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You’re petting your cat wrong – Metro US

You’re petting your cat wrong

You’re petting your cat wrong
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Researchers at the U.K.’sUniversity Lincolnhave discovered the best way to pet a cat, because unlike dogs (which will enjoy being petted for the sake of being petted), cats apparently need to be petted a certain way.

“As part of its role as a pet, cats are expected to not only tolerate but enjoy being touched,” the scientists wrote.

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The study consisted of three elements: how familiar the cat was with the person petting it, where the person was petting the cat, and the order of areas petted.

Essentially, scientists discovered that cats are super high-maintenance.

Cats in the study didn’t care about the order of areas in which they were petted, because they really enjoyed being touched pretty much in only one area: their head and face.

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The one place scientist advise you should never pet is the base of the tail. As theWashington Postexplains: “Cats do not like being stroked at the base of their tail — at least, that was the case for most of the 54 cats in this study, and another, smaller study on the topic. That’s sort of a cat erogenous zone, and petting may overstimulate it, the researchers posit.”

The real discovery of this study? Dogs make way better pets than cats.

Matt Lee is a Web producer for Metro New York. He writes about almost everything and anything. Talk to him (or yell at him) on Twitter so he doesn’t feel lonely@mattlee2669.