These side-by-side videos tell the story behind adult domestic cat kneading. PLEASE CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON AT BOTTOM-LEFT OF THE VIDEO TO PLAY THE TWO VIDEOS SIMULTANEOUSLY. Despite the copious amount of information on the internet about this form of feline behaviour some people don’t know the reason. Fair enough. Here is the reason. The newborn kitten kneads their mother’s breast to encourage the production of colostrum when feeding. The video on the left shows this clearly. Clearly, the adult cat is no longer a newborn kitten feeding at their mother’s breast but they think they are kittens because their every need is provided for by their human caregiver who acts as if they are surrogate mothers. This encourages the adult cat to never grow up emotionally and so they drop into the habits they had when they were newborn kittens even if it has nothing to do with feeding on their mother’s colostrum. It is entirely instinctive. The adult cat most often kneads their owners clothes while on their lap or their bedding as it smells strongly of them. Or as seen in the video they knead any part of their owner including their face. Just keep the claws trimmed please!
Kneading as an adult with a kitten’s mind. Infographic by MikeB at PoC. Click to see it larger if on a desktop or laptop.
The answer to the question depends upon whether your cat is regurgitating or vomiting and the kind of vomiting which is taking place. Regurgitation needs to be differentiated from vomiting so we can get that out of the way first. This topic is veterinarian’s work but cat caregivers need to have some knowledge about …
The question is meant to help cat owners who are aware that their cat has stopped eating for an unknown reason and the question enters their mind as to how long their cat can stop feeding until further problems arise. It would be an unlikely scenario, however. And, it is difficult to find an …
I am taking this information exclusively from the work of four veterinarians in writing the reference book Cat Owner’s Home Veterinary Handbook. It is an excellent book. I don’t have personal experience of feeding kittens with milk replacement formula. Kittens can be fed milk replacement using a special pet nursing bottle or the commercially …
People ask: Why do cats like their water separate from their food? They are asking if cats like their water bowl at a distance from their food bowl. And if they do; why? You see some pretty fancy arguments as to why cats like this but I’d bet my bottom dollar that these are …
In the natal den, soon after birth, kittens recognise their mother immediately via three senses: warmth, feel and smell. However, they probably have little idea what their mother is meant to smell like. The smell of their mother is not in their DNA. This has been proved when kittens suckled an artificial ‘mother’ which …
Note: Some older videos on this page were hosted on Vimeo. That account has now been retired, so a few video blocks may appear blank. Thanks for understanding — there’s still plenty of cat content to enjoy!
