Pickles by Brian Crane for January 18, 2013

Not true. My cat loved to have his belly rubbed and scratched. But on his terms, and for the time he wanted only. He never scratched me on purpose in the 10 years we spent together, but he would vanish when he’d had enough. I say “vanish” because he’d be lying on the floor stretched out like a cat rug, belly up, and suddenly he’d whirl and be halfway across the apartment in a microsecond, looking at me like “What are you doing kneeling there staring at the floor?”

My cat is lying here right now getting his belly rubbed and purring like a freight train

Don’t forget the Ears, next to belly rubs it’s the best. So say 9 out of 10 dogs.

A cat will let you skritch its belly as a sign of trust and love. Just be careful of the small proportion of cats who can only take so much pleasure before they go berserk.

I have tropical fish…

Cats are like hippogriffs. You better get their permission first.

my kitty jumps on the couch and rolls on his back, begging for a good belly scratch

Our male cat is cranky in morning no back rubbing until long after cat morning nap. When he is ready he has to snif and like other cats when he is done he will leave but he will bite.

I have one cat who always wants her belly rubbed. She is a Maine Coon and large and furry and she has a large furry belly. I love to give her a belly rub!

Our cat likes tummy rubs for a while, and then starts clawing. He can’t do much damage though with no claws on his front feet.

Yeah. No belly rubbing with my cat. Only under his ears.

I’ve always found it depends on the cat. I’ve had a couple of them that if you tried to scratch their belly, it was like putting your hand into a wood shredder.

My cat lies on her back as a trap to start a fight.

Yep – two kinds of cats: those that like bellies rubbed, and those that like ears scritched and none I have found who like both, so experiment carefully to find out which kind you’ve run across.

My cat will try to rip your hands to shreds if you fall into her “rub my belly trap”. My brother’s cat, otoh, likes belly rubs, and when she’s had enough she’ll simply saunter away.

My cat LOVES to have her belly scratched.

Hear! Hear! I agree with Linguist: it all depends on the cat.

My cats love getting their belly rubbed so much that their belly swings back and forth when they walk from being rubbed so much.

Our Gussie will come up to us, and meow VERY LOUDLY, demanding to have his belly rubbed. Our Impulse, on the other hand, will roll over and show his belly, but if you touch it he starts to fight with your hand.

Cats are individuals, no doubt about it.

ossiningaling: Plus the only critter that can bite, claw, and trample at the same time. But we are quite willing to help you get information if you only ask. Sometimes we will give it without you asking. One example, don’t scratch behind our ears, it messes up our feathers.

my cat loves a belly rub and has never scratched anyone. I would not have any other cat.

All the cats/dogs I’ve known, love to be petted slowly from their nose up to the top of their head and in back of their ears. I do it slowly and talk to them and they just sit there and enjoy it. One time with two cats in my lap, I did my “duck” voice and both cats really really wanted to see what I had in my mouth. I had to get up really slow so they’d get off my lap.

I also did my “duck” voice around my sister’s dog and wow, that dog was at my side instantly.

Don’t know why I decided to see how animals react to my “duck” voice as I showed my sons how to do and also did duck talk when my grandson was having a tantrum when he was a baby. Tantrum was gone instantly as he looked at me to hear me “speak” to him again. So I did.

My cat loooooooooves a belly rub!

I have three cats that don’t mind having their bellies rubbed.

Some cats like it. But be VERY careful.

If you feed cats cheap kibbles, their stomach will hurt, no wonder they scratch belly rubbers.