The Ultimate Guide To Purr-fecting the Bond With Your Cat

Kittens, kittens, and more kittens,

What should I do with my Mittens?

How could I possibly tell?

What I’m doing wrong, and what I’m doing well?

I keep asking myself:

Does it love me, or does it love me not?

Bonding with my cat; should it be this hard?

This is not Mittens

Cats have gained massive popularity ever since something called the internet. Without completely disregarding or forgetting how people treated their cats in Egyptian times, people are nowadays more obsessed with their cats than ever.

And I am not excluded from that group. I have a cat, and I am also utterly infatuated with her!

But with this obsession comes the widespread belief that cats are mean and only look out for themselves. Some may even describe their cats as distant, cold, or evil. But maybe the cats aren’t to blame, but our bond with them is.

We obviously can’t tell what’s inside a cat’s head, but did you know they create a unique way of meowing to communicate with their owners?

I don’t particularly like the term owner, so let’s use this Hawaiian word that means guardian, protector, and loving attendant: Kahu

Most cat ‘owners’ do feel like they own the cat, which could be the thing that is missing from the bond with their cat:

The way they perceive their bond with their cat.

How we perceive our bond with our cats is very important. It will play a direct role in how the bond will continue. Some people forget this and view their pets as theirs. Maybe we should stop viewing our cats and pets as if we own them.

We call ourselves their bosses (at least we do so in Dutch), and we expect them to listen and behave when we tell them to.

But is that last part necessarily wrong? Well, no. But once we overextend in this type of behavior, then it becomes an issue, as it can even take on an aggressive form.

This might be why some people abuse their pets or children. They see them as something they own instead of their equals.

But most people don’t hit their pets but still wonder why their bond with them is not as deep as they would like it to be. I won’t share tips or tell you how to pet your cat to deepen your bond, but I want to invite you to look at your bond differently.

Like every living creature, cats deserve to be loved without being put on a pedestal. It doesn’t solely exist for your entertainment, and neither do you. Honestly, cats aren’t that complex, but humans are.

Cats, dogs, and all animals operate vastly differently from humans. Humans seem to need more, want more, do more, and therefore also know more. This gives us the responsibility to notice if something is wrong with the bonds to our cats.

We can blame the cat, punish the cat, and get mad at the cat, but this won’t change a thing because we’re not in charge of the cat. We are here to co-exist with them and to have a fun experience together.

Once we truly understand that change in perception, that is when the bond with our cats will change. It’s as easy as that.