This breed is known to shy from strangers. It’s not uncommon for him to run and hide at the appearance of unfamiliar people. The Russian blue is considered to be good around children. The breed is not an aggressive one.
Feline friendly: Letting your cat CHOOSE when it wants to be petted can boost your relationship — and save you from getting bitten or scratched, study claims
According to a study, allowing your cat to choose when it wants to be petted may strengthen your bond and prevent you from being bitten or scratched.
Experts in feline behavior from Nottingham Trent University have created a series of guidelines for pet owners to follow when interacting with their furry companions, which they have named CAT.
These advise owners to give their cats autonomy and choice (C), observe their pets’ behavior and body language (A), and consider where they are touching (T) their cat.
The team discovered that when these basic guidelines are followed, cats are more affectionate and less likely to act aggressively toward people.
According to a study, allowing your cat to choose when it wants to be petted may strengthen your bond and prevent you from being bitten or scratched. Pictured: a can bunts a man.
The secret to ensuring your cat is content and at ease during your time together, according to study leader Lauren Finka, a feline behavior specialist from Nottingham Trent University, is to give it control over the interactions.
Offering your hand to your cat and letting it determine whether it wants to interact are good places to start, she said; if it is willing, it will probably rub up against you.
According to the researchers, owners should let their cat go if they so choose and avoid the urge to pick it up or follow it because doing so reduces the cat’s sense of control.
Cats are easily over-stimulated by petting. A cat may thrash its tail, turn its head away, rotate or flatten its ears, shake its head, lick its nose, try to get away, or ripple its back fur as a warning that it doesn’t want you to continue petting it.
Additional behaviors could be the cat becoming motionless, ceasing to purr, ceasing to rub against you, starting to groom itself out of nowhere, or quickly turning its head to face you.
Cats are easily over-stimulated by petting. A cat may thrash its tail, turn its head away, rotate or flatten its ears, shake its head, lick its nose, try to get away, or ripple its back fur as a warning that it doesn’t want you to continue petting it. If you keep petting a cat at this point, it might start using less subtle communication methods, like scratching (see picture).
If you continue to pet a cat at this point, it might become uncomfortable and start sending you less subdued signals, like biting, hissing, or scratching.
Cats’ favorite spots for petting are under their chins, around their cheeks, and at the base of their ears. Dr. Finka and colleagues examined these areas as part of their research.
The team states that while some cats will appreciate being petted here, it is generally advisable to avoid touching a cat’s stomach or the base of its tail, as well as to be cautious when stroking its back.
According to Dr. Finka, the findings show that cats clearly prefer a more “hands off” approach to petting since it gives them more control over the situation.
It’s not always the case that cats are extremely expressive when expressing their emotions.
This can frequently lead to problems when petting since many cats experience occasional discomfort, but it’s not always easy for us to notice this, she said.
According to Dr. Finka, the findings show that cats clearly prefer a more “hands off” approach to petting since it gives them more control over the situation.
As this new study demonstrates, although each cat has a wonderfully distinct personality, they also frequently have fundamental similarities, according to Battersea Dogs
Because cats are such subtle communicators of their preferences, their actions sometimes go unnoticed or are misinterpreted.
Owners will be able to better understand how their cat is feeling and adjust how they interact with each other to make sure their pet is content and at ease by following these new, straightforward but effective “Cat” guidelines.
The team observed brief interactions between human participants and 100 cats in the Batterseas London cattery in order to assist them in refining the CAT guidelines.
Every participant engaged with six cats: three prior to and three subsequent to training on the CAT guidelines.
When people followed the recommendations, cats were much less likely to show signs of discomfort or act aggressively, according to the researchers.
The team observed that the same cats were also more likely to behave amiably toward the participants and looked more at ease during the interactions that took place after training.
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science .
Mental & Physical Stimulation Needs
Even the most placid Russian Blue can become a ball of furry rage when bored. With puzzle feeders, teaser toys, and the classic laser pointer chase, you can keep their minds active and their paws occupied. Recall that a happy cat is fatigued, and a tired cat is less likely to use your hand as a pincushion.
