HOW TO GET A CAT TO COME OVER TO YOU

Ever try to get a strange cat to come over to you? They never do, right? Charlotte de Mouzon, a researcher at Nanterre University in Paris, France, was wondering, really wondering, about this and claims she has found the most effective way to call an unfamiliar cat. She put 12 cats through four different scenarios. The cats would enter a room and then de Mouzon would either 1) call out to them but make no gestures toward, like extending out her hand; 2) she gestured toward them but didn’t speak; 3) she both called and gestured toward them; 4) she did neither.
– The cats responded most quickly when the stranger used both vocal and visual cues to get their attention. Such as, “Here kitty, kitty,” and moving your hand like you have food.
– The cats appeared to be more stressed out when the human ignored them completely.
* If you’re a scientist, you might as well give up. The Nobel Prize has just been won.
* Does she say what’s the best treatment for scratches when the cat finds out you have no food?
* If your goal is to get close to the cat, wouldn’t a Taser work?
* You know how to get a cat to come over to you? Read a newspaper. Work on the computer. Talk on the phone. Try to sleep in. Say out loud, “I hate cats.” The cat will get in your face and never leave.
* This woman is a faculty member at Nanterre University in Paris? So they have tenure over there, too, huh?