Your Cat Stares at You to Show Affection And when a loving stare is coupled with cat "eye kisses," which is when a cat stares with half-closed eyelids and offers a few slow blinks, it means your kitty is showing some serious adoration for you.
congratulations! Your cat just really loves you. Fixed eye contact and regular slow blinking is a sign of affection in cats. So, look straight back, indulge in some slow blinks and enjoy an affectionate moment with your feline friend.
Cat owners are often encouraged to slowly blink or wink their eyes (e.g. sleepy eyes) when directly looking toward their cats. This sends a message that you are not a threat and they should not be alarmed. However, cats always prefer their owners using their peripheral vision to look at them rather than a direct gaze.
Cats don't know or care what's rude in the human world, so they're not staring to make you feel uncomfortable. It's very normal for cats to stare, either because they're bored, curious, hungry, or attention seeking.
When it realizes it's being watched, the cat may assess the threat, and then return to whatever he was doing, but in a more self-conscious way. The direct eye contact intimidates your cat, which can make him uncomfortable. Similarly, this is why cats try to out-stare each other to resolve conflicts.
“Unlike dogs, cats can't tell human faces apart and don't respond to facial features that express emotion,” DeVoss says. The reason why is cats rely primarily on scent, not sight, to recognize their humans. Changes in our scent can also signal emotional or physical changes to our cat not visible to the human eye.
The Cat Is Curious Or Surprised
“It doesn't mean that cats are upset, but if they're staring at you without blinking they're likely very interested or surprised by a sound you're making or something you're doing,” as Dr. Georgina Ushi Phillips, DVM at Better With Cats, tells Romper.
Cats cannot distinguish their owners by staring at them because their faces appear identical when they are at rest. Instead, cats distinguish between humans using sound and smell. Cats learn to identify their owner's voice, and regardless of whether they're wearing cologne, their skin emits a distinct aroma.
Cats tend to use pawing as a form of communication. Cats paw at us out of instinct, by accident, to give or get affection, and to get our attention. Most times, when cats paw at us, it means nothing serious. Sometimes, however, they are getting our attention to tell us that they are sick or in pain.
This isn't because they're pernickety, but because they're keeping themselves safe. Cats feel vulnerable in these situations; and a covered litter box gives them a sense of security. You, on the other hand, aren't in need of that extra measure of safety, hence your cat thinks it's okay to follow you to the bathroom!
Clearly, cats are good at visual recognition — except when it comes to human faces. Instead of facial recognition, cats may use other cues, like our scent, the way we feel, or the sound of our voices to identify us. Researchers from Tokyo University found that cats do recognize their owners' voices.
Researchers at universities in England think slow-blinking at your cat, who might respond in kind, could be a way to get them to warm up to you. Exchanging slow blinks—blinking your eyes for half a second or more—gives you and your feline buddy a special way to communicate.
A subtle stare is normally a sign of love and affection, or they might just be after your time and attention. They might lock eyes when hunger strikes, or it might be to convey a feeling of fear or anger.
It probably feels like your four-legged fur baby has got it in for you, but these perceived acts of aggression are actually an indicator of affection. That can be quite difficult to fathom, right? But it's true; they're actually “love bites” rather than a defense mechanism.
Nose-To-Nose Hellos To Humans
Lucky you! Wet nose kisses are a wonderful sign of affection. Sure, there's some initial sniffing involved for identification purposes, but this says you're someone the cat likes. If the cat really likes you, he may punctuate the nose kiss with a gentle love nip.
In the wild, cats are predators, but they are also potential prey for larger animals. When they sleep facing away from you, they are showing that they trust you. They are also showing that they plan to keep an eye on the surrounding environment for both of you.
They can remember a person's face for up to 10 years! And kitties become seriously attached to their humans, so in case you were wondering, yes, your cat remembers and misses you when you're gone for a few weeks, and they absolutely mourn when a trusted companion drops out of their life.
According to a study1 published in 2019 in the journal Scientific Reports, cats do, in fact, recognize their own names. The lead author of the study is a behavioral scientist named Atsuko Saito from Sophia University in Tokyo, whose prior research2 demonstrated that cats can recognize their owners' voices.
To summarise, cats don't think about their day or how they feel. But they do think about previous situations they have encountered. For example, when your cat is chilling out, it's not thinking about anything in particular.
Sometimes your cat is staring at you because they are angry. If you're being stared at by your cat and notice large pupils or a tail swishing back and forth, these are signs your kitty may be angry about something. If your cat is angry, it's best not to stare back at them because they may take this as a threat.
Squinted or half-closed eyes are a sign of affection, relaxation and trust. If a cat looks like they're about to fall asleep, they're relaxed and they trust you. Also, they're probably about to fall asleep. Fun fact: Cats also use their eyes to establish the pecking order.
The bottom line: While a slow blink does not always mean your cat wants physical contact with you, it is a way of signaling to you, to another person or to another cat that everything is A-OK and she is comfortable being around you!
Cats can understand about 25 to 35 words. This often leads people to believe that dogs are smarter than cats, which would again be wrong — wrong that is if you only base intelligence on understanding. (Some people believe cats understand plenty, but choose to ignore us anyway.
Signs Cats Worry About Their Humans
Recent studies have shown that cats notice if their humans are absent, especially for a longer period of time than it takes to go buy milk. When the human returns, the cat who was so affectionate before may walk away or appear to sulk.