today's random pet poll

[ratcreature]

I once again failed to convince my rats of the merits of being still to let me cuddle them for longer than three or four scritches...

Poll #5584 rate your pets' cuddliness...

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 35

View Respondents

How willing to cuddle is (are) your pet(s)?

View Answers

It is not the kind you cuddle (e.g. racing cockroaches or fish or the like).
1 (2.9%)

It won't tolerate petting or cuddling at all.
1 (2.9%)

It lets me pet it sometimes. If I'm lucky.
5 (14.3%)

I can bribe it with food to let itself be petted.
2 (5.7%)

If I force-cuddle it, it usually holds still and endures it.
4 (11.4%)

It voluntarily lets me cuddle and pet it for a short while, if I initiate.
7 (20.0%)

It sometimes voluntarily comes to me and initiates cuddling itself, but not for long.
9 (25.7%)

It initiates or even demands lengthy cuddles, but only on its own terms.
18 (51.4%)

My pet loves to cuddle at almost all times.
11 (31.4%)

It's not so much that it likes cuddles, as that it likes to sleep in a warm and soft spot that happens to be me.
16 (45.7%)

I dislike cuddling my pet, so this is avoided from my end, and I couldn't say what its preferences are.
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[auroraprimavera]

My dog demands cuddles at all times. As in she'll come over and sit on me and just look at me and be all: cuddle me now please :p

[ratcreature]

I guess that extreme clinginess can be as frustrating as when your pet won't cooperate with your cuddle attempts...

[auroraprimavera]

It very much is. Sometimes it's like, seriously, enough. But not so secretly: I adore that she's such a big baby.

[elf]

My pet is a snake. "Cuddle" is perhaps not the right word for physical interaction with a snake, although the snake seems plenty happy to have extensive handling. (At least, snake does not often try to get *away* from being handled, as opposed to just liking to move around on the human.)

[ratcreature]

Yeah, "cuddly" is not what I think of with snakes, but then I'm partial to fur in my pets, and have never handled any reptiles myself. I suppose a snake might enjoy that a human is warm?

[elf]

They like the warm and soft, and people smell like mammals but not specifically like the ones they eat, so that's another comfortable thing.

And I gather that some of them actively like their owners, but that much preference for something that's not food or sex is beyond most of their brain capacities. I have no illusions that mine can tell people apart, aside from not liking the younger daughter because she's too jumpy.

[draigwen]

The rabbits rarely like to be petted at all. The rats tend to like cuddles - but these have to be initiated usually until they decide to wander off and explore. The old rats are more likely to cuddle up next to us (but normally my other half and not me because he's warmer).

[ratcreature]

Yeah, so far all my rats have become more patient/willing to cuddle with age, but they all have a short attention span for it, even if they like the petting well enough. Bribery makes them come, but not that likely to stay, because then the primary concern is getting the food eaten or to safety. Sometimes my rats come and want to be petted, or start grooming me, but that is relatively rare.

[derryderrydown]

Poppy will tolerate cuddling for a second or two. Spice demands lengthy cuddles.

[ratcreature]

That sounds like a nice balance. All my current rats seem to like cuddling in general, but their patience and attention span doesn't last long enough for anything lengthy.

[busaikko]

*g* We keep either fish or giant beetles. I have never considered cuddling either!

[ratcreature]

That's why I included that option! Though I heard koi sometimes come to people they know, but yes, I suppose in general beetles and fish fall on the non-cuddly side of the fence...

[busaikko]

Koi can be trained to come when clapped for, but that is because they want food, not affection. None of our goldfish were ever that clever....

[ratcreature]

Well, the road to a rat's affection is through its stomach as well. I'm not sure they'd be as happy to see me and willing to run to me if I didn't bribe them a lot.

[lilacsigil]

I have three cats, so three answers! Aeon (in my icon) is the dominant member of the household (yes, including the humans) and she is an old lady who likes a warm spot to sleep and dribble on. Baggins is a cuddle-monster at all times, especially if you're wanting to type or wash the dishes, but loves to be picked up and patted at any time. Chewie is a tough little guy who likes a lengthy cuddle but only when he wants it, and then it's compulsory. He likes to play fetch more than he likes a cuddle, though.

[ratcreature]

It's good that they have somewhat complementing desires. I imagine three cats wanting to sleep in the same lap would get crowded...

[lilacsigil]

It all works out well until Baggins sees that someone else is getting cuddle and then he needs to be in there too. Unfortunately for us, he's an enormous cat - nearly a metre long not including his giant tail - and he can be really, really insistent!

[reginagiraffe]

My cats like to be cuddled at different times. One likes curling up between us/right up next to one of us in bed. One likes to curl up on me when I'm on the phone. Both of them will let us pick them up and cuddle for at least a short period, and sometimes a long period, depending on circumstances/their mood. They both like hanging out with us while we're watching TV.

My kitties

[marinarusalka]

Tara loves to curl up in my lap, but she's fussy about being petted when she hasn't asked for it, and she won't tolerate being picked up. Hurricane Simba is less of a lap cat (though he'll often curl up on my chest when I'm in the recliner), but you can pick him up, pet him, use him for a pillow, juggle him, whatever. He just flops over and purrs.

Re: My kitties

[ratcreature]

My rats are very good-natured about being handled, though the two dumbo rats sometimes squeak on principle in protest, an odd habit they developed in early infancy, when according to the breeder some older rat who was not their mother had fixated on that litter and constantly grabbed them to lug them around like a security blanket or something. But you can even grab them suddenly from above (which small rodents in general aren't fond of, probably because the "omg I'm about to be eaten!" reflex is very ingrained).

[telesilla]

One of our cats is very much on his own schedule; he'll cuddle, but only when he feels like it. The other is very open to being picked up and snuggled for long periods of time and actually likes to sleep on me.

[ratcreature]

That kind of patience would be nice. Unfortunately my rats won't stay put. I can grab them and cuddle for a while but then they get impatient. Usually they sit still for a bit may some grooming on me in return, like getting their social obligation done to politely disengage, and then try to make their escape more insistently.

[yvi]

Three answers for three pets :)

Gecko -> It is not the kind you cuddle (e.g. racing cockroaches or fish or the like).

Female cat -> It voluntarily lets me cuddle and pet it for a short while, if I initiate

Male cat -> It initiates or even demands lengthy cuddles, but only on its own terms.

[ratcreature]

True, geckos don't seem the cuddly type of pets.

[brownbetty]

I have to distinguish between cuddles and petting. My dogs wants to be petted until my arm falls off, but if I try to confine him in any way, he levitates three feet up into the air and gallops off in all directions.

[ratcreature]

Yeah, my rats don't like being confined much either. They either try to get away or start some nervous mutual grooming, which rats do for appeasement I think. It doesn't panic them much, probably because when a rat looses a scuffle it is also sometimes held down by the other rat for some force-grooming, which is kind of like petting them, I guess.