Anyone who has ever interacted with a cat will know that they don't warm to every person they meet, and often humans must work for their love. But owners will most likely agree that, once you have gained their trust, it is worth it.

One woman has recently shared a video highlighting how people who dislike cats can win them over, and it is as simple as knowing how to pet them. Using her two felines as models, the woman has demonstrated how to stroke a cat, and it has since gone viral, gathering more than 1.4 million views on TikTok (@figgythefeline).

Newsweek discussed the clip captioned, "Cats aren't 'mean.' You might just be petting them when they want to be left alone. Ask them for permission!" with an animal expert who agrees with the woman's technique.

During the video, which has over 191,000 likes, the woman advises people against going over to a cat and immediately petting it. Instead, she suggests putting your hand out and allowing the feline to sniff it, as seen in the clip.

After smelling her hand, the cat called Juliette looks at her, and she says, "That is a cat that doesn't want to be petted right now, so we are going to say bye and walk away."

However, after some time, the woman goes back and does the same thing, but this time Juliette nudges her hand with his head, which is basically giving her the go-ahead for some fuss.

She then finishes the clip by doing the same thing to her other cat called Figgy, who doesn't engage, so she leaves him alone. She concludes the clip by saying, "Cats are clear about what they want if you know how to read their body language, and if you think that it's weird to ask an animal for permission to touch them, then I need you to reevaluate yourself."

The woman's method has been backed by pet expert Axel Lagercrantz, who told Newsweek that people may be tempted to go straight in for a stroke when they see a cat.

"However, you may notice that if you do this, your cat turns their head to sniff at your fingers, wanting to investigate," said Lagercrantz, the CEO of Pets4homes, a U.K.-based pet rehoming site. "This is because by going straight in, you've bypassed one of the first stages of polite cat/human interaction.

"Unlike dogs, cats do not moderate and adapt their behavior to communicate with humans—which means that you will have to make moves to greet your cat in cat terms," Lagercrantz said.

"As the TikTok user says, hold your finger out for your cat to sniff before you start stroking them, and wait for the cat to rub your finger before you start petting them, and your cat will feel as if you have impeccable manners!

"This is to simulate what it's like when cats greet each other for the first time. You'll notice, when cats meet, they stand face to face and nose to nose, sniffing at each other before they greet. This is a polite form of introduction for cats, allowing them to find out about each other."

TikTok Reacts

So far, the video has almost 2,000 comments, and the top one has 20,000 likes alone.

It read: "Cats are a lesson in consent. Some people don't like boundaries."

"Anyone that can't communicate with a cat won't be able to communicate with me," posted another user.

A third commenter wrote: "My theory is cats don't like kids (loud, rough, unpredictable), so people have bad childhood memories of cats and never give them a chance as adults."

Newsweek reached out to @figgythefeline for comment via email. We could not verify the details of the case.

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.