Help! I have to fight my cat to get her to sit on my lap.
Q: How can I get my cat to sit on my lap? It’s a fight every night to get her to sit for just a little while on my lap while I watch television.
A: I sometimes think we can’t “get” our cats to do anything. A lot of times a feline will march to his or her own drummer, no matter what us humans say or think.
My very first piece of advice would be you may need to change your way of thinking. Cats generally tend to live life on their own terms and trying to force a cat to do something she doesn’t want won’t end very well for either party involved. The fact that you describe it as “a fight every night” is kind of telling.
Stress for a cat can be a major, major problem that can actually result in physical and certainly temperament issues. If you’re fighting with her to get her to sit with you, she’s likely quite stressed. Think about letting her come to you when she wants.
There are some cats who just aren’t lap cats. My cat Loki, who is waiting for me at the Rainbow Bridge (and probably causing all kinds of trouble) never really liked to be picked up, but he would sit with me (sometimes on me) when he wanted to – it had to be on his terms.
With that said, though, if you want to try to get her to sit with you, start with treats she enjoys. Sit on your chair or couch and toss a treat to her. Continue doing so, tossing the treat closer and closer to where you are and end with putting one right beside you.
If she jumps up to eat the treat and immediately jumps down, let her. Repeat this process every evening and make sure you don’t force her to do anything that she won’t do without going for that treat. Make her realize hanging out with you doesn’t have to be “a fight” and can instead result in treats and calmness.
Please understand this process could take a LONG TIME. I think if you give your girl the time and space she needs, you might be surprised how many different ways she’ll show you affection (and it might not be in the way you expect).
Q: Do you think music can help soothe animals?
A: This is an interesting one. There have been tons of studies done to determine how certain musical notes and tones affect those who hear them. Music is truly a powerful medium that has been known to help people in so many ways.
The same is true of animals. It's just important to remember that the type of music is incredibly important. I can still recall my father telling me to "turn that racket down" when I would listen to the top 40 station when I was a kid (and that was the 1980s, so you can imagine what horrors were coming out of those speakers – heh, just kidding. I love '80s music!).
Classical music is typically the way to go for our pets. Any true hard rock or heavy metal will be more noise than anything soothing. Indeed, truly soothing classical music has been shown to reduce anxiety and stress in our pets (and people!).
It actually makes a lot of sense to me. Each note has a vibration and the vibration produces a certain kind of energy and if a person or pet can tune into that, it can affect their own energy.
Animals most assuredly can pick up on those kinds of sensations, so it would stand to reason that music – truly soothing music – could help them a lot. Thanks for the cool question!
This article originally appeared in the Chambersburg Public Opinion as part of its “Ask the Shelter” series, a weekly feature focused on pet education. It is written by Jennifer Vanderau, public relations coordinator for the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter in Pennsylvania. For questions, contact her at cvascomm@cvas-pets.org.