Cats who reluctantly allow their owners to stroke them can get more stressed out than kitties who carefully avoid being petted, a new study has found.
Researchers also found that while cats may be considered solitary creatures, they can live happily together in groups.
Researchers from the University of Lincoln, UK, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and University of Veterinary Medicine, Austria, aimed to better understand how cats cope with living alongside humans and other felines in a single household.
Scientists examined cats living alone, in pairs and in groups of three or four in the home, assessing levels of stress hormones on four occasions.
Although the number of cats in the home did not predict background stress levels, the researchers found that younger cats (less than two years old) living on their own were more stressed than younger ones living in the larger groups.
They also found that the owner's urge to pet their cat may be a stressful experience.
"Many people keep groups of cats in their home and although they might seem happy together, some people have argued that because this is an unnatural set up, it is not good for their welfare," said Professor Daniel Mills, Professor of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine at the University of Lincoln.
"Our research shows this is not necessarily the case. It seems even if they are not best friends, cats may be able to organise themselves to avoid each other without getting stressed.
"Also, and I think very intriguingly, our data suggests that cats who tolerate, rather than enjoy or dislike being petted, seem to be the most stressed," Mills said.
Mills explained that those cats that dislike being petted, can probably avoid this interaction if they live with another cat which enjoys or tolerates it, and so do not get stressed.
The study was published in the Journal Physiology and Behavior.
