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2:15am January 18, 2015

how do you convey gratitude to a cat?

I don’t mean, how do you do something nice that a cat will appreciate.

I mean, how do you convey “Thank you” to a cat in terms that they will understand and connect back to something they’re doing, and without using words (because I have next to no conversational speech)?

I know she understands gratitude and “thank you” because she says it to people all the time in very specific contexts, she can be incredibly polite.

But I can’t weave between her legs head-butting them before I go do whatever I’m doing.  And I can’t apply a thank-you that has to do with food, to a thank-you that has to do with “I understand that you’re watching the door to protect me and I really appreciate that.”

And don’t tell me cats don’t have gratitude.  I’ve seen too much of what could be nothing else.  (Including delaying personal gratification to do a long elaborate “thanks for the food” before running over and eating her favorite cat treats.)

Notes:
  1. powerinlanguage reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone
  2. theubermenschthatmakesyoucry reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone and added:
    I couldn’t agree more. Gem makes happy squeaks and gives me headbumps when I feed her.
  3. lokattan said: In my experience they tend to sense that sort of thing when you interact with them while in that particular emotional state.
  4. soilrockslove said: Maybe doing a blatant slow-blink at her when (or just after) she’s doing the thing you appreciate??? It seems like a tricky question to me because we can’t do the same things as cats easily.
  5. just-another-nerd37 said: i would make other sounds to my cat. throat sounds or certian kinda my own thing sounds that he knew and read correctly and he would purr back
  6. cirque-du-spoon reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone and added:
    Maybe if you are able, give your kitty their favorite fuss, or hold your handout to let them headbump you, or, from my...
  7. trans-substantiation reblogged this from withasmoothroundstone and added:
    These are all important questions!
  8. cryforthefuture said: Sometimes I raise my hand to my cat to let her rub her cheek on it. Sometimes I’ll nuzzle my cat or rub my cheek on her. But I’ve done that more in the context of affection than gratitude
  9. withasmoothroundstone posted this