Winning Over Someone Else’s Cat: Effective Strategies
Are you wondering how to get someone else’s cat to like you? Getting anything here to work will require lots of creativity from you since different things work for different cats.
It can be very awkward for a cat to dislike you, it’s even worse when the cat has to exit a place when he sees you. A cat who enjoys your presence will like to get close to you, nib your fingers, or purr at your presence.
Cats usually love their space, this is in their nature, but this doesn’t stop them from showing love to a person they don’t see as a threat. Usually, you’ll see the cat head butting its owner or curling the tip of its owner–this shows they love the company of their owner, but why not you?
In this article, you will understand why the cat doesn’t like you, and the tricks you can use to make the cat more comfortable with your presence and even get to play with you.
Why don’t cats like strangers
Before we can proffer a solution, we will like you to understand why the cat reacts the way it does when it sees you. Cats are usually anxious with strangers if they were not introduced to strangers as kittens. Also, you might be interrupting the attention he was getting from his owner.
1. Your presence is making the cat anxious
The cat may get anxious each time you come visiting because of proceedings that may scare him, things such as loud chatter, loud laughter, knocking on the door, and so much traffic around the house.
Since some cats have timid and reclusive personalities, they may debate anything or person that spoils their serene environment. In cases like this, it may be quite hard to get the cat to like you.
Anxiety for cats is usually a feeling of nervousness that can be overwhelming for the cat, this feeling is usually a result of anticipating a threatening future event. Cat anxiety will begin if they anticipate threats or danger, this will make the cat behave unusually.
The symptoms of a cat that having anxiety can vary from cat to cat. Cats will scratch furniture, and curtains repeatedly if they are getting anxious, they’ll also lick themselves to the point of getting bald spots, change in mood, hide, avoid the litter box, and meow excessively.
The owner of the cat may be able to tell if the cat is behaving abnormally after your arrival.
2. Lack of socialization
It is advised that you get a cat socialized from its second week of birth up till his 9th week and beyond, allow you can’t to experience random environments, meet people, get people to play with and also touch him, listen to different sounds, and get to meet other pets (if you have any).
The lack of early specialization in cats will lead to a cautious approach towards visitors. In this scenario, the cat doesn’t hate you, he gets apprehensive about the sight of a stranger and will stay away from you, or retire to his pod.
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How to socialize an adult cat
In other not to make your friend crack their brain on how to get someone elses cat to like them, you need to socialize your cat properly.
To socialize your adult cat properly, you need to host a small get-together with friends who love cats, get your cat involved, they will gradually start getting used to people. You can also boost their confidence by taking them to cafes, and stores where pets are allowed.
3. Fear of people
The fear of people results from terrible experiences with humans in the past. A feral cat will like to avoid any sort of interaction with humans, they will run away at the sighting of a person, as they have developed reclusive personalities.
A cat that was adopted from a shelter who had a bad experience with his previous owner is more likely to take caution when he sees someone new. It may take a while for the cat to re-adjust
4. Environmental fears
The above-listed reasons may not be the only reason why someone else cat may not like you. The owner of the house may have just moved into a new apartment, which can be a handful for the cat at first.
The cat will need some weeks to settle in, sniff and explore every inch of the house, ensuring his safety. A cat will get to approach strangers happily only when he feels safe and relaxed. If not, hell still be afraid at every slightest knock on the door.
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How to make a cat feel comfortable in a new home?
Set up a room solely for the cat, since some cats can be shy at times, make that space where they can easily go if they need to retire. You can go visit them in their room from time to time until they get used to the new surroundings.
Get them a cat pod in a quiet place in the house, and add their cushions and treats this will make them more relaxed. Confident cats will not mind getting close to people and coming to the sitting room.
How To Get Someone Else’s Cat To Like You?
Getting someone else’s cat to like you can be quite a task. First of all, you need to understand cats are different from dogs–personality-wise, hence, the approach is going to be based on trial and error, you have to try out a few things before you find out what can work for you.
