Ocelots are cute, too

OMG this is whyyyy.

But have you ever noticed that cats tend to gravitate to those who aren’t feline fans? A lot of the time it’s not even about disliking the little kitties — those who suffer from a cat allergy are doing their best to avoid them. Yet, despite it all, cats still seek you out like you’re catnip, wander over and do that thing cats do to make an allergic or non-cat person shrink back in horror. You know, they saunter close to you, rub their chin on your foot, stroking you with their tails as they figure-eight around your legs. It can be unnerving.

One could assume they were simply confronted by an evil kitty who was put on this Earth solely as a means of torture. But that’s just not the case. However, there may be a reason why cats choose the people ignoring them over those who go crazy for them — and it’s us humans who are to blame.

Veternarian Dr. Debra Primovic writes that “direct eye contact is considered a sign of dominance and even aggression among cats, so your advances and eye contact can be considered threatening.” So it makes sense that a person looking for the nearest exit is much safer in Fluffy’s eyes than that person on all fours, calling and reaching out for it.

Primovic adds that cats are independent creatures that make contact “on their own terms.” But if you insist on making that feline your friend, she suggests the best way to do that is after briefly making eye contact, “proceed with a nice slow blink” because that slick move is considered non-threatening, even friendly. Some cats might even blink back at you, a sign that they are relaxed with you.

So here’s the deal from now on: cat lovers, act like you couldn’t care less. Non-cat people, get all up in their face and they’ll be running away faster than you can say “antihistamine.”