Your thoughts please


Garrett

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Workington, Cumbria, UK
I work with people that have quite profound mental health/learning difficulties & despite being fully aware of the protocols often develop close relationships with those I regularly work with.
I had one particular chap (his birthday!) & his carer visit after work today & was amazed at how my cat interacted with him.. (completely ignored us two) let me first state that my cat is 3 years old, has never been out and makes herself scare when anybody else visits.. as soon as he entered she was alert (eating at the time) & immediately followed us into the living room, sat directly opposite him whilst he spoke her gaze firmly fixed upon his face as he spoke more she very tentatively approached him settling on his lap whilst remaining fixated on his face & no amount of calling could distract her. As soon as he'd finished speaking she made herself at home on his lap (despite his obvious discomfort.. which didn't last) & couldn't be moved regardless of which of her treats she was offered (unheard of!) When he speaks he tends to gesture and the cat was very gently tapping his fingers/hands when he was doing this, I've never seen her behave this way before even with me she only usually interacts when wanting food or water. When he'd stand so would she, actually keeping pace with his strides when he was walking, as he was preparing to leave she actually jumped onto his rucksack & protested lots when removed, then remained fixated on the door for the best part of an hour after he'd left.. I'd say that's odd behavior for a Canine, but for a cat it's gotta be damn strange.

What do folk here make of it..?
 
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Perfectly normal. Cats are individuals and every cat has its favourites as well as a varying number of creatures to spread its affection over.
One of the cats of a friend always reacted similarly to me and it was the one that usually disliked all humans, cats and other kinds of animals alike.
Some are choosy and if they manage to like someone, they overdo it a bit. I'm like this too.
 
Cats... I had 3, and they always surprised me in a way or another...
 
Some people like each other, some do not. Why would this be any different between animals and people?

I think he probably has a calming or otherwise comforting energy for your cat and she reacted on that.
Personally I have experienced this with some pets of other people as well.

Maybe he just puts way too much points into animal kinship when he levels up :p
 
First of all, if the person was not comfortable with the cat, he might have avoided looking at her, which for cats means that you're not a danger (because if you were a predator you'd be looking at her). That's why cats often love to rub against allergic people, since many allergic people tend to avoid looking at the cats.

Second, sometimes some cats will have a "crush" on a human, just like some humans can have a "crush" on a cat. As a foster family for abandoned cats, I've seen some cats completely ignore everyone who came and only respond to one person. That's not the most common case (most of the times the most outgoing cats will rush towards the humans and the rest will stay at a distance) but I've definitely seen some cats "choose" their adopters.

Third, there are some people who are natural cat attractors. Maybe that's something in their smell, or their behavior.

But still, I've never seen it to that extent.
 
is there a better birthday present from a cat as to show 'i like you'?
 
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