Perhaps you have noticed your cat slowing blinking their eyes at you, then partially closing their eyes.
This action is known as the slow blink sequence.
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What is Cat Slow Blinking?
Slow blinking is when a cat closes their eyes for just a moment, then opens them, perhaps repeating this a few times. The slow blinking may be followed by eye narrowing, which is closing the eyelids about half-way and holding that pose for a few seconds. Sometimes your cat may just do the eye narrowing without the slow-blinking.
Here is a photo of a kitty demonstrating the eye narrowing technique:
What Is the Meaning of Cat Slow Blinking?
According to a University of Sussex UK study, “….this slow blinking technique can provide a form of positive communication between cats and humans….”.
The researchers found that when humans did the slow blinking at cats, the cats sometimes did the slow blinking back, and also were often more willing to interact with the human.
The general feeling seems to be that cats consider this activity to be a friendly gesture of good will.
Should I Do Slow Blinking at My Cat?
You can do the slow blinking / eye narrowing greeting with your cat. You may or may not get a likewise response from your kitty, but either way you have initiated what is considered to be a pleasing interaction with your pet.
Why don’t you try this: Look your kitty in the eye, then close your eyes for a couple of seconds. Then open them half-way for a few more seconds, just like the kitty in the photograph up above. Repeat this several times and you are doing the slow blinking / eye narrowing technique.
If you try this and don’t get a reply, try again. If this is something you can do that produces good results for your cat, it may be worth doing consistently. That will give your kitty time to catch on to what you are saying. Cats are good at learning.
You may want to go to my blog post How Your Cat Talks to You to learn about various other ways you can communicate with your kitty.
Is Cat Slow Blinking the Same as Staring?
No, it is not the same. Being stared at is something that cats seem to find offensive, whether the staring is by a human or by another animal. My own experience is that whenever I saw two cats staring at one another, they were getting ready to bop each other on the head.
On the other hand, if you notice your cat gazing at something with a focused intent to figure it out or make a decision about it, this is probably just normal behavior. It’s not the same thing as staring with a bad attitude. For instance, if your cat gazes at its empty food bowl and then looks up at you, they are most probably just saying “more please”.
By the way, “staring” and “gazing” are not scientific terms, but just my way of trying to differentiate one activity from another.
So the message here is that you should not stare at your kitty. Instead, try the slow blinking exercise described above.
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Their eyes are just one aspect of your cat that makes this animal so incredible.. To discover even more amazing things about your cat, visit my blog post Learn About Cats.