How to "Hug" Your Kitty With Your Eyes!

Cats can "hug" and comfort each other from across the room - without lifting a paw. Now you can, too! This is the easiest thing in the world to learn, and you'll be so glad you did (so will your cat). It works on other mammals, too!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• a cat, of course
• plenty of patience

1. Get your cat settled and comfortable. A petting session is a good idea, just to get your feline in a friendly mood, but it's not required. A lot depends on your cat's disposition.

2. Extricate yourself (I know, easier said than done) from sitting with your cat and sit down a short distance away - no more than two or three feet - preferably on a separate piece of furniture. Note: If you sit on the same chair or couch with your cat, make sure there's enough distance between the two of you that your cat can focus on your eyes, without being overwhelmed by your presence.

3. Call your cat by name, or make a little noise - do whatever it takes to get your cat's attention. Looking directly into your cat's eyes, BLINK ONCE VERRRRYYY SLOWLY. Your kitty may look surprised at this, or may take it completely in stride. (You know how cats are.)

4. At this point, you will be repeating the previous step; i.e., the single, very slow blink, while looking directly into your cat's eyes. Follow this up with much petting and praise, to let your kitty know how well the training is going. Although you may feel ready to keep going, it's time to stop. You can't overtrain cats; they just get ticked off and stubborn. Wait until tomorrow....

5. Training Day 2. You should be pretty good by now. It's time to start doing the "visual hugging" of your cat from different places in your home. Try it at different times of the day. Smile at the cat, then do the slow blink, and see what happens. You should start seeing very positive responses almost every time. However, if your cat rolls its eyes and huffs off, you may have to take things slowly.

6. At the next visit to the vet's, remember to use this technique to calm your kitty. Use the slow blink technique to reassure your cat while he/she is getting examined; it's really helped my kitties.

7. You'll find this technique also works on cats that DON'T belong to you. I was driving to see my parents when I spotted a cat that had been hit by a car. The poor thing was frantic; I crouched down with it (using non-threatening posture, of course) and used the slow blink/calming voice technique to calm it enough to get it into the car and transport it to an emergency animal clinic for treatment. I was lucky - no bites! And the cat survived.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice in front of a mirror if you're unsure of your blinking technique. Watch yourself as you do it; when you get a feeling of warmth or well-being, you know you've got it.
• CAUTION: This technique does NOT hypnotize animals; it's simply the way that cats communicate affection; i.e., "hugging" each other across a distance without moving. You cannot tame feral cats simply by blinking at them, of course. (For THAT, you'll need tuna fish, shredded chicken, thick gloves, lots of patience, and a very understanding spouse.)