I mean, of course they do-- they must, right? Or their eyes would dry out. A better question might be, “How come I’ve never seen a cat blink?” I’ve been sitting here watching Mia Miaow for a while now (yeah, I’m pretty bored), and my first impression is, never put money on a staring contest with a cat.
I see them narrow their eyes in a sleepy sort of way from time to time, but that seems associated with other sleepy-type behavior. Is that it? Does a cat just decide to have a nap every time its eyes start to feel a little dry? That would explain a lot, but I can’t believe it’s true.
Anyway, what I don’t see is the sort of rapid, eye-moistening blink that we humans use to keep our eyes free of crusty filth. Am I missing it, or is there something special about cats?
My cats seem to like me, but whenever they’ve declared a staring contest, they always lose. Granted, my eyes are completely dry, and take copious blinking to re-wet, but I take it as a point of pride to WIN.
I also have no trouble trimming claws, and give them a bath. Yet more battles they will LOSE!
Trying to avoid petting them, however, is a battle that I have yet to win in the long term. They will defeat me due to their cuteness.
They just seem to have the ability to reach a very deep focus, when they are staring at something or looking for something. It seems to come out of their hunting ability. They tend to look for small, quick things like mice.
I’m assuming that since mice are so difficult to catch, natural selection favors cats that can focus deeply, which includes not blinking.