Making an attempt to figure out San Jose cat’s mystery code

Pricey JOAN: I do not understand my cat. In some cases she rolls on her back again and allows me scratch and rub her tummy, but other times when I try out it, she rips my hand to shreds.

I just cannot tell when she desires stomach rubs and when she does not. Is there a mystery cat code?

Al G., San Jose

Pricey AL: Of course there is a key cat code, and no, we human beings are not authorized to know it.

Here’s the greatest we can do — address every single stomach proffer with skepticism and fear. That’s because for the most part, cats do not appreciate acquiring their bellies rubbed, even when they present them up.

Compared with pet dogs, who overtly offer their bellies at the drop of a hat, cats are way far more protecting. The belly is the cat’s most susceptible spot, and they are hardwired to guard it with all the gusto of a 290-pound linebacker shielding his quarterback.

That doesn’t mean, nonetheless, that they do not sometimes reduce their heads and enable us contact that forbidden little bit of flesh. You quite a lot have to commence the tummy rubs when they are kittens. When a cat offers its tummy to you, it’s a indicator they have confidence in you, even nevertheless we all know cats have have faith in difficulties.

When your kitty rolls on her again and tempts you to arrive at out, get a search at her in general demeanor. Is she serene and comfortable? Are her claws sheathed? If so, she could possibly be welcoming your touch, until finally that fateful instant when she isn’t.

On the other hand, if she’s tense and feisty, back again away. It is a entice. Really, it’s an indication she would like to engage in, but by now, you know greater than that. Test rubbing a plush toy in close proximity to her facial area and have interaction in that way, but don’t touch the tummy unless you’ve bought a complete box of bandages close by.

Pricey JOAN: I was just examining your response to the cat owner whose cat only drank from soaked leaves and sprinklers in lieu of their drinking water dish.

It might be undertaking that because the cat feels the placement of the drinking water dish is unacceptable. I had a very similar situation with my great cat, Smokey. She desired the leaky tub spout to h2o in any variety of dish, including one of those pricey fountains.

The dilemma was not the dish, it was the placement of the dish future to her foods dish. I tried using putting the h2o dish at the opposite conclusion of the kitchen and voila! She had no problems drinking from the dish.

She didn’t treatment that it was additional productive and aesthetically pleasing that her water and meals dish have been jointly, she preferred it the way she required it. But we could last but not least get that leaky tub spout fixed!

James J Gough, Monterrey

Expensive JAMES: It’s almost certainly some feline feng shui.