Desensitizing my cat to being held
(Apologize for the repost, my original post translated to German when I tried to edit it :/ and I didn’t want to have to retype it on the post itself)
Hi all!! I’ve been following this sub for awhile and thought I’d get some help.
I have two female cats, Princess (13, calico) and Betty (6, black), both fixed. Princess loves being held and cuddled, while Betty isn’t a huge fan of it.
Betty is a very skittish cat, but she’s gotten much better in the last year, especially since my sister has started feeding her, she’s become far less scared of the kids being around her.
She isn't really afraid of being picked up or the movements involved (being held close to the body, the actual act of lifting her, squishing/pressure on her torso, etc.), and she loves to cuddle and be petted. Most nights, she even sleeps next to me or on the little tiered platform I have for them so they can stay close. As you can see in some of the photos, she’s used to some of my antics, like having her chin lifted for pictures. (In both photos where my hand is at their necks, I’m just lifting their chin! I’m not pressing them, and they’re completely fine with it.) I don’t know if it will be relevant, but we suspect she has a flea allergy. She gets really bad sores, but she never reacts when I touch them, she is even happy when I rub over those areas, so I don’t think that’s an issue, but thought it could be brought up anyway.
Does anyone have suggestions on how to make holding her less scary or more pleasant? I’d like to be able to hold her at least long enough to carry her around the house.
I hope I’ve picked the right tag and that the attached cat photos are okay! I felt compelled to include a few.