'Moody' cats get stressed when stroked

Majority of cats enjoy being caressed, but those animals that do not like to be stroked, yet allow it, end up being stressed, it has been revealed.

An international team of researchers has also found that the number of cats per household had no influence on the stress of the animals, rather stress in domestic cats depends more on the socialization of the animals, on the relationship with humans, on the space available to them or on the access to food.

According to the research, stress caused to cats due to stroking, depends on the situation and the character of the individual animal.

The researchers studied 120 cats in 60 Brazilian households where the owners were asked to classify their pets as 'bossy', 'timid' or 'easy going' in order to assess the personality. The researchers measured the stress levels of the animals by analyzing the stress hormone metabolites in the collected faecal samples.

The study is published in the journal 'Physiology and Behavior'.