Takayuki wrote:

Kitties are very contextual too. Buster likes being pet in some rooms, but
not in others.

My guys are like that, too. Roxy has her specific "petting areas." One is
the throw rug on the living room floor. She often flops over and then looks
up at me expectantly. If I don't seem to be paying attention, she curls up
her front paws fetchingly, which I *swear* she knows will get me to come
right over to her. How did she figure that out? (Joke - I know very well
how she "figured it out.")

If Roxy isn't in one of her petting areas, she gets annoyed when I try to
pet her. She's a nice girl and doesn't slash me, but if I don't follow her
cue and stop, she will get up and leave.

Licky won't let me near him unless he is in/on one of the officially
sanctioned Safe Areas. One of the important features of a Safe Area is
that if I want to reach him, it should require me to bend and reach in
ways that are very uncomfortable for me.

I do think that cats can feel somewhat guilty. Buster gets this coy look,
glancing over his shoulder, when he thinks that he might be doing something
"bad". The girls, Dot and Spicey, are more likely to brazen out any
situation though.

Licky always looks like that, even when his behavior is perfect. Poor guy,
he always thinks I'm about to do something terrible to him. I don't think
it's about guilt. It's anxiety - they don't like to be yelled at, clapped
at, etc., and if they know their behavior might get them in trouble, the
get *that look*, which to me says, "Uh oh, better get out of here!"

--
Joyce

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you
come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people
who have come alive." -- Howard Thurman