• @8ender@sh.itjust.works
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    759 months ago

    Yeah but that one time it comes over and you get to pet the cat gives you all the dopamine you need for an entire day

    • comfortablyglum
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      249 months ago

      Right?! I have little dignity anyway; losing what’s left to pet an unknown, outdoor cat is totally worth it.

    • MrsDoyle
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      99 months ago

      I went psst psssst pssst to a cute cat in a garden I was passing, not noticing a woman walking towards me. She thought I was hissing at her, gave me such a LOOK. She was wearing hijab, I’m an old lady, who knows what was going through her head.

      No dopamine for me that day.

  • Zoidsberg
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    339 months ago

    least dignified

    You have never seen me half-jog across a crosswalk.

  • If you want to entice a cat to come closer, don’t look at it! Direct eye contact is seen as threatening.

    Put out your hand, point your face away from the cat, and put your hand out while gently calling it over. Your success rate will be much higher!

    Also, a good cat-noise to attract them is a light trill with an upward inflection. It’s my go-to when assuring nervous/unsure cats.

  • @Bloodwoodsrisen@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    189 months ago

    I do this with my own household cats and they still ignore me. The one time I got to pet a wild kitty I was still in middle school and the other kids got all grossed out

    Baby just needed some matted fur to be shaved off and a bath :(

    • @visak@lemmy.world
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      89 months ago

      What. I was in the middle of something. What do you want? You know what? Nevermind, I’m just going to go back to what I was doing.

  • Nepenthe
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    9 months ago

    Never understood the dumbass pspsps thing. It’s annoying and I’ve pretty much never seen it work. What always has worked for me is to chill just a little ways away and completely ignore them. Just as non-threatening as you can make yourself if you were a piece of furniture left out on the sidewalk.

    From personal experience, cats hate being made to do things and don’t come when called unless they already know you and like you a lot. But they also loathe being ignored and will snoof right over shortly to the one person being completely indifferent to them.

    This would be the same reason they seem to mercilessly hunt anyone with a cat allergy. Your perceived dislike of them shall not stand!

    • @herrvogel@lemmy.world
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      229 months ago

      Pspsps is essential. It draws the cat’s attention to you. Then you extend a hand and look at how the cat’s reacting to it. You can tell with great accuracy how interested the cat is in being pet by you, just by watching that. Works great for me. And believe me, as a resident of İstanbul for more than two decades, I have considerable experience with stray cats. I have honed my stray cat petting skills by going out of my way to interact with most of the cats I see on the streets, which is of course a rather large number of cats because İstanbul.

      • @SolarNialamide@lemm.ee
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        99 months ago

        Agreed. I live in a European country where it’s very normal to let your cats outside, and I was a mail carrier for 4 years, so I got to pet so many cats 5 days a week. You do the pspsps, then crouch a bit and extend the hand. They either ignore you and move or on they’re interested and come to you and bam you’re petting a sweet kitty.

    • FuglyDuck
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      9 months ago

      The psssppsssp thing just gets their attention. It may not get them to come over and they may act like they’re ignoring you, but it absolutely gets them to notice you- especially if it’s quiet.

      It doesn’t change how the cat is going to behave after noticing, though and it’s best to play it off as not meant for them.

      Another way I’ve had good luck is in creating some kind of toy to entice them to play- anything similar to those feather toys, for example. Rather than trying to play directly, flip it around in an open space… make it twitch… trigger their predatory instincts.

      • @8ender@sh.itjust.works
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        49 months ago

        It’s also regional. Most people around here click their tongues at cats. In Quebec I’ve heard people whisper “ici” at cats.

    • Cethin
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      99 months ago

      Are you getting paid to pet cats? Where do I apply?

      • no surprises
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        69 months ago

        Pet cats until you find the one who will agree to pay your bills.

        • Otome-chan
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          29 months ago

          most cats will only pay for their share of the pet rent. if you can find a sugar kitty you’re pretty lucky.

          • Nepenthe
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            39 months ago

            Cat rent is a running joke in my household, because none of us honestly know where the fuck all the loose change is even coming from otherwise. She’s such a thoughtful baby. That, or a little removed.

            • @HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world
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              29 months ago

              My cat steals bras. All of ours, unfortunately because we could run a creepy internet used bra business. Not gonna sell our own bras are expensive.

            • Otome-chan
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              19 months ago

              My joke was about how some apartments charge you “pet rent” if you have a pet. Naturally, your cat needs to pay his own rent.

  • @hascat@programming.dev
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    49 months ago

    My neighborhood has a number of friendly outdoor cats. Id say at least half of them will run up to me and let me pet them

  • @selokichtli
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    49 months ago

    I don’t care. I know they are all better than me.

  • @blariekoek@feddit.nl
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    39 months ago

    My boyfriend and I have been looking for a house to buy for a loooong time before we bought our current home. One of the things we would do after viewing a potential house is “the cat test” which ment walking around the neighbourhood trying to find friendly cats.

  • @Jumper775@lemmy.world
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    19 months ago

    Not possible. She is no random person as she is in fact the queen of thyme. Quit the BS, we all know what’s up.

  • ...m...
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    19 months ago

    …this is how pretty much all my cats adopted me…