When cats blink slowly, what does it mean?

Humans have the unpleasant tendency to speak mostly in these odd objects we call “words.” Because we’re the only people who can utilize them, they’re annoying. Everyone else, including cats, communicates in different ways. Cats communicate through a variety of tail motions, vocalizations, and eye contact. What is a cat trying to tell you when they give you the “slow blink”?

The science of slow blinking

There is evidence that the cat’s slow blink is similar to the human smile, according to a recent study from the College of Sussex in the UK. Researchers were able to establish that this expression causes cats to approach and be responsive to humans, making them both familiar and unusual, according to the reviewers of the paper at Science Alert.

The researchers ran two tests in order to arrive at this result. In one, owners of cats were instructed to sit next to them and, once the cat was relaxed and comfortable, to start slowly blinking at them. The findings “demonstrated that cats were far more likely to react slowly when they see people after the humans have done so.” Researchers conducted a second investigation in which outsiders slowly blinked at animals. The outcome was the same: cats responded to humans who slowly blinked at them by being more likely to come close and interact with them.

You may try it personally with your own cat indoors or with cats you come across on the street, says Karen McComb, a psychologist and professor at the University of Sussex and the study’s director. It’s a wonderful method to strengthen your relationship with cats. Try a calm smile at them with your eyes narrowed, followed by a brief period of eye closure. You’ll discover that they also answer in the same manner, and you can then begin a dialogue.

It’s possible to hypothesize that cats developed their slow blinking behaviours because people saw them as advantageous when considering why cats behave in this way. Dr. Tasmin Humphrey, the study’s original author, might have discovered that people reward them when they react to slow blinking. It’s also plausible that cats started blinking slowly to break up their potentially dangerous, unbroken stares during social interactions. Read More…