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Cats have unique ways of greeting
2026-05-15
Why do we feel that when we express our liking and shake hands with cats, they have resistance and seem unwilling to shake hands with us? Clearly, what we are conveying is goodwill.
Sensory Sensitivity
In the cat's meat pad, there are high-density and functionally diverse tactile receptors distributed in the dermis layer: one can capture extremely slight ground pressure, and the other can sense high-frequency vibrations in deep underground layers. With this sophisticated system, cats can accurately determine terrain undulations. The direction and speed of prey's slight movement underground or on the ground, and even the footsteps of predators from afar can be detected. This also leads to cats' pads being highly sensitive to touch and not liking to be pinched or pressed for long periods of time.
Cats' paws are 'life-saving weapons', shaking hands can make them lose their sense of security
Cats are predators and also prey that are preyed upon. This requires them to remain vigilant at all times and protect themselves. Cats' claws, like their teeth, are one of their main defense mechanisms. When you hold a cat's paw, it makes them feel controlled, unable to escape, and their strongest defense weapon is' confiscated ', which can cause them to instinctively feel uneasy.
Cats have different ways of greeting
When expressing friendliness between cats, the usual ways are to blink slowly, rub their heads or bodies to mark odors, approach their tails vertically, and make purring sounds. Touching paws is not a natural social etiquette for cats, and they cannot understand that shaking hands is just a greeting. If you forcefully shake hands, it may even cause cats to develop a conditioned reflex of 'something that humans dislike is about to happen when they reach out', further refusing and resisting being touched by paw pads.
So if when you shake hands with a cat, they wag their tail, fly their ears, or immediately lick their paws after interaction, it's actually expressing that they dislike this action and are just enduring it.
When you encounter cats and want to make friends with them, you can express your love to them in the way that cats like.