How to Approach a Stray Cat
📝 Summary
Walk to within 3–5 meters of the cat and crouch; the exact distance depends on the situation. If the cat stands, backs away, or curls up, stop and crouch at once.
1 How to Approach a Stray Cat
Adopt crouching, sitting, or lying down (if you don’t mind the dirt) postures; the smaller you look from the front, the less likely a stray cat will judge you as a ‘threatening individual.’
Make yourself look small
Look at a spot about one meter in front of the cat; don’t stare directly, especially not into its eyes. Unlike with people, direct eye contact for a cat doesn’t mean friendliness or sincerity but threat and intimidation—often the start of a standoff or a prelude to a fight.
Place a little food on the ground, then step back 1–2 meters, crouch, and wait for the cat to come to you or the food. This may take a long time; strays are very wary and need time to assess whether you’re a threat. Sometimes they need many days of contact before approaching.
Even if the stray you meet is very friendly, never hand-feed it. Friendly strays have little wariness of humans and little social experience; hand-feeding or standing still with food makes it easy to be accidentally scratched by a hungry cat.
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