Have you ever locked eyes with your cat only to watch them slowly close and reopen their eyes, almost like they’re sending you a secret signal? Maybe you’ve wondered what that languid, almost drowsy expression really means. It’s easy to dismiss it as sleepiness or simple boredom, but there’s far more happening behind those half-closed lids than you might think.
Slow blinking is a subtle feature that has been observed in cats for some time, and is thought to be used by cats to indicate a sense of calm and a positive emotional state. Your feline companion might actually be trying to tell you something profound about how they feel in your presence. Let’s explore the fascinating world of feline communication and uncover what your cat is really saying when they offer you that slow, deliberate blink.
A Sign of Trust and Affection
When a cat slow blinks at you, they are often expressing a sense of trust, contentment, and affection. In the feline world, closing their eyes in the presence of another creature makes them vulnerable, as they are unable to detect potential threats. Think about it from your cat’s perspective for a moment. In the wild, letting your guard down even for a second could mean the difference between life and death.
So when your cat chooses to close their eyes around you, they’re essentially saying they feel safe enough to be vulnerable. Your cat’s slow blink is a sign that they trust you and feel comfortable