Why Does Your Cat Not Want To Kiss You?
Our cats are adorable and precious bundles of fluff that have us constantly obsessing over their cute demeanour. As responsible cat owners it’s our job to not only feed, groom and care for cats. One of the perks of being a cat owner is having access to giving lots of hugs and kisses to your feline friend. Yet, this act of affection is sometimes met by a proud and firm paw to the face in outright protest. It leads us to our collection of questions today, does your cat hate the act of kissing? Let’s take a look at possible reasons why your cat might not want to kiss from their loving paw parent
Cats are proud and sometimes solitary animals. Despite cohabiting with a faithful human, their approach to embraces and contact can vary depending on mood and personality. Many cats will permit a round of hugging and kisses from their loving pet parents, showing a sign of trust and love. Yet, some others will outright refuse under all circumstances. This isn’t to say that your cat doesn’t trust you, there is a little more to this kitty enigma that you might think.
Social Interactions and Positive Reinforcement
Human interaction from an early age is important for domestic cats. Handling in the way of hugs, lap sitting and kisses are all behaviors that stand to have wider acceptance when introduced in the early stages of growth. This is especially effective in households that are home to a single cat, your kitten will quickly learn to accept and trust various human forms of interaction. Your cat’s interpretation of kissing may be entirely different to your own but the key to giving your cat conventional forms of endearment is to gradually establish trust and habit. In some cases, linking these acts to positive reinforcement is a useful way to leverage known objectives of positivity in your cat’s life. Providing tasty snacks after a play session is a great way to introduce new concepts. Repetition and continuous positive reinforcement through rewards will help to convey the message that hugs and kisses aren’t all bad. Rather, they are linked to everything great about living together. It’s best to take things slow and gradually introduce these concepts.
Consider Your Cat’s Feelings
Cats who have lived the street life may be adverse to any human contact, let alone kisses. For a cat, the act of kissing could be a terrifying experience that needs clear consideration and planning. Animals interpret human interactions in different ways and they aren’t exactly in a position to go to school or read our blog articles to get an idea of what hugging and kissing is all about. So if your cat protests and gives a sudden paw to the face, it’s not so much that they hate you or your breath, it’s unexpected behavior that is not part of their tolerated human to cat interactions. Our paw friends don’t use kisses to show signs of affection towards one another. Their social interactions mostly revolve around the actions of scent spreading and enthusiastic head bumps. We love head bumps with our kitties and it’s the sweetest thing to see your cat assume the belly showing position, sometimes allowing a belly rub.
Understanding cat affection isn’t always clear cut but looking out for these actions is an opportunity to act on. As time goes on, your cat will establish ways of acceptable interaction but kissing might not be one of them. Cats might look like they are in each other’s faces, exchanging sweet pecks of affection but their interactions are mostly scent based and perhaps even confrontational. Putting things into perspective, if a giant creature walked up to us one day and used its mouth to deliver a questionable exchange, our natural instinct of fear and escape may take over. So a paw or kick to the face in an effort to flee is a reasonable response from your beloved and loveable cat.
Slowly and Steady Interactions
So if your cat seems to like or at least tolerate your hugs and kisses, it’s a sign that they have a deep understanding of trust. As loving owners we strive to communicate our feelings of love and affection to our pets and this takes time and effort. Some cats will take longer than others to get the message, if at all. If your cat refuses your kisses, don’t be discouraged. They still love you in other ways and a different approach will be needed to gradually introduce the concept of kisses. Starting with close embraces might be a better place to start if you haven’t already done so. It’s all about giving your cat freedom and autonomy, they should feel free to leave at any point during close interactions and the act of kissing should be used strategically from time to time. If you’re getting a paw to the face followed by a swift escape, tone things down a little and be sure to avoid upsetting your cat at all costs.
Images used in this post are taken from sources with no attribution required
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