Cat Language Explained: What Your Cat Is Really Telling You

Cat Body Language: The Key to Understanding Your Feline Friend

What Language Do Cat Speak?

Have you ever wondered what your cat is trying to tell you? Cat body language is a complex form of communication that includes tail movements, ear positions, eye contact, and whisker signals. Understanding these cues can strengthen your bond with your cat, reduce stress-related behaviours, and help you identify potential health concerns early.

📌 Scientific Insight: Studies have shown that cats use a combination of body language and vocalisations to communicate their emotions and needs. Research published in Scientific Reports confirms that slow blinking is a sign of trust and affection between cats and their owners.

Experiment:

The eyes are important in signalling emotions, with the act of narrowing the eyes appearing to be associated with positive emotional communication in a range of species.This study examines the communicatory significance of a widely reported cat behaviour that involves eye narrowing, referred to as the slow blink sequence. Slow blink sequences typically involve a series of half-blinks followed by either a prolonged eye narrow or an eye closure.

Our first experiment revealed that cat half-blinks and eye narrowing occurred more frequently in response to owners’ slow blink stimuli towards their cats (compared to no owner–cat interaction). In a second experiment, this time where an experimenter provided the slow blink stimulus, cats had a higher propensity to approach the experimenter after a slow blink interaction than when they had adopted a neutral expression. Collectively, our results suggest that slow blink sequences may function as a form of positive emotional communication between cats and humans.(Source)

Is my Cat Happy?

Here are signs of a happy cat:

Purring :  Why Do Cats Purr?

So, what does it mean when a cat purrs? Cat purring is a complex vocalization that can mean many different things.

1. Cats Purr When They’re Content

A cat purring has mostly been associated with contentment, excitement, or other positive emotional states. When a cat is purring with content, they have a relaxed facial expression and body language. Cats have been known to purr when they are:

• Drowsy

• In a warm, familiar environment

• Eating (or just after eating)

• Kneading something soft

• Sunning themselves in a window

• Lying in their pet parent’s lap

2. Cats Purr When They’re Anxious

Some cats purr when they are anxious. They may walk around the house alternating between purring and meowing. This may be a coping mechanism to help reduce their anxiety.

Other cats may purr when they are being examined by a veterinarian or once they get home from the veterinary clinic. If your cat is purring in these scenarios, they may be trying to recover and self-soothe from a stressful situation.

3. Cats Purr When They’re Greeting

Cats may utter a short purr when greeting people or other cats. Typically, this is a friendly interaction with the other party. Mother cats can also purr when approaching their kittens.

4. Cats Purr When They Want Attention

Cats may purr when soliciting physical attention, such as a pet or neck scratch from people. They may also purr when they rub their face or body against another cat, a person, or an object.

5. Cats Purr When They’re Sick

Cats can purr when they are healthy and feeling good, but cats can also purr when they are sick or in pain. By purring, the cat may be asking for care. Some cats may even purr before they die; the purring sound may potentially be a comforting sound for them.

Why Do Kittens Purr?

Kittens can purr as young as 2 days of age. They purr when they are nursing from their mother and only stop long enough to swallow. Kittens also tend to purr in similar situations as adult cats—such as when greeting littermates or other cats, or when requesting food.

Understanding Cat Purring

When a cat is purring, look at their body language and the situation to determine why.

A purring cat that approaches you with their tail held up may be greeting you and soliciting attention. But if the cat is crouched down with their ears pulled slightly to the side while purring, they may not be feeling well.

Kneading (Making Biscuits)

Kneading often accompanies purring. It’s known by a variety of names, including “making biscuits,” because cats make the same motion with their paws as if they were kneading some dough. Cats might knead a blanket or their favorite people or something soft, and it’s often the height of contentment.

Why Do Cats Knead Their Paws?

For many cats, kneading begins early. Kittens use a kneading action to stimulate milk production from their mother cat when nursing. Because nursing and being around a mother cat’s calming pheromones encourages a sense of contentment in young kittens, many cats will continue to knead into adulthood to create a similar sense of calm and relaxation.

But kneading isn’t just about kittenhood: Wild feline species will sometimes knead soft grasses and other bedding materials in their natural habitats as they prepare for rest. This form of kneading may also be practiced by domestic cats on their beds, blankets, and other favorite sleeping spots.

In addition, cats have scent glands between their toes. When they knead an object or a person, their scent is deposited onto that surface. This allows the cat to mark his territory, should other cats come sniffing around for resources to claim. Some experts also theorize that cats knead to stretch their muscles and relieve tension in their limbs.

Drooling

Drooling might be one of the less appealing ways cats show their affection. Some cats will drool generous amounts of saliva while being cuddled and pet. It can be hard to remember that this is, indeed, a sign of happiness.

Keep in mind that happy drooling only occurs while a cat is getting attention—a cat that is drooling without stimulation may have a medical problem that should be investigated. In this case, give your vet a call.

Friendly, Curious Attitude

Friendly and curious are other descriptions that fit the happy cat well. A cat that approaches you with their tail high, rubs against you, butts you with their head, and seems interested in what your hands smell like or what you are carrying, is probably a happy cat.

