# cat behavior **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-behavior/552297 "2010-09-01T19:13:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![peekercpa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@peekercpa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peekercpa)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-behavior/552297/1 "2010-09-01T19:13:08Z")
ok, so we have this real cool cat that wandered into our lives. and she is a real lap sitter and i am cool with that. however, before she settles down for a nap she will do the whole cat knead thing. you know the front two paws going up and down where she is getting ready to go to sleep. now i can see if she was fluffing a pillow that this would make sense, but my stomach is not really going to be all that responsive to that type of behavior. does anyone have a clue what she is doing and why? ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-behavior/552297/2 "2010-09-01T19:39:26Z")
I’ve always heard that it’s a behavior carried over from when they’re kittens, where the kneading helps stimulate milk production. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-behavior/552297/3 "2010-09-01T19:42:44Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I’ve always heard that it’s a behavior carried over from when they’re kittens, where the kneading helps stimulate milk production. Yep. They tend to do it when they’re in a comfortable, safe space. If they do it on your lap before laying there, you know they really approve of you. ---
**Author:** ![Gulo\_gulo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bcef8e/32.png) [@Gulo\_gulo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gulo_gulo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-behavior/552297/4 "2010-09-01T19:43:59Z")
She’s also demonstrating she’s content, happy, and relaxed. Sometimes you can expect a lap full of drool. I sometimes divert them onto a pillow or a stuffed animal to save my flesh from the claws. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-behavior/552297/5 "2010-09-01T20:32:04Z")
Yes, when I’m in bed, one of my cats likes to sleep around my lower legs, and she starts out on the other side of the bed, kneading and purring, gradually getting closer. By the time she gets to me the kneading has stopped, leaving only the purr. This is her bedtime ritual, and I accept the fact that in her mind, she’s stimulating milk production from the nipples on my legs. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-behavior/552297/6 "2010-09-01T20:38:17Z")
Yeah, most cats knead, and most cats purr. Except … my mom’s cat Does. Not. Purr, and neither of our kitties has ever kneaded, even for a moment. Weirdos, all of 'em. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-behavior/552297/7 "2010-09-01T20:42:09Z")
Hijack: Don’t give up on the purring, **purplehourseshoe** ; my Rocky never purred ever, until suddenly at age 11 he’s purring. It sounds kind of rusty, like a motor that hasn’t been used for a long time. Understandable, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-behavior/552297/8 "2010-09-01T22:45:12Z")
I’m posting this from beneath a kneading purring monster. Luckily I have a duvet in between me and her claws, because that shit hurts. Does anyone know if wild or feral kitties do this, like in their nests, or is it just that domestic cats are infantilised? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-behavior/552297/9 "2010-09-02T00:36:14Z")
All three of my cats knead. It’s kind of cute, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-behavior/552297/10 "2010-09-02T00:53:48Z")
Our Angora-mix rescue purred (in a neat kinda motorboat way…_prrr prrr prrr_) and kneaded at everybody until she bonded with my mom. Angoras are supposedly one-person cats, and now she only purrs and kneads with hoomin mama. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-behavior/552297/11 "2010-09-02T01:32:31Z")
As I said in the other thread… you _do_ know that they’re just checking your muscles and internal organs for consistency, right? That way, when you die, they’ll know what part to eat first. 🙂