Bond With Your Cat by Blinking at Them
Wednesday 21st November, 2012 by: Karen in: Cat Behaviour
One of the most powerful ways to communicate with your cat is by slowly blinking at them. It’s a great way to send reassuring signal to your kitties, telling them that you’re not a threat and showing him or her that you care. I often use this technique to connect with Ted and Dilly.
Cats find direct eye contact threatening and it makes them self-conscious. They have great peripheral vision so tend not to stare at anything directly, unless they are ready to attack. Rival cats will out-stare each other to resolve conflict and maintain territorial distance, so it’s no surprise to discover that a continuous stare can upset cats as it is seen as threatening. This explains why a cat that enters a room full of strangers, all of whom are cats lovers except one, will choose to approach the non-cat lover – the only one who is not staring at him.
When I want to ‘talk to’ Ted or Dilly, I wait until they are sat still and fairly calm and then when they look directly at me, I close my eyes slowly for a second or two and open them again. I usually repeat this two or three times and normally they will blink back at me in the same way.
It’s an amazing feeling and I can almost ‘sense’ the connection between us. I feel as if I can see the look of understanding in their eyes and I feel closer to them as a result.
Try it and see how it works for you – I’d love to hear your stories about how you communicate with your furry friend, comment below, or drop me an email karen@specially4cats.co.uk send us a tweet @specially4cats or leave a comment on our Facebook page.
Hi Karen,
I totally agree about the blinking, I first noticed that when I was talking to my cat, which I do a lot, just as I would to anyone else, she watched my face closely, and slowly blinked quite a lot. I thought of it as her way of smiling, as she purrs at the same time, so I know she’s happy :-). I haven’t blinked back at her, but I don’t stare, just look at her when talking to her, and find I am blinking anyway. I sure do feel a bond between us, as with the talking, and repeating phrases when I do something with her, I feel sure she is understanding our “language” more and more, its a lovely feeling! She and I have become really close in the 9 months since she has owned me :-). I believe its because I am really trying to communicate with her and she sems to understand me – most of the time :-)
You’re so right Janet – I think that many people believe that it’s harder to form that sort of bond with a cat. It’s true that they aren’t quite as ‘demonstrative’ as a dog, but they do show their love in many other ways! Love your comment about being ‘owned’ by your kitty – so true!