To get someone elses cat to love you, you can use a treat or cat toys to try and get to play with the cat, if the cat gets comfortable with you, you can then pet him on spots the cat loves the most, back of his ears, under his chin and on his back. Before doing this, get close to the cat, knell to his level, and allow him the freedom to sniff you.
Below, we are going to explain in detail how to get someone else’s cat to like you;
Earning closure with the cat
- The first step is to make the cat see you as less of a threat by getting to the cat’s level, you can do this by sitting or kneeling close to the cat. Avoid incongruous movements, and stay as still as you can.
- While maintaining some distance, slowly try to extend your hands towards the cat in a way that doesn’t send out threatening signals, they wait for the cat to reciprocate on its own, my walking towards you.
- Don’t force things if the cat doesn’t approach you, try and make the cat feel that he is in control by respecting his decisions. Don’t force interaction with the cat or you could get a package you didn’t pay for like, swatting, scratching, or even worse, the cat will run away and start avoiding you.
- You must not get it all to work on the first day, don’t keep trying hard as this will spoil any progress you could be making. Just sit down, relax, do your things and avoid having direct eye contact with the cat, since they perceive this as you being aggressive. Just like psychology with humans, ignoring the cat will make them approach you on their own.
If the cat reciprocated the above steps positively, then move on to the next step.
Petting the cat effectively
Before you get to understand how to let a cat effectively, you should understand areas that are a no-go. The cat’s tail is very sensitive to the cats and you’ll earn yourself a scratch if you try grabbing those tails.
Unlike dogs who will love you to pet and rub their stomachs, for cats, showing you, or letting you touch their stomach is a great show of submission and vulnerability. Come on, you just got to meet the cat, avoid its stomach for your good.
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Petting the cats back
Pet the cat back: gently and carefully pet the cat back, imagine getting a good rub or massage on your back, how relaxing. You aim for a similar thing with the cat’s back, massage the cat’s back with every good style you know, but be careful to stop if the cat is no longer enjoying your massage, but if the cat is purring, it’s a game on.
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Petting the cats ears
Massage the back of the cat’s ears too. This is a great spot as it is part of the cat’s scent glands. Cats love to mark territories, this is why they rub their faces on the owners they love, to headbutt from time to time. Pet, scratch and rub the back of the ear of the cat, if you know what you are doing, you can use your knuckles on the utter part of the cart’s ears.
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Petting the cats chin
Once someone else cat begins to show affection towards you, by rubbing against your legs or body, you can go for its chin. Cats love it when you massage their chin, start slowly and wait for signals, like the cat raising its head, then you can extend to his jawbones, if the cat is enjoying it all, he’ll let our purring sounds.
Here is a video on how to massage someone else cat effectively.
Massage is a great way of bonding with someone else’s cat, and if you can perfect your act, you’ll be a cat charmer pretty soon.
Getting the cat to come around for a treat
This third stage will make it easy for you if earning closure with someone else’s cat step didn’t work for you. This step aims to make the cat comfortable around you, using a treat or cat toys.
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Get toys for the cat
You can get a cheat from the owner of the cat, learn about the toys the cat loves, then toss it for the cat to chase or catch. To get someone else cat to participate in this activity, you need to introduce it in a way that poses no aggression to the cat. You need to toss the toy away from the cat and away from yourself, if the cat runs after the toy, then it’s game on.
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Get the cats some gift
As I stated in the introduction of this article, you need to get creative with your act. Gifts are ways of melting people’s hearts, and also that of pets. Why not come along with a gift that will endear someone’s cat to you. Puzzle feeders are a great way to keep someone elses cat entertained. Make sure you are the one who sets the and place the cat’s favorite treats in, this will make the cat excited at seeing you.
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Get the cat some treats
Generally, treats are a great way of getting someone else’s cat to like you. Place treats for them, at a distance and make sure to look away, this will make them more comfortable to approach the treats and eat them, once they eat the treat, you can toss out more for them.
Here is a video of treats someone else cat will love:
Conclusion
How to get someone else cat to like you is not that hard, after all, you only need to get creative, it’s like getting a shy person to be more comfortable around you.
If you follow the little guide we picked for you, you’ll become a person who can easily get someone else’s cat to love you. If you have any questions, let us know.