THE CAT PERSONALITY TEST
Take this fun quiz to learn more about how your pet responds to being petted.
1 How keen is your cat to interact with you?
Sit or kneel down about a metre away from your cat. If you need to, politely get their attention. Gently offer your hand (palm facing down) towards your cat. Pause with your hand in this position for 20 seconds and allow your cat to choose whether they make contact. Observe your cat.You can say the odd word of encouragement if it helps. Ideally, repeat the above several times at different times of the day.
DID YOUR CAT:
A Start smooching, rubbing, and climbing all over you before you even managed to kneel down.
B Give you a good amount of cat-on-human action but with little pauses in between — 20 seconds of contact is actually quite a lot!
C Take their time but eventually come over, humour you with a half-hearted sniff or cheek rub, then start looking for the treat packet.
D Give a brief glance in your direction then pretend to carry on with whatever it was they were doing before you decided to disturb them with this silly test.
E Give you the evils before getting out of there as quickly as possible — how could you forget the 2m rule?!
Or: You have no idea because you couldn’t even locate him/her; they are probably hiding from you.
2 Stroke your cat in the way you usually would for about five seconds, then stop. Observe what your cat does next.
DID YOUR CAT:
A Instantly rub you or paw at you — why on Earth did you stop, human?
B Calmly turn to look in your direction and maybe lean in gently for a bit more.
C Look comfortable but not ask for more — short and sweet suits them fine!
D Only allow you about two seconds before they scarpered and/or delivered a ‘continue at your peril’ sort of warning.
E Not applicable: stroking your cat is not something that ends well for either of you.
3 On which parts of your cat’s body do they usually enjoy being stroked?
A Head, chin, cheeks, back, tummy, tail — all without fail.
B Mostly around the head and face, but will sometimes enjoy other areas.
C Mostly around the head and face, but will sometimes tolerate other areas.
D Will sometimes enjoy/ tolerate a gentle cheek stroke.
E None of them, ever.
Or, You would never even attempt to touch your cat for fear of injury.
4 When you stroke your cat, do you ever notice any of the following signs of discomfort? (Tick each relevant box):
■ Moving or walking away from you as if you’re contagious or something.
■ You suddenly notice your cat no longer seems to have any limbs — they are all safely tucked away from your horrible, clammy hands.
■ Remaining relatively passive during the whole process, in the hope that this helps it to be over quicker.
■ Blinking, shaking their head or body, or licking their nose; brain reset is being attempted.
■ Suddenly deciding they are extremely dirty and launching into a frantic grooming session.
■ Skin twitching or rippling as if someone just walked over their grave.
■ Tail taking on the appearance of an angry snake, swishing furiously from side to side or thumping up and down.
■ Suddenly going a bit still, doing their best statue impression.
■ Ears flattening downwards or rotating towards the back of their head.
■ Sharply turning their head to face you or your hand, accompanied by a death stare.
■ Biting or swiping at you, or bopping you with their paw — take that annoying human!
■ Hissing, growling, or emitting an unpleasant sort of groaning noise — pay attention or you’ll get what’s coming to you!