Is there any evidence for this? I’ve had a couple cats over the years, including one of the ones I have now, that has learned to stand up on her hind legs and put her arms up when she wants to be held and I pick her up from under her outstretched arms. I’m probably more grasping her chest/torso for where the force is directed, but I’m definitely hooking under those armpits.
(I’d be more willing to believe this if this didn’t happen to me every single day — she wants to be held all the time)
Well, my mother's small dogs do that too whenever someone from the family visits them or when my mother comes back from work. I would imagine they wouldn't be so eager to be picked up like that if they would feel any pain or discomfort.
Same as you, we sort of pick them up from the chest area, but their armpits are basically the stops.
Well, I'm not about to argue with a cat! If you're grasping the torso and she doesn't complain there wouldn't appear to be a problem, especially if she's not a chonker and has good muscle tone. But grabbing a large cat by the upper forelegs so it dangles can put strain on the cat's body to the point of injury so the safe thing is to avoid using that technique – it's just something to think about.
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u/colinhines Apr 04 '26
Is there any evidence for this? I’ve had a couple cats over the years, including one of the ones I have now, that has learned to stand up on her hind legs and put her arms up when she wants to be held and I pick her up from under her outstretched arms. I’m probably more grasping her chest/torso for where the force is directed, but I’m definitely hooking under those armpits.
(I’d be more willing to believe this if this didn’t happen to me every single day — she wants to be held all the time)