How Cats Choose Their Favorite Person

If you’ve ever lived with cats in a household of multiple people, you may have noticed that cats often tend to prefer a particular person over others.
Believe it or not, there are several behaviors and characteristics that make people appealing to cats. Anyone who meets these certain criteria is likelier to receive a cat’s affection.

In this video, we will talk about how cats choose their favorite human and how you can become your cat’s favorite person.

Handling
Handling is key to earning a feline’s admiration and respect.
Cats want to remain in control of their environment. This means that being cornered and scooped up without request can agitate a cat.
This is why many cats will gravitate more toward people who don’t like cats, or who are allergic to cats.
The best way of winning a cat’s affections is to not insist they interact with you. Instead, encourage your pet to want the contact. Don’t hug, pick up, or corner your feline friend against their will. It’s best to let the cat make the first move.

Communication
Studies have shown that any person who can understand and respond to a cat’s cues, whether purrs, meows, or physical touch, is likelier to receive feline affection.
This means understanding when a cat wants attention and when they want to be left alone. It also means feeding them quickly when they want to be fed. Cats want to be understood and have their body and verbal language cues respected.
Cats have a special appreciation for people who can understand their needs.

Your voice
By default, cats are nervous and afraid of humans.
There are particular behaviors and characteristics that can make people less appealing to cats.
For example, cats find loud noises or sudden movements to be stressful. Cats may even try to avoid people who behave in ways that are impulsive, frightening or distressing to them. This explains why many cats avoid unpredictable children, and why they enjoy the company of elderly people. Kids are distressing to cats because they make loud noises and sudden moves.
If your cat views you as a source of safety rather than disruption, they will be more likely to be drawn to you.
Additionally, a study conducted by Animal Cognition has found that cats know your voice compared to the other voices in your home. If you speak in calm, softer tones, your feline friend will enjoy your vocalization a little more because cats are naturally drawn to the calm of it all.

Scent and Appearance
For example, a cat may show dislike toward an individual who remind the cat of somebody that mistreated them in the past. This could be due to appearances, such as hats or facial hair, or scents, such as perfume or cologne. It could even be because of certain noises the person makes or even the tone of their voice.

Quality Time
In addition to being a good communicator, a cat’s favorite human is often the person who puts effort into spending quality time with them. Don’t get this mixed up with the person who spends the most time with the cat. There’s a difference between quantity and quality, and your feline friend knows it well.

That favorite person could be the person who brushes the cat, invites them to nap in their lap, or simply talks to the cat while keeping them engaged in their everyday life. Interestingly enough, a recent study by from Oregon State University discovered that out of human interaction, food, toys, and a scented cloth, cats preferred human interaction the most. So taking 15 minutes every day to twirl the feather wand or toss a catnip mouse is a great way to curry favor with a feline.

Food
Survival instincts govern animals for a large part of their day, and few things are more important than food. So it should come as no surprise that cats show affection to people who offer food to them. This means the person providing nourishment to a cat will be highly valuable to them and is likely to win their favor, although other factors can foil this.


It is important to remember that although almost all cats will have one favorite person, this does not mean that cats only care about one person. A cat’s signs of affection indicate that they love all members of a household. The cat will just gravitate toward one particular person more than others.
Some cats innately distrust all humans. Oftentimes, such a circumstance applies to feral cats who have never been properly socialized with humans.
To know if you are your cat's favorite human, you'll have to analyze your relationship together as well as how they interact with other people in your household.
When a cat chooses you as a favorite, they will begin to foster a much closer bond. You shouldn't be surprised if they sleep on top of you, follow you around, rub against you, or hang out near you. These are the personal and close behaviors which undoubtedly indicate a cat feels close to you. When they give them to you more than others, it is pretty certain you are their favorite person.

[_boracic_atreus_]

There is no greater honour in life than being chosen by a cat.

[willd.]

When we went to the shelter to meet our cat she came to me straight away and sat on my lap. Being liked by a dog feels awesome but being liked by a cat feels MAGICAL.

[ghost-of-ohio]

I struggle with self loathing a lot but every time I remember that my cat clearly loves me I think "well I can't be that bad if she likes me" and it helps lol

[rebelspods]

Being the chosen one by a cat feels like you won at life.

[Hayden-rcru]

In a nutshell: respect your cat's boundaries. Which is already a challenge for a lot of people with other humans. Good luck with that.

[catjudo]

My cat Sterling was fat, lazy, self-centered and occasionally argumentative. I think he and I got along so well because he shared my best attributes. I still miss him a lot.

[fatimagarthia]

I thought I was a dog person until I met my cats. I rescued them during the pandemic. One of them is a young female, she was really sweet and playful right away. She loves pets! The other one, a 6 years old male, was very independent and distant for over a year, and just recently started following me everywhere, sleeping with me, keeping me company while I work...

