A Few of Their Favourite Spots

Every cat has his favourite spot. I’m not referring in this case to a location in his home in which to lie, somewhere that he enjoys sleeping. I’m writing about that spot on his body that he loves to have rubbed or petted. Every cat has one and all of mine has a different one.

For Josie, it is on the face, preferably under the chin. She is normally a restless cat under attention. Even when receiving pets or strokes, she will stand, revolve, turn, walk about, then come back for more. But when my Chubs’s little chin is rubbed, gently, almost imperceptibly, she will freeze and her world freezes with her. She will accept the attention for pretty much as long as I want to give it.

Renn is quite different. When he knows he can get it, he will roll over and present his chest for a long rubbing session. He is much less enthusiastic about a tummy-rub; for him, it’s that big mancatly chest of his. He will stretch one foreleg out, then the other. My big boy is a shy animal but if someone will sit down and spend time on a couch, he will eventually come out, sit down beside the stranger and let the chest-rubbing begin. Then he will know you’re the right sort.

Tucker’s spot is the back of the neck. You may wonder how I can find it in a creature who doesn’t have a neck. Let’s say, the rear of the head where it joins the back. He likes a deep rub - not hard, but deep, and sustained. Renn, and certainly Josie, would complain if I rubbed them that severely, but not the roly poly one. I think it eventually proves too much for him because he asks me to quit after a while, but he nevertheless loves it.

As for my princess, her favourite spot needs two: her and me. Cammie loves to be petted while she is on my chest. Once there, she need have nothing special done to her; just a pleasant stroking of her furry head and back. But high up on my chest as I lie down, high enough so that she can bump my chin now and then, she will purr and purr. She will move to face one side, then move to face the other; sometimes, she will stand, walk away and come back, to settle down once more. She doesn’t enjoy anything else as much. (Please excuse the photographs, as it is difficult to record an image so close and with only one hand free.)

Each cat is different, and though there are a limited number of spots on his body, there are as many favoured places as there are body parts. If you can find that place, you will have found a way to his heart. Or at least a way to keep him from hissing at you.