Scientists Say You Can Communicate With Your Cat: Just Blink
You might not speak fluent “meow,” but your cat is constantly communicating with you, whether you know it or not.
Learning to speak your cat’s language can help strengthen your bond, prevent misunderstandings, and figure out why your cat does crazy things, such as knocking your glass off the counter.
Research from 2020 dove into the mysterious world of feline communication and found that cat owners just need to smile at their kitties more.
However, cats do not “smile” the same way as humans do. Instead of baring your teeth, you must narrow your eyes and blink slowly. This approach makes cats more receptive to humans, according to scientists.
“As someone who has both studied animal behavior and is a cat owner, it’s great to be able to show that cats and humans can communicate in this way,” said Karen McComb, a psychologist from the University of Sussex.
“It’s something that many cat owners had already suspected, so it’s exciting to have found evidence for it.”
A team of researchers designed two experiments to see if cats acted differently in front of slow-blinking humans. In the first experiment, cat owners blinked slowly at 21 cats from 14 different households.
When each cat was situated in its home environment, the owners were asked to sit about three feet away and slow-blink while the cat was looking at them. Cameras recorded the humans’ and cats’ faces.
The results were then compared to how cats behave with no human interaction. The findings showed that cats were more likely to slow-blink at humans after their owners blinked slowly at them.
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The second experiment involved 24 cats from eight households. This time, the researchers did the blinking, not the owners.
Before the experiment, the researchers did not have any contact with the cats. They performed the same blinking process as the first experiment, but added the action of extending their hand toward the cat.
They discovered that the cats were more likely to blink back and more likely to approach the hand after the human blinked.
It is the first time that a study has investigated how slow-blinking affects communication between humans and cats.
“It is something you can try yourself with your own cat at home or with cats you meet in the street. It’s a great way of enhancing the bond you have with cats,” said McComb.
“Try narrowing your eyes at them as you would in a relaxed smile, followed by closing your eyes for a couple of seconds. You’ll find they respond in the same way themselves, and you can start a sort of conversation.”
Cats are actually more in tune with their owners than dogs. Cats treat us the way we treat them; they’re almost like a reflection of our own behavior. If your cat seems aloof and unfriendly, you may be projecting the same kind of attitude toward them.
Learning how to improve your relationship with these creatures can also improve their health. The research could be used to assess the well-being of cats in shelters and veterinary practices.
The study was published in Scientific Reports.
More About:Animals