They LIE in order to make YOU feel better about yourself. They all do this. I bet that cat is actually a slut that allows anyone to pet it - a pet-slut if you will. The lying bastards...
Amazingly, this happened to me with the neighbors cat. We were chatting with them about something, when their cat came outside, took a round around my legs, laid down and turned on the back. I bent down to stroke his belly, and he purred. Neighbors: He does not do that with other people!
Whether it's safe or not depends on the cat; With my lot the reactions range from wanting as much as you will give to a bite serious enough that a visit to A&E is required.
Yeah, it's risky business and you need to be careful, because as you you say you are in range of all four murder mittens and many cats don't like getting their stomach petted.
I usually start petting them in other places, then progressively try petting their upper belly, going down. At the first sign that it's not received well I immediately remove my hand.
Four paws and mouth. Cats love it for like x number of seconds, then suddenly part of their lizard-cat brain kicks. I swear this is some kind of instinct behavior carried over from evolution.
I used to have this very sweet very old cat, I had for years. She would lay next to me in bed and let me pet her stomach. One time she did the weird belly bite claw attack thing, or started to. Chompers at the ready around my thumb. But instantly stopped and froze in place. We were both shocked. I turned to look at her like “wtf just happened?” My hand still in place. And she’s looking back at me like “wtf just happened?” Like she didn’t even know. It was so bizarre and out of character. I kind of laughed, and I think she felt bad. Then we continued cuddling.
I was at a friend's house on their couch watching a movie and their shy cat just comes up and sits on my lap for pretty much the whole first hour. I've never even seen this cat before. And yeah, when the cat hopped up the friend did say that was unusual.
On the other hand my parent's cats are all super timid around me (except one weirdo orange cat). Go figure
Once when I visited a friend of my partner's, I met a dog they were taking care of that was rescued and hated men. To everyone's shock we ended up spooning within an hour. I guess add that to the pile of signs lmao
They LIE in order to make YOU feel better about yourself. They all do this. I bet that cat is actually a slut that allows anyone to pet it - a pet-slut if you will. The lying bastards...
My cat looks affronted when a stranger is not petting her. Then she's laying there with this "am I not good enough for you?" look.
I have a cat that sees people and immediately wants pets. Another that hears someone come in and hides and isn’t seen for hours.
I can't say everyone does, but I absolutely do. I like making someone feel special and good about themselves with my lil lie