Scientists Determine How You Should Pet Your Cat

Newser) – If your cat doesn't seem to want to sit still while you pet it, you might be doing it wrong. Yes, it turns out there is a right and wrong way to pet a cat, per a study published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science in late 2014. As the researchers from UK's University of Lincoln note in their abstract, "As part of its role as a pet, cats are expected to not only tolerate but enjoy being touched." They set out to determine how one should best do that via two experiments, which zeroed in on "handler familiarity," the cats' various body regions, and the order in which they were touched. The upshot: Leave the tail alone. That "caudal" region returned the most negative scores regardless of how familiar the petter was.

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I always thought the wrong way to pet your cat was when kitty didn't want to be petted. Give me a break!