Who doesn’t want to cuddle a cute fluff ball? Any person who loves a cat can not wait to raise one all by themselves. Cats are precious, cute, and have by birth skills to mend your heart in a minute. However, it’s very hurtful for cat parents to see their cats not being friendly, not only with others but with them as well. Regardless of our knowledge about how precious these feline babies are, we have to understand that cats have different personalities.
According to several animal experts, the personality of a cat depends on its genes. However, there is one more thing that influences their behavior and overall personality and that is how they are raised, the nurtured, and their surrounding. If you have a cat or kitten and you want them to be friendly, you have to help them become friendly. Things might seem confusing if you alone try to dive into the depth of information, so here we have some tips for you on how to raise a friendly cat or friendly kitten.
6 Best Tips To Raise A Friendly Cat
Cats are heavy on their personality, to be more specific they are quite different from raising other pets. You might see cats that are friendly, and cuddly whereas you can also see cats that are often grumpy and hates cuddling. It’s because of the different personalities that they inherit. However, how they have been nurtured can really influence their personality traits.
If you want to know how to raise a friendly cat, you have to start early by raising a friendly kitten. It’s essential to socialize with your feline friend. However, before going further with the discussion, as a cat parent, you have to consider the fact that cat’s really do have their own unique personalities. Some may be naturally friendly whereas some may be shy or aggressive. It’s better not to expect that your cat will change overnight but applying the following tips will help you make them feel more comfortable around you which will eventually make them more friendly and loving.
1. Allow Playtime
Regardless their personality cats enjoy playing. Whether you have a young kitten or an adult cat, none of them will like to be cuddled all time. In fact, trying to be clingy with them all time might make them aggressive. If you want to spend some time with your cat, the best way to do is to initiate playtime. Don’t hesitate to allow your cat some playtime.
Cats love to play, and it’s a good way for you to burn some extra calories while making your cat happy and active. Grab a cat toy and play with your cat. Especially if you are raising a kitten, you can bond with them more efficiently by playing with them. You don’t have to give them a lot of time, a small playtime will be enough for your little one. You can make the playtime more enjoyable by rewarding your kitty with tasty treats afterward.
2. Provide Your Cat A Comfortable Space
Cats are precious pets and they not only love but also require comfort and luxury. Cats are private animals and they can not just stay anywhere. If they are not comfortable in the space provided to them, it can affect them in many ways. Uncomfortable space affects their sleeping and eating patterns which eventually affects their overall behavior.
You can find cat beds, litter boxes, toys, and other necessary things and create a space where they can rest and play comfortably. Also if you want your cat to be a lap baby, you must be gentle with them and provide them warmth and affection while taking them in your lap. The more comfortable they feel the friendlier they become.
3. Always Make Yourself Available
Cats are attention seekers. Or it will be better to say that cats love attention from their human friends. If you are nurturing a kitten it’s essential for you to be available for them whenever they need you. Being around kittens is easier than being around adult cats as kittens don’t grow inquisitive nature during those early days. Among all the other tips, this one is the biggest and most efficient way to raise a friendly kitten.
Play with them, nurse them, feed them their favorite treats, and talk to them, it will make them comfortable with you and they will start bonding with you. Doing this from an early age will make them habituated to your presence and they will acknowledge your availability as a part of their lifestyle.
4. Brush Your Cat
Cats are sensitive animals and even though they don’t always like to be cuddled, brushing them often can assure safety to them. You don’t need to carry them around on your lap. You can simply keep them around you and gently stroke their belly, and back and pat them on their head.
5. Train Your Cat
Training is vital to raise a cat, whether it’s a kitten or an adult cat you must train them in order to make them friendly and loving. It’s easier to train cats if you start when they are young or kittens. However, it is still possible to train grown-up cats but it can be a little difficult depending on their ingrown personality.
