Pet owners have been warned that cuddling a cat can cause them stress with research revealing that more than half of pet owners do not know how to cope with an anxious pet.
Leading cat charity, Cats Protection, asked pet owners what they knew about caring for their moggy but found too many were letting the love of their pets cloud their judgement.
Nicky Trevorrow, Cats Protection’s behaviour manager, said: "Being held or stroked for too long can be very stressful for some cats.
"Space and peace is often what they need - they’re not small furry humans so what would comfort us won’t necessarily comfort them.
"Owners love their animals and want them to be happy but our research has highlighted a lack of understanding of stress triggers for cats and how to deal with them."
The charity also found that 55% did not realise that living with another cat or dog can cause stress and 51% failed to recognise wetting and soiling in the house as a sign of stress.
Only a quarter knew that grooming a particular area all the time was an indication that their pet was suffering anxiety.
And half were unaware that strange cats coming into the house also had an effect.
It carried out the research for a BBC2 Horizon documentary, Cat Watch 2014, which followed the secret lives of 100 cats. The programme was shown on Tuesday.
The animals were tracked using GPS and micro-cameras and examined in three different environments.
The series reveals the secret language of cats and why they meow, how they transformed from pampered pet to predator and how they see, hear and smell the world with the sense of their wild ancestors.
