Here is a very sparse video showing us what this female cat did when she arrived at her new home after five years in a shelter. She made biscuits in cute cat talk; aka kneading, and it happened to be the carpet. This is the instinctive action of a cat at her mother’s breast. …
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.
Strictly speaking it’s not massage! There is one reason why domestic cats ‘massage’ their owner. And it is not really massaging as I am sure many of you know. The word ‘massage’ is misleading because although it looks a bit like massage it ain’t. When and how it might happen All cat owners have …
Yes, wild cats knead as all cats are fundamentally the same. Humans see kneading in domestic cats far more often than in wild cats for obvious reasons, which is why the question in the title is being asked. People see (and feel!) kneading in domestic cats because they knead their caregiver’s knees when they …
Your cat kneads your hair for the same reason that she needs your lap or any other part of you. It doesn’t really matter. You probably know why your cat kneads you. I’ll remind you if I may. It is because at that moment she is treating you as her mother and she is …
This is not stretching paws. What the question is referring to is cats extending their toes and then contracting them when you pet them. It does look as if they are stretching or exercising their toes but they are not. Cats normally enjoy being the recipient of human petting. They relate to the person …
The question here is what is happening? Some people might say that the kitten is comforting the puppy who is on a drip. I don’t think that that is what is happening. What is happening, I suspect, is that the kitten needs a mother and he or she has chosen a puppy who smells …
They call is cat massage but we know it is one cat kneading another. They are very close friends living in China – perhaps mother and offspring. We normally see young kittens kneading their mothers while being nursed to bring on the flow of colostrum. It is unusual to see one young adult (the …
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!
