To find out just why exactly some cats are really into shoulder perching, Bored Panda reached out to Molly DeVoss, a certified feline training & behavior specialist, who runs Cat Behavior Solutions consulting agency. Molly told us that cats like to be in high places and close to the scent of their owners, so “shoulder perching is a natural behavior that accomplishes both.”
Meanwhile, if it seems that for your cat, shoulder sitting is the last thing they wanna do, it may be because “the cat doesn’t feel safe or stable on their owners' shoulders.”
But the good news is that you can train a cat to do just anything it wants to do, says Molly. “If your cat likes to climb up on you, simply encourage and reinforce that behavior with treats, and the cat will do it more often.” You can also lure your cat up onto your shoulder with treats.
Usually it’s young kittens that climb on their owners and sit up there, enjoying the sense of security there. As cats grow older, they get less agile and more cumbersome, thus making the internet’s favorite ‘shoulder catting’ trick harder with age.
But perching on the owner's shoulder isn’t a behavior that’s exclusive to cats. Birds and other small pets do it, and they’re usually easily trainable.
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