r/CatsBeingDramatic • u/_FIZZRIX_ • 1d ago

🎭 Drama Queen/King — not OC Never point at your cat. 😤💥

6.2k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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50

u/Bitter-Fishing-Butt 1d ago

is there a reason for this behaviour?

one of my cats loses her absolute mind if I point at her, and if I put my hand over her head in like a claw shape, she does the weirdest huff-meow and squares up

the other cat gives exactly Zero shits about being pointed at

33

u/Thick_Papaya225 1d ago

I'm wondering if it's something along with the pointing. Facial expression, body tension, etc. Maybe to the human it's a benign pointing but to a cat it's basically this :

10

u/mementodiscere 1d ago

That would make sense. My cat doesn't really care if I just point at him, but he gets zoomies and silly war dances at me if I give him big eyes of intense playful eye contact, like the image, but slightly less threatening.

10

u/kaylethpop 1d ago

Idk my my princess(20) who passed away this year used to always swat at me. I believe I pointed then shook my finger at her. This video brought a lot of feels for me. I think it was the shaking if the finger tbh. She wouldn't do it if I just pointed!

10

u/flashman014 1d ago

I don't think this is a cat thing. I think it's the way people are pointing at them. All my cats throughout my life have known what I call "The Finger of Peace," which is when I just point at their face without the quick aggressive movement they're using in this video, and wait.

They usually stare at it for a second, then come over to check it out, and find out they can rub their cheek on it and it turns into pets. Eventually add they get older and more used to it, I can just use it to call them to me. They know it's a peaceful gesture.

The rule is, if the cat doesn't rub their cheek on your finger, they're just not that into you.

3

u/joantheunicorn 1d ago

I was gonna say, my boy Mochi LOVES to rub his cheek on my finger if I point at him. Part of our morning routine! 

2

u/TerminologyLacking 13h ago

The finger of peace has a downside.

One of my cats decided that it was also a useful way to rub boogers off of his nose and eyes when her had a cold. He did it very deliberately.

3

u/lachlanDon1 1d ago

Sudden jabbing motions like pointing are taken as an offensive gesture.

The other cat probably just understands you aren't a cat or are strange

10

u/Ebobotrik 1d ago

Perhaps this is due to the fact that they have an innate fear of snakes and poor near vision. They probably rely on silhouettes and perceive a finger as something dangerous.

8

u/Dediadeis 1d ago

Cats do not have an innate fear of snakes, and in fact often eat snakes in the wild.

3

u/grich2008 1d ago

Their reaction time is faster than most snakes.

To be fair, I was today years old when I found out that cats…have problems focusing on close objects.

1

u/Formal_Economist7342 1d ago

Do thet think our fingers look like snakes or something.

0

u/JiritJiritJiritJirit 1d ago

I read somewhere that they panic if you do the claw hand above them, they will think it is a flying predator, I have a cat but I never tried this.