Playfulness

Happy cats also like to play, especially younger cats. Often this play may be solo, such as attacking a hanging feather or chasing a toy mouse down the hall, but other times it may include human family members. However, rest assured—a cat that is playing is most decidedly a happy kitty!

Normal Eating, Sleeping, and Grooming Habits

Perhaps the most subtle signs of a happy animal are those that also indicate a healthy animal. A happy cat will do their routine things on schedule—they eat well (too much or too little eating can be a sign of poor health), sleep an appropriate amount (most cats will sleep close to 20 hours a day), and keep their coat well-groomed and shiny.

If you’ve noticed any changes in your cat’s appetite, sleep schedule, or grooming routine, talk to your veterinarian.

Using the Litter Box

Happy cats use the litter pan as expected. Cats can show stress by urinating or defecating in places they aren’t supposed to,  so a cat that isn’t using the litter box often or at all either has a medical issue or is trying to communicate that they are under stress.

Slow Blinks

We performed two experiments with the aim of exploring the communicatory significance of slow blink behaviour in human-cat interactions. 

Discussion

This study is the first to experimentally investigate the role of slow blinking in cat–human communication. Our results not only describe the specific movements involved in cat slow blink sequences but also produce several strands of evidence which collectively suggest that cats respond to a human giving a slow blink stimulus by producing eye narrowing movements of their own. Firstly, cats deliver more eye narrowing movements when their owners slow blink at them than when the owner is present in the room but not delivering this stimulus. Secondly, when an unfamiliar experimenter gives the slow blink stimulus compared to adopting a neutral face, cats respond with a higher frequency of eye narrowing movements themselves. In addition, the study produces evidence that cats perceive human slow blinking in a positive way, as subjects prefer to approach an experimenter after a slow blink interaction has occurred, compared to when the experimenter adopts a neutral facial expression without direct eye contact with the cat. This is in accordance with previous anecdotal reports of this behaviour as signalling relaxation in cats33,35.

It is also relevant to note that the slow blink stimulus shares certain features with the Duchenne smile (the genuine smile in humans41), as well as responses in other mammals to positive emotional contexts (during grooming, in horses:39; in cows:38; in sheep:46; during feeding in cows:40; and during relaxation (anecdotally) and play in canids:37,47)—specifically the narrowing of the eyes is an integral part of all of these signals. Thus our results could suggest that cats share some of the same features of positive signalling which have been found in a wide range of animals, including humans. However, since the experimenters did not make direct eye contact with the cats in Experiment 2 during the neutral condition, it remains possible that the experimenter’s gaze direction or attentional state may potentially have affected cats approach responses and this would be a factor to investigate in future work. It would be useful in future studies to explore the potential presence and function of this behaviour in conspecific communication as well as in cat–human signalling—and also consider its occurrence in enculturated or socialised, captive felids.

Our study used both owners and an unknown experimenter to deliver the slow blink stimulus. In doing this we found that both owners and an unfamiliar other could elicit a slow blink sequence in the cats. These findings somewhat contrast with Galvan and Vonk’s32 study which found sensitivity of cats to cues of emotion from owners but not an unknown experimenter. Differences in methodology possibly led to these differing results. In particular, the use of CatFACS34 for analysing cats’ facial behaviours in our study may have allowed more detailed responses to be observed. 

It could be argued that cats have developed slow blink behaviours because humans appear to perceive slow blinking as positive and cats may have previously been reinforced by their owners for responding to slow blink sequences. Including an unfamiliar human therefore reduced such reinforcement effects, although the cats may still generalize across humans. Further research on slow blinking behaviour in cats could consider whether this behaviour is an evolved trait or learnt over time. It is also possible that slow-blinking in cats originated as a mechanism to interrupt an unbroken stare, which is potentially threatening in social interactions43; this could then have been elaborated by a combination of selection and learning in the domestic environment. Understanding specific ways in which cats and humans may interact positively, such as through eye narrowing movements, can enhance public understanding of cats and feline welfare, particularly considering the close bond cats and humans share48,49. 

From the current study, the slow blink sequence appears to be an indicator of positive emotion in cats. Identifying observable indicators of positive emotions has practical benefits for the welfare of animals by providing assessment markers of an individual’s current welfare and pointing to behaviours that can be promoted to produce a better quality of life50.

However, further research would be necessary before coming to firm conclusions about the emotional state associated with slow blinking/responding to slow blinking.

In summary, our study provides the first systematic investigation of the role of slow blink behaviour in cat–human communication.

We show that slow blink interactions appear to be a positive experience for cats, and may be an indicator of positive emotions.

Such findings could potentially be used to assess the welfare of cats in a variety of settings, including veterinary practices and shelter environments as well as enhancing cat–human communication in the human home. Socio-cognitive abilities of cats are an under-studied area, and future research on cat behaviours, such as slow blinking, could enhance our understanding of interspecific communication and the ways in which domestication has shaped the social behaviour of an ancestrally solitary species.

Final Thoughts on Cat Body Language

Learning to interpret cat body language can improve your relationship with your cat, prevent stress-related illnesses, and enhance their quality of life.

🐾 Want to Learn More?

Next to read: Why Do Cats Wag Their Tail?

Understanding your cat’s behavior is essential for providing the best care. If you want a comprehensive guide to feline communication, check out our next post, where we review the must-read book for cat owners: Cat Body Language! 📖