# Petting a cat "against the grain" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 20, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327 "2011-01-20T15:40:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/21 "2011-01-20T23:01:37Z")
Mine won’t tolerate it for long. Bitch Cat will glare and punch me, Sweet Cat will purr for a while but eventually look alarmed and grab my hand gently with his teeth to stop me. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/22 "2011-01-20T23:09:04Z")
My dad will rub our cats’ backs like you would a dog – they’re not too fond of it. (They adore him, though – because he’s always slipping them cheese and butter) :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/23 "2011-01-20T23:10:31Z")
My cat freaking loves this. She cranes into my hand when I pet her fur backwards. I tried this on my neighbor’s cat, and he hissed at me and grabbed my hand with all his claws stuck out. I bled quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/24 "2011-01-20T23:11:03Z")
I wasn’t thinking of belly rubbin’s when I answered. Yeah, most of the cats I’ve known like their bellies rubbed (sometimes for a short time only, after which they attack the hand) back \*and \*forth. But back hairs? Never met a cat who liked the back hair against the grain. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/25 "2011-01-20T23:14:59Z")
Most cats I’ve petted, including mine, dislike having this done. However, a friend of mine has a cat that loves when I pet him like a dog: One hand on either side of him rubbing very quickly both ways. You know what I’m talking about. If you do this to him he’ll just freeze and topple over. Absolutely loves it. Funnily enough, he hates when my friend in particular does it. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/26 "2011-01-20T23:15:14Z")
Depends on the cat. Some of mine love it, some get really irritated by it. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/27 "2011-01-20T23:16:57Z")
Tara T. Cat loves any and all attention. She doesn’t care if you’re going against the grain or with it as long as you’re touching her and making it clear she’s the center of your universe. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/28 "2011-01-21T00:30:24Z")
I’ve just conducted my own research to mixed results. Zissou does not care. Kitty flipped onto his back, grabbed my hand, and started raking my arm with his back legs, and The Admiral gave me a WTF look and ran away to play with a piece of fluff on the carpet. This is pretty consistent with their overall personalities, so I guess I’ll go with “depends on the cat.” ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/29 "2011-01-21T00:54:28Z")
I voted “Standard Skald boilerplate”, because I don’t have or deal with cats, and I share my coffee cake. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/30 "2011-01-21T03:18:09Z")
My cat would let you abuse him for dried anchovies. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/31 "2011-01-21T05:49:51Z")
Just did it to Zippy the Wonder Cat…and she loved it. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/32 "2011-01-21T05:57:13Z")
Well huh! I voted “suspicious sniff” and who should come walking along but Lazy Maisie herself…so, while it wasn’t quite a purr, she actually seemed to enjoy it. I’ll be darned. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/33 "2011-01-21T06:21:18Z")
Once coaxed to permit a mere human to approach, Miss Minx seemed to like being petted against the grain. His Lordliness Daniel the Terrible lurves being petted and roughly loved like you would a big dog. ---
**Author:** ![causticsubstance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba8739/32.png) [@causticsubstance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/causticsubstance)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/34 "2011-01-21T06:31:17Z")
Our cat doesn’t care for being petted on the back, as far as I can tell. She won’t react or sometimes she will even get up, move 8 inches away and lay down again, out of arms reach. On the other hand, she adores being scratched behind the ears and on the chin like a dog, being rubbed back and forth. Same with her tummy. Though sometimes, she does swipe at your hand during a tummy rub… but then continues to lay there exposing her tummy to you. I didn’t think this meant she wanted it to stop, but maybe she thought we were playing a game. ---
**Author:** ![stargazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@stargazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stargazer)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/35 "2011-01-21T15:54:25Z")
One of our cats likes it (all pettins are the same to her), and one of our cats tolerates it on her belly and head only. But she’s a really sweet kitty and would never claw at us - she’ll just get up and go away if we do something she doesn’t like. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/36 "2011-01-21T16:06:48Z")
Miso and Wonton love it, but neither likes to be touched at the base of the tail, preferring their scritches to be limited to shoulder blades to the top of the head. There’s this one spot between Miso’s shoulders that when scratched hard makes her stick out her tongue and lick the air desperately. It’s so freakin adorable. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/4020/4525631399_a79bccc3e7_b.jpg "Miso and Wonton") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bellabrigido/4525631399/) ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/37 "2011-01-21T16:30:10Z")
With my cat Ed, it depends… with me, closer to the head he enjoys but anywhere near the base of his tail there would be the glare…with other people there would be screaming and a spray of blood. I understand though… if you spend all day grooming your hair and someone came and messed it up deliberately, you’d be a little perturbed.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Grapefruit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@Grapefruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grapefruit)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327/38 "2011-01-21T17:09:34Z")
My cat likes it when I do it, but not when my sister does it. I suspect it’s because when she pets him, she almost always absentmindedly grabs a bit of fur with her… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/petting-a-cat-against-the-grain/568327.md?page=1)