Health
The Secret Life of Cats: A Feline Behavioralist Reveals How To Make Your Cat Love You
Although they have a longstanding reputation as being standoffish, research has found that cats can establish a strong bond with their owners, just like dogs. All it takes is knowing what makes your cat tick and how to coax their love to come to the surface.
We asked Jackson Galaxy, YouTube content creator and longtime host of Animal Planet’s My Cat From Hell, for the best ways to show your cat some love — and to get some in return!
1) Let your cat come to you.
Unlike attention-loving dogs, many cats aren’t too keen about being approached for a snuggle session! But that doesn’t mean that they don’t want your attention — they just prefer to be in control of the situation. “The optimum way to get a cat to show love is to let them decide that there’s loving to be had,” says Galaxy. “So you know, creating an environment with them where they want to come up and do things and to receive physical affection.” When your cat comes to you for some petting, you’ll know she really wants it!
2) Enjoy some interactive play.
One of the best ways to improve your relationship with your cat? Play with him! “A core element of this relationship is to allow them to be who they are, that hunter, and use that as that moment to bond,” he says. Interactive play, like waving around a toy like a fishing pole with a feather while the cat chases it, is a good place to start. To ensure a repeat session, consider rewarding your kitty with some treats at the end of your play time. “Do it in a way that every day they look forward to it,” he adds. Soon, your cat will be begging for you to play!
Just like humans, every cat is different, but for many, giving them a full-body pet can quickly go south. “Once we get below the neck, a lot of cats are prone to petting-induced overstimulation,” explains Galaxy. “That’s where all of these hair follicle receptors live. Your cat will register pleasure, but a lot of times these receptors don’t shut down, so that pleasure turns to irritation.” Watch for signs like a swishing or twitching tail or back spasms as a sign that your cat needs a break from petting. A better bet: Consider petting your cat on the face, on the head or on the neck, which are home to a lot of a cat’s scent glands. “A cat also shows love by scent marking you, like the head-butt or rubbing a cheek into you when you present your finger,” he says.
3) Look for the ‘cat hug’.
A tell-tale sign that your kitty feels comfortable around you: She’ll showcase what Galaxy calls “the cat hug.” “It’s when a cat is near you or on the floor, and they roll over on their back and just show you their belly,” he says. Though it’s not necessarily an invitation to rub or pet their belly like it would be for a dog, this form of communication speaks volumes. Since cats are both predator and prey animals, it means that they are allowing themselves to be vulnerable around you. “It is that way of saying ‘I’m showing it to you because I trust you — hence, I love you,’” he adds.
Check out more tips from Galaxy on his YouTube channel:
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Water for Weight Loss? How Much You Should Drink to Shed More Weight
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Health
Ivanka Trump stays fit with this self-defense practice: ‘Moving meditation’
Ivanka Trump, the daughter of incoming President Donald Trump, has been known to lead an active life.
As the mother of three kids and a lover of outdoor sports, the 43-year-old is always on the move, recently adding jiu-jitsu to her mix of physical activity.
In a recent appearance on The Skinny Confidential Him & Her podcast, Trump shared how her daughter, Arabella, expressed interest in learning self-defense when she was 11.
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“I’m just so in awe of [her],” Trump said about her daughter. “She came to me and said, ‘As a woman, I feel like I need to know how to defend myself, and I don’t have a confidence level yet that I can do that.’”
Trump responded, “At 11 … I was not thinking about how to physically defend myself, and I thought it was the coolest thing.”
After researching self-defense options, Trump enrolled Arabella, now 13, in jiu-jitsu (martial arts) classes with the Valente Brothers in Miami, Florida – and soon the whole family joined in.
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“[Arabella] started asking me to join – I joined,” she said. “Then my two sons wanted to do what their older sister was doing. Then my husband joined … It is good for everyone.”
“It’s almost like a moving meditation.”
Trump, who is now a blue belt in jiu-jitsu, described that she likes how the sport “meshes physical movement.”
“It’s almost like a moving meditation because the movements are so micro,” she said. “It’s like three-dimensional chess.”
“There’s like a real spiritualism to it … The grounding in sort of samurai tradition and culture and wisdom.”
During President Trump’s first term in the White House, Ivanka Trump noted that she had very little focus on fitness, only taking weekly runs with husband Jared Kushner and “chasing the kids around the house.”
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Trump shared that she was “never a gym person,” but always loved sports, which still holds true today.
She said she enjoys skiing, surfing and racquet sports like padel tennis (a hybrid of tennis and squash) and pickle ball, which she described as “fun and social.”
‘Elevating awareness’
On the podcast, Trump said she was drawn to jiu-jitsu because it combines physical fitness and philosophy.
It also focuses more on how to extract yourself from a dangerous situation before having to harm someone who’s a threat, she noted.
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“Having these skills makes you less likely to get into a fight, not more likely to,” Trump went on.
“Once you have the confidence that you can sort of move out of a situation, there’s a real focus on elevating awareness.”
In a previous interview with Fox News Digital, Rener Gracie, head instructor of jiu-jitsu at Gracie University in California, stressed that the only truly reliable skills are those that have been “mastered into muscle memory.”
This occurs through extensively practicing self-defense methods like Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which are “leverage-based and don’t rely on you having a physical advantage over the subject,” he noted.
“Having these skills makes you less likely to get into a fight, not more likely to.”
“And by that, I mean strength, speed, power and size — because in almost every case, the attacker is going to target someone who they feel is physically inferior to them.”
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Gracie, whose family created Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), shared that jiu-jitsu is “highly sought after” because it only takes weeks or months for someone to “develop the core skills that could keep them safe in a violent physical encounter.”
‘Transformative’ strength training
In addition to mastering self-defense skills, Ivanka Trump recently revealed a shift in her fitness routine to include weightlifting and resistance training.
On Instagram, Trump posted a video displaying different exercises with various equipment in the gym, noting in the caption that she used to focus primarily on cardio, yoga and Pilates.
“Since moving to Miami, I have shifted my focus to weightlifting and resistance training, and it has been transformative in helping me build muscle and shift my body composition in ways I hadn’t imagined,” she wrote.
“I believe in a strength training approach built on foundational, time-tested and simple movements – squats, deadlifts, hinges, pushes and pulls. These are the cornerstones of my workout, emphasizing functional strength for life.”
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Trump added that prioritizing form is “essential” to ensure results before adding on weight.
“This ensures a safe and steady progression while maintaining the integrity of each movement,” she continued. “I incorporate mobility work within my sessions to enhance range of motion.”
“Weightlifting has enhanced not just my strength but my overall athleticism and resilience,” she added.
Trump said she dedicates three to four days a week to strength training, including two solo sessions and two with a personal trainer.
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She also said that increasing her protein intake has also been “critical” to her progress.
“I now consume between 30 and 50 grams of protein a meal,” she said. “It works … I’ve never been stronger!”
Trump also still enjoys weekly yoga sessions, spending time outdoors with her children and playing sports with friends, she said.
“I also incorporate a couple of short (10-minute), high-intensity interval training sessions (such as sprints) each week to keep my cardiovascular fitness sharp and dynamic,” she noted.
“This balanced approach has infused new energy into my fitness routine and yielded great results.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Ivanka Trump for comment.
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