Cats respond to “baby talk” by closing/batting their eyes and often rolling around on the ground. Why? Is it simply a learned behavior in response to centuries of human interaction?
I don’t know, but when I make kissy noises at mine he licks my chin. It’s kinda gross, because I know where his tongue has been. I think he’s trying to groom me.
When a cat closes its eyes it’s saying “I trust you. I don’t have to keep an eye on you.” Rolling over at the same time is saying “I trust you so much I will even expose my most vulnerable parts to you.”
OTOH, a cat rolling over on its back while staring at you intently and possibly exposing claws means, “I am gonna rip you open, you #@$*&!”
The “slow blink” is not merely a cat/human interaction. I’ve had cats that did that to each other, when one would enter the room.
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The “slow blink” is not merely a cat/human interaction. I’ve had cats that did that to each other, when one would enter the room.
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Absolutely, if they trust each other. If they don’t the intense glare of “I hate you/don’t trust you/get out of here” is exchanged.
My wife read somewhere (no cite, sorry) that mother cats do the slow blink to their kittens, so it’s an early-learned social response. We do it to our cats to show we are relaxed with them, and they do it right back to us.