[danedee]

Went to a cat cafe once. I chased around and pet whoever cat I can during my stay. There's this one cat though who backed away from me when I asked her if I can pet her. So I decided to give her space and sit at the far corner. I did not know she followed me there, and 2 minutes later, she climbed on my lap and tried to take a nap. 😹

That moment made my year! ❤️

[TS-exql]

I reluctantly adopted a Siamese cat that my wife had before we met. When we got married, the cat came as a package deal. I tolerated and even ignored this cat at first, but one day she came up to me and looked into my eyes and purred deeply. She broke the ice and chose the moment to make her move. That moment began the closest relationship I ever had with a pet. This cat latched on to me, much to my wife’s dismay. This cat would greet me at the door when I got home every time and would not accept a patronizing hello. If I didn’t authentically give her a warm greeting, there would be backlash. Every time I sat, this cat would jump into my lap. She would sleep against me every night.
She died a few years ago at the age of 18 and a half. I still miss her. She was my pet flame, and there will be none like her ever again. I would say that when a cat chooses you, you are forever changed. This is something that cannot be forced. You are their world and reason for being when a cat chooses you. Don’t take it for granted.

[aho]

It is still a mystery for me why I was the favorite human of my first cat. You see, my family had him before I was born, and he was not the biggest fan of anyone of them (or humans in general), but the moment I was brought home from hospital where I was delivered - I was his and he was mine.

He slept with me, followed me everywhere the moment I started moving around by myself and was the first one to comfort me when crying. He was that strong, halfway feral, scarred from fights, incredible hunter type of cat. Each summer my family moved to countryside to live in our village home, and the most incredible thing is that after some time no dog attempted to bark at me. My cat was fast to pick a fight, and he literally trained all dogs in the village that the moment I get scared - they’re FUCKED.

That’s why it’s a mystery - I was a new born, than a toddler, etc., I was loud, I was not feeding/petting him (every now and then I had dead mice in my bed so it was HIM feeding me), he never saw a newborn before me; the only thing I was doing is forcing him every day to pretend he is playing with me (any time I could grab him and place near my toys, and he calmly sat there with me for HOURS, watching me play and responding with meows to me talking to him). I could call him by name any time and he was rushing to me (in his place I would rush away FROM me, but who am I to judge).

I still miss him sometimes, although he is long gone.

[jessicadias]

My last cat that died last year would "scream" at my feet until I picked her up and rested her in her favorite position on my shoulder. She was a special girl :')

[dwrabauke]

Haha this is so true. One of my ex gf had two cats, one of which she claimed hated strangers and was afraid of men.
I just ignored that cat, didnt move when it came close etc.
After a while it laid down next to my leg when we were watching tv, and after a few weeks it would lie on my belly all the time and even greet me when I entered the room.
It even "made my bed" whe it was time to go to sleep by patting it with its paws like "look, all set, you can sleep now, human."
That was quite funny.

[TheChrisEMartin]

My girlfriend got a cat, but then it would always come to me and ignore her. If my girlfriend and I were sitting on the couch watching TV, the cat would jump up and really force itself in between us and push my girlfriend out of the way, so that the cat had all my attention.... It was such obviously jealous behaviour. My girlfriend mostly found it amusing.

[ahmedelemam]

When my cat was younger she was always afraid of me, she never came to me or interacted with me in any way. But one time she fell out of the window, nobody saw her. When I finally realised that I went to search for her and found her hiding unter a tree. After saving her she immediately slept near me for the first time and after that I gained not only her trust but her love.

[Lrbearclaw]

I still remember the first cat my family got.

She was a beautiful calico my dad named "Precious". We brought her home in the cardboard carrier and I sat outside of it talking to it (I had to be 3 maybe 4 years old) and stuck my finger by a slat to say hi. She grabbed my finger, pulled it in (kitten claws suck) and nuzzled it repeatedly. Dad opened the box and she slowly walked out, and curled up in my lap. My family said that she picked me as her favorite and I thought it was a cute joke for many many years.

Sadly, nearly 20 years later and her health was on a decline (arthritis in her hind legs among other things) and she had a stroke in the hallway (blind spot we couldn't see from the living room) before dragging herself about ten feet to my bedroom doorway. I saw her and just held her because I knew. I just... knew. That was the moment I also realized that the jokes weren't jokes, I was her favorite human and shared her last moments with us just like I shared her first.

Over 15 years later and I still miss her, every day.

[disruptivegarage]

I had a neutered Siamese cat while I grew up. Never in my years on this earth have I had a stronger bond with anything ever. This cat became like a brother, best friend, mentor and soulmate.
none of that arrogant, selfish and insecure BS you get from a human, a relationship based on survival together in the window of time you share. Something that transcends anything in books.
surfing this universe together for 21 years is honestly indescribable.

[facetioustimes]

Ah I’m crying when he said cats have long term memory, cause now I’m thinking about my old man and how he must remember all our times together through so many years

[jonellamoore]

I’ve been chosen as a favorite by 7 cats in my 61 yrs of life. It’s a great honor and they have been my best friends. ❤️

[Zoulz]

This was very good! I feel like many people don't get the first point, that cats want to be respected and handled on their own terms rather than forced to cuddle etc.

[salemfae]

I appreciate my lil guy so much 💜 he sleeps against my side, follows me everywhere, and even sits in the bathroom while I shower. He's my little protector :')