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This is an article I wrote for my Health & Behavior section,

let me know what you think.

How to introduce yourself to a cat

Do you know how to greet a cat in their own language?

Most people do not.

What they do is;

they make direct eye contact with wide-open eyes,

they talk in a high-pitched voice,

then they stretch their hand out towards the cat,

fingers splayed.

And the reaction when they do this is either

the cat runs away in fear,

or they go into aggressive mode.

See Ozzie in the photo above,

his paw is swiping out,

his pupils are wide-open.

This is an aggressive stance.

The proper way to greet a cat is to look at the cat while

slowly blinking your eyes,

keep it slow by saying to yourself (or the cat),

‘I Love You’.

If you do that slow blink, then look away

– when you look back at that cat,

it is usually doing that slow blink back at you.

You may have to do this several times,

but you’ll get that slow blink back.

And that means you have told the cat

that you are not a threat

and the cat has said that back at you.

The next thing you do is moderate your voice,

make it calm and as soft as you can.

When you talk in an unnatural high-pitched voice,

the cat interprets that as the screech they make

when challenging another cat to a fight.

Then when you approach the cat,

stop well away and stretch out a fist to the cat.

Let the cat come to your fist, and keep that slow blink going.

The cat may rub against your fist,

in which case you can begin to slowly rub the cat

with your fist and,

based on it’s reaction,

you can begin to pet the cat.

This is sometimes called, ‘The fist of friendship’.

When you go towards a cat with your fingers splayed,

it is very like when a cat comes at you with claws out

– not a good message to send.

So go out there and introduce yourself

to a cat you’ve never met

and see how very simple it is to make a new friend!

Cat Language

How to introduce yourself to a cat

Gooby Face