone of voice. Studies show that cats can not only recognize the voices of their owners, but they also respond better to kind voices, and in particular, to baby talk. Tip number seven. Building trust with your kitty should start as early as possible, ideally at the beginning of your relationship. If you have just welcomed a new kitten into your life, then it's important to socialize them. Start by handling them for only short amounts of time if they're nervous, and stopping when they seem like they're trying to get away. Over time, gradually increase the amount of time you spend holding them. Also make sure to spend long periods of time playing with them. The idea is to try and get them to associate you with fun and positive experiences. But what about if you get an older cat, you might be thinking? Adopting an adult cat gives you less of an ability to mold their personality. While you might be able to adjust some things about them, such as how confident they are, most full-grown cats are pretty set in their ways. But in some ways, this can actually be a positive thing. Shelters will often provide little descriptions of their cat's individual characters, and may allow you to participate in a meet-and-greet with them. This allows you to pick out a cat that fits better with your individual personality. If you're somebody quite active, who wants to spend a lot of time playing with your cat, then you should adopt a cat who is more energetic. If you're more the type to enjoy curling up on the couch with a book, you can look for a lap cat. Building trust with a cat is much easier if the two of you have similar personalities. One of the most important things when it comes to building and maintaining trust with your cat is to respect their boundaries and their ability to say no. But how can you tell when your cat is saying no? It's not like they can speak English. Sometimes it can be obvious. If a cat is hissing, batting at you with their paws, or scratching you, then this is their less-than-subtle way of telling you to back off. But these more dramatic responses tend to be a cat's reaction to having their previous attempts at communication ignored. Cats who are trying to let you know that something is annoying them, but aren't quite ready to throw a fit about it, will show their displeasure by wagging their tails, pinning back their ears, arching their backs, or stiffening their posture. If you notice any of these signs in your cat, back off and give them some space. Your cat is far more likely to trust you if you show them that you respect their bodily autonomy. When your cat starts to show signs of trusting you, it's important to let them know that you're pleased. Make sure to reward your kitty with pets when they come up to rub against you, or give them the occasional treat after they let you pick them up without struggling. Rewarding your cat lets them know that you want them to continue this behavior, as well as increasing their positive associations with you. Did you know that the coat colour of your cat can reveal how much they love you? Check out this video to find out what your cat's coat colour reveals about their personality and bond with you.