Cats aren’t easy to understand. Unlike dogs, cats have less obvious ways to communicate how they feel. But make no mistake, your cat is communicating with you all the time. In fact, you might not know how much your cat loves you. It’s pretty obvious your cat loves you when he purrs, meets you at the door, rubs up against you or curls up next to you. Cat experts also agree that cats let you know in subtle ways that you’re one of their favorite people.
Sleepy eyes: If you’re laying in your bed or lounging on the couch and your cats has her eyes half shut or blinking slowly while staring at you, it’s a sign of affection. When I worked at shelters, I noted cats rarely deployed this behavior because they were so stressed out. Instead they displayed the opposite look – a wide-eye stare as if they were always on guard. With their blinking eyes, cats are letting you know they are completely comfortable in your presence because they aren’t hyper vigilant. For cats, trust is the biggest compliment they can give you.
Tummy Up: When your cat is laying face up, just hanging out in your presence, it indicates your cat thinks you are safe and won’t hurt her. Feeling safe means a lot to a cat. By being so relaxed around you, your cat is saying that she totally trusts you and can let her guard down. One of my cats occasionally throws herself down on the ground in front of me as I try to walk across the floor. That behavior isn’t as common as other signs of affection, but some cats will do it to elicit play. Others will do this in their homes because they are so comfortable.
I Knead You: It may seem like your cat is just softening you up before she lays down next to you, but when a cat kneads you – meaning he’s moving her paws up and down on you – it indicates he loves you. Some experts believe kneading harkens back to your cat’s days as a kitten when she was nursing. Kittens will do this to stimulate their mother’s milk production. In every shelter that I’ve worked in, there’s always one cat that’s a chronic “biscuit maker” as the behavior is commonly referred to as biscuit-making. It’s a sign of contentment, meaning your cat is reliving its happy moments as a kitten. One of my cats started doing this on a regular basis after I had her for more than two years. It had taken her that long to feel comfortable enough to do that in my home. It probably had to do with sitting in a shelter for months without anyone to trust. Sometimes she ever sucks on the blanket like a nursing kitten – another sign commonly associated with biscuit-making.
Head bump: A head bump is not just a simple greeting or an eccentricity on your cat’s part. It’s a way to say how highly your cat thinks of you like a secret handshake. Again, this behavior is rarely seen in shelters because most cats are nervous. Not every cat will do this, so don’t feel badly if your doesn’t. In fact, it seems this behavior is somewhat rare and idiosyncratic to the cat. But cats that I’ve cared for who do employ this sign of affection tend to rely on it almost every day. While none of my current cats do this, two of my former cats that died a few years ago of old age, head bumped me on a daily basis. Sometimes I’d just walk up to them, put my head down in front of their faces and I’d get my daily head bump, usually followed by a spate of purring.
Let’s chat: If you hear your cat gurgling or warbling, it means he has a good deal of affection toward you. This very common sign is easy to miss and I believe most people don’t recognize it, assuming it’s just idle chatter. If you think your cat is “talking” to you, like she’s greeting you after not seeing you for a while, she’s letting you know she likes you. It’s not just a sound they make. For cats, they never spend more energy than they have to, so if you hear them making what you think are soft silly sounds, they are telling you that they like you.
Nibbles: Sometimes your cat will give you love bites as a sign of affection. It’s easy to tell the difference between a love bite and a typical cat bite – one hurts and the other tickles. In my experience, it’s not a common sign. But like head butting, when a cat employs it, he’ll likely to do so on a regular basis. Currently, I own Siamese cat who’s a chronic nibbler. This wasn’t a behavior that he display right away after I adopted him. It developed over a year as he became more comfortable and trusting of me. Now whenever he’s in my lap, I get nibbled.
Reference:
- Why you should adopt a black cat: voices.yahoo.com/why-adopt-black-cat-11022512.html?cat=53
