#tinwë KNOWS i respect her which is why i can pick her up and hold her even though she hates it. she tolerates it because she trusts me

[rackartyg]

how do you make people understand that you need to respect cats' space and integrity? like. you can't just set your hand down on their head from above and start petting. you're ambushing them! ask them if they want to be petted! it's easy, just hold your hand in front of them and let them close the distance!

and when their tail starts swishing and they shy away from touch, stop touching! they're clearly overstimulated! don't keep touching and then when they (gently, because they're polite) get their teeth and claws out start "wrestling" with them. and absolutely don't then start complaining about "why do all cats want to fight me i haven't done anything"

these things are just intuitively obvious to me. why aren't they to other people. i genuinely don't understand. that cats understand integrity and consent is my favourite thing about them -- they'll tell you if you're doing something they don't want! so why wouldn't you listen!