The easiest thing to train them is to come to you when you call their name. It is the first stage of training a cat and you should not forget to hold their favorite treat in your hand as you call them. Soon they will be confident that once you call their name, they can go to you and will be rewarded with a treat. It will not only make them loving towards you but also stop them from going too far from you.
6. Make Your Cat's Environment More Interesting
Making your cat’s environment can help you raise them to be a friendly cats. It may or may not be possible for you to play or watch your cat all day. But when you’re not around they might feel lonely and bored which can make them antisocial, aggressive and sometimes it can cause them stress.
You can stimulate their environment to make them happy within four walls. Cats are independent animals but providing something interesting will help to keep them physically and mentally active. Inactivity or boredom can cause them loss of appetite, destructive behavior, aggressive attitude, and many other problems.
You can stimulate their environment by simply adding a place for them to hide, adding a scratch post, cat toys, catnips, puzzle feeders, allowing them a space to get some sun, putting them in a room with a view, feeding them new tasty treats, spend some with them, make a safe outdoor space for them and most importantly socialize them with other people, animals to keep them happy and excited.
How to Introduce other animals to your cat
If you are eagerly looking for answers to how to raise a friendly cat, the most prominent answer to this will be socializing. Socialize your cat with others, especially with other animals to help them become friendly towards others. It is not much rare when you see a cat is afraid of other animals or gets aggressive around other animals, especially around dogs. It’s because they see other animals as a threat which comes from a lack of socializing.
Keeping your cat around your family makes them a bit easy to socialize with. You can socialize them with dogs, the more often they play with dogs, and stay around them, they will be confident that dogs are not a threat to them which will help them become friendly. However, do not overdo it. Cats enjoy their personal space, give them their space to breathe. Forced interactions can make them aggressive.
Approaching Your Cat For The First Time
Approaching a cat for the first time determines your further relationship with the cat. Cats are sensitive animals and you have to be very careful while approaching them. Many people think that they can easily approach a cat because they have approached dogs previously which is a misconception. Cats are a lot different from dogs and approaching a cat for the first time requires patience. Here is how you can gently approach a cat for the first time.
- Get down to the cats level
- Give them a gentle hand to sniff
- Don't stare at them
- Call their name gently in a low tone
- Pet on their head only if they nodge, don't pet their whole body or touch their belly or don't pick them up
- Be patient when you approach
Is It Natural For Kittens To Be Affectionate?
Not all cats or kittens are cuddly. However, with kittens, you might notice they are quite affectionate once they find you around often. They might follow you from here to there or might want to snuggle on your lap. Kittens generally love to stay in your warmth. Although it may not be the same with all kittens. But if your kitten is affectionate towards you, you should be grateful for it and cuddle the fluff ball.
Final Verdict On Best Tips To Raise A Friendly Cat
Cats are sensitive and independent animals. They have different personalities which make them behave differently. There are some cat breeds that are naturally friendly and some are naturally shy but all breeds are quite inquisitive. However, regardless of their genes, you can raise a friendly kitten with simple efforts, love, and affection. Each top mentioned in this article is a result of deep research.
These tips are not only helpful to raise a friendly kitten but they will work on adult cats as well. However, with adult cats, it might take some more time for them to become friendlier than the younger ones.
Frequently Asked Questions
Some cats like to be cuddled but not all the time. Whether you cat is cuddly or not, don’t pick them up every time you see them as they might not like it.
It is absolutely alright to socialize your cat with dogs. However, make sure you socialize them with a friendly dog so they can play with them and believe that the dog is not a threat to them.
Cats seem to find small humans a threat to them. However, including your kittens to your family and keeping them around can help the situation. They will be habituated with the kids and be confident that they are not a threat.
Bathing is not much necessary for cats as they are self groomers. They keep themselves near and clean by licking and biting their body. Specially indoor cats don’t require a bath. However, you may need to bathe them in extreme circumstances.
One of the most efficient ways to make it easy for you cat to train to be a friendly cat is to reward them with a tasty treat at the end of their training.