THE SEVEN KEY FELINE PERSONALITY AND BEHAVIOURAL TRAITS
- Playfulness / Activity
- Fearfulness
- Aggression towards humans
- Sociability towards humans
- Sociability towards cats
- Litter box issues
- Excessive grooming
According to Ms. Mikkola, excessive grooming and litter box issues are not personality traits in and of themselves.
However, they may reveal something about how sensitive the cat is to stress.
Cat behavior and personality are less well understood than that of dogs, so it is important to identify risk factors and related issues, according to Salla Mikkola, a University of Helsinki feline behavior expert and paper author.
To identify problematic behavior and enhance the welfare of cats, we require greater knowledge and resources.
Cats’ most frequent behavioral issues are related to aggression and improper elimination.
In order to gather data for their study, Ms. Mikkola and associates created a questionnaire that asked owners to rate their agreement with 138 statements regarding the personalities and behaviors of their cats.
These included questions about the cat’s behavior, such as whether it gets along well with other cats in the house, whether it always greets strangers who come over politely, and whether it frequently runs in short bursts (known as “zoomies”).
Surveying cat owners has an advantage over behavioral testing because it provides an understanding of a cat’s long-term behavior in its natural environment, as opposed to a lab setting where the cat might exhibit unusual reactions to unfamiliar surroundings.
Seven crucial behavioral and personality characteristics emerged from the analysis, which not only differed amongst individual cats but also clearly showed personality differences between breeds.
The Abyssinian breed was the least fearful, and the Russian Blue breed was the most fearful. According to renowned paper author Hannes Lohi, also of the University of Helsinki, the Bengal breed was the most active breed and the Persian and exotic breeds were the most passive.
Siamese and Balinese were the breeds with the most excessive grooming, while Turkish Vans scored significantly lower in sociability with cats and much higher in aggression toward humans.
The Abyssinian breed was the least fearful, and the Russian Blue breed was the most fearful. According to renowned paper author Hannes Lohi, also of the University of Helsinki, the Bengal breed was the most active breed and the Persian and exotic breeds were the most passive. Pictured: a Persian cat.
The researchers issued a warning, noting that they have not yet performed any pairwise comparisons between various cat breeds.
According to Ms. Mikkola, our goal was to get a general sense of whether personality traits vary amongst breeds.
In subsequent research, we will employ more intricate models to investigate the variables influencing characteristics and maladaptive behavior.
In these models, we will account for the cat’s age, gender, health, and a variety of environmental factors in addition to its breed.
Seven crucial behavioral and personality characteristics emerged from the analysis, which not only differed amongst individual cats but also clearly showed personality differences between breeds. The team reports that the Russian Blue cat breed is the most fearful.
One issue with utilizing questionnaires to study cat personalities is that they are fundamentally subjective, necessitating an evaluation of their reliability.
In order to accomplish this, the researchers contacted survey participants one to three months after they finished it and requested that they either retake the questionnaire or have another adult in the home reply.
The team was able to assess the consistency of respondents’ questionnaire responses over time and across different respondents based on the findings.
The personality and behavioral traits were found to be repeatable and dependable, and by comparing the responses, we discovered that the responses given for the same cat were very similar, according to Ms. Mikkola.
We also looked at the questionnaire’s validity to see if it measures the things it was supposed to measure. In these terms, too, the questionnaire functioned well.
The team discovered seven essential characteristics after examining over 4,300 cats from 26 distinct breed groups, including playfulness (shown), fearfulness, and grooming proficiency.
According to Professor Lohi, our survey is the largest and most important survey conducted globally to date, and it offers fantastic prospects for additional research.
Previous feline behavior questionnaires have not had their reliability assessed in a way as flexible or thorough as this one.
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Animals.
FAQ
What are the downsides to Russian Blue cats?
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Do Russian Blue cats have attitude?
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