When it’s the right kind of attention.
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If we have a cat who seems shy, who hides, or avoids human contact, we have a cat who is not sure about the attention they might get. It’s the happy and confident cat who is always there, eager to share their presence with us, and secure with the kind of reception they will get.
It can seem that our cats are always asking for attention. This means two things; that it’s not so bad that cats nap so much, and that they are happy cats who love us. That should help.
These are cats who have discovered the thrill of engagement, and want to play with it like a toy. RJ has been exploring his new abilities in this area, and is busy coming up with things to ask us for. Just because it’s so thrilling!
It’s ironic that people who don’t understand cats denigrate these very abilities. Cats who have a close bond with us get the same enjoyment from our interaction that we get from a smile from a friend. They want us to acknowledge them, say their name, and comment on what they are doing.
When it comes to their needs, cats are never wrong.
So if our cat seems to be constantly asking for attention, give them some. If a cat cannot get good attention, they will settle for bad.
This can be the source of much cat misbehavior; we are busy and ignore them, until they do something we cannot ignore. Then we get upset with them.
We might want to consider what role we have played in creating this unhappy situation. If the only time our cat reliably gets attention is when they are misbehaving, we have trained our cat to ask for attention… by misbehaving.
We can correct this by making a point of fussing over them happily for doing anything positive, even if they are doing nothing at all. (If they are doing nothing, they can’t be misbehaving.)
We can test their reasons for misbehavior by seeing if they desist immediately upon our taking action about it. If so, all they want is our attention; they don’t really want the thing or activity. It was just that this behavior creates reliable results.
Give them new reliable results.
They are wanting love. They want to know we are there for them, enjoying their antics and working on our communication.
We all want more. This is the way we get more, from our cats.
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There’s more ways to care for our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on CAT CARE.
Great post. Mine are outside a lot so they don’t ask for a lot of attention. But I make a point of going outside and sitting down and they all come running to sit beside me, on me or under me. They are hesterical. So I try to give them all some attention.
Margaret Elmendorf´s last blog ..Oh those silly donkeys
That’s so funny. They all want to be first, it sounds like!