Vet Mistakes My Cat’s Body Language

My vet seems to know a lot about cats and have a good rapport with them, but I have doubts about his ability to read their body language. It works, so I won’t really question it, but he missed the obvious explanation.

One of my cats is littler than the others. She’s very passive, sweet in fact. Twice now we’ve had to take her in for shots. Once was immunizations and once was to get a steroid shot to minimize her allergies. Both times when the vet gave her the shot, the cat immediately turned and nuzzled him.

“Boy,” he said the first time, or something akin to that, “she forgives quickly.” “Man,” he said the second time, or something along those lines (reported by my wife since I wasn’t able to be there either time), “she really likes being petted.” I think he was wrong on both.

What the cat was doing seems pretty obvious. He gave her a shot and she immediately tried to cuddle up to him so he wouldn’t do it again. See how much I love you? You wouldn’t hurt me again, would you? It might not be the most effective strategy, but it’s the only one this cat has got. Seems pretty logical to me.