Just like humans, cats have their own love language! However, a cat’s love language is much more subtle and it’s your duty as a cat owner to know the signs.
Cats have many ways of communicating their love and affection for us. They also have adorable ways of trying to copy our own forms of communication.
Read below to discover your cat’s unique love language!
1. Being Talkative
Is your cat talkative? Cats don’t usually meow at other cats, instead they rely on visual and smell cues for communication. Cats developed their own way of communicating with humans.
Over time, cats learned that making a vocal sound would result in a human making another vocal sound (them talking to us and us talking back). If this conversation went well, it would result would be the cat getting something they wanted.
An interview from National Geographic says that when a cat meows this is a vocalization to specifically get human attention. If you find your cat is very talkative, then know that this is simply his/her way of communicating specifically to you.
Professor of Phonetics, Susanne Schötz, from Lund University goes so far to say that cats even develop their own accents based on their human’s voice!
Cats meow purely for a response from their human, which is why this love language is amazing.
2. Head Bunting
You know when your cat repeatedly bumps you in the leg with his/her head? This action is called “head bunting,” and it is just another amazing way kitty’s communicate their love.
Here, your cat is actually marking you with their pheromones and sending a direct message to other cats (and maybe other humans) that you are already taken!
Cats also tend to head bunt when they want to be pet or anything in general and they know doing this will evoke a response; this is a learned behavior just like meowing. If your cat head bunts you, it’s a sign of deep love and trust!
3. “Gifts”
We have all had this happen to us, especially if your cat goes outside. It’s early in the morning, and you’re opening your front door to grab the mail and then you see it – a dead rat, mole, or bird.
When you look over to your, your cat looks as content as ever! In reality, cats enjoy sharing their deceased prey with those they love– this is a great honor for a cat owner.
While this seems out of the ordinary, they wouldn’t do this for those they didn’t love and this is a natural love language for our adorable feline predators.
**WARNING** As gross finding these presents on your porch is, do not punish or yell at your cat. This will just confuse your cat because they think they did something nice for you. The best way to eliminate this behavior is to keep your very thoughtful kitty indoors.
SURVEY: Do You Consider Cats Family?
Your opinion matters!
4. Making Biscuits
The term “making biscuits” is also known as “kneading,” but what is this love language? According to the Huffington Post, kneading is when your kitty uses his/her paws to push in and out against a surface in a repetitive manner.
Live Science defines it as an instinctual gesture being left over from kittenhood. When a kitten nurses, they knead the area around their mother’s belly to generate easier milk flow.
Another hypothesis is that kneading actually originates from a time even before domestication when wild felines would continuously pat down leaves to create a soft area for sleep and birth.
This behavior could mean your cat is settling down, or becoming comfortable in your lap! However, when cats do this it can be very painful– especially when claws are involved! To ease the pain of “love kneading” put a thick soft pillow between your body and your cat.
5. Sleeping Patterns
A kitty who loves and adores you will be 100% comfortable sleeping around you. Cats are notorious for reserving the sleeping spot next to them for their very best friend.
When your feline friend chooses to sleep next to you, this is a grand gesture of love! Your cat assumes that you will protect him/her from danger or predators during your cat’s very vulnerate nap time.
This particular love language is especially relevant for cats who don’t openly display affection. If you see that your cat is always around you then that is an obvious answer that their special sleeping position is the main love language.
How Do I Find Out the Love Language of My Timid Kitty?
It is important to note that felines, as a species, are reluctant to change. Dr. Karen Shaw from Healthy Pets says that even though cats are “domesticated,” they are at the core independent creatures who interact with humans only by their own choice.
If you feel like your kitty doesn’t speak your love language or just doesn’t display one, remember that it isn’t necessarily a person or a home they could dislike, but rather just his/her unknown and unpredictable surroundings.
Below are some tips on how to develop a love language with a kitty who is just a tough code to crack!
• More quality time: To our favorite furry friends, this translates as spending calming and quiet time in their presence. This creates a sense of security and trust.
Achieving quality time isn’t possible if your cat is given lots of freedom at the beginning as he/she will just run from hiding spot to hiding spot.
• More quiet time: Try to sit quietly in the same room with your cat while you’re reading, browsing the internet, reading National Kitty, or doing whatever!
This will get your kitty used to you being around in a non-threatening manner, which is essential to bringing out your cat’s love language.
• Create a bonding space: Consider setting up a small “kitty suite” before your cat’s arrival.
This would entail a small room with a door not a gate. This “kitty suite” should include everything your cat needs (food, water, litter box, fluffy toys, including perhaps a hiding space that is accessible to you! This allows you and your cat the space needed for bonding.
One Universal Truth: Cats Love Love!
Cats are lovable and loving creatures. They show their love in diverse ways just like humans, and sometimes it takes time for them to show it. Just a few of a cat’s love language may include meowing, head bunting, leaving presents, and kneading.
Ultimately, having the knowledge on our part as cat owners to make our cats feel safe, cherished, and loved will improve our relationships with them. As Dr. Gary Chapman says, love languages are ways humans express and experience love, and we’ve seen this is definitely the case for cats too!
What’s your cat’s love language? Leave your comments below!
Dawn M Crowley
Thursday 24th of October 2019
My cat is #1&5....Blu talks ALOT....he sleeps literally on me or in the hole my legs make when I'm laying on the bed and cross one over the other....after I've been gone for a few hrs in a day when I get on the bed to relax he comes and lays on my legs so I can't move....he follows me throughout the rv including the bathroom....those are the ways my furbaby shows his love....
Lorie
Friday 23rd of August 2019
You totally forgot about eye squinting. They usually do that while they're kneading'- opening and closing their eyes slowly. Whenever I do that back to them they always come up right to my face.
Pam
Saturday 17th of August 2019
My Goober talks to me. My Clarence head butts my legs and rubs his head all over my face and hair. My Ashes nurses under my arms. Im so loved.
Dawn
Friday 16th of August 2019
My Hazel starts out sleeping at the foot of my bed under the covers then at least once at night and once in the morning she makes her way up to my chest head butts me so I'll scratch behind her ears and pet her then she'll curl up on my chest and take a nap. She is 2+ years old and I adopted her just a few months ago in June. Im in a power wheelchair but it doesnt matter to her she just hops up in my lap to get some lovin'. She is a talker too. She will call to me from another room to find me, i answer her with my best trill & meow till she sees me. If I go in the bathroom she hops up by the sink and chatters until I turn the water on for her. And her absolute favorite toy a rubber band. She doesn't chew on it or try to eat it she picks it up runs with it and then flings it in the air then jumps on it & sits on it and acts like it's not there then stands up surprised that's it there and starts all over again. She is a joy.
Teresa Delaney
Thursday 8th of August 2019
One of my cats likes to sleep with her little paws and arms on my hand at night when we settle in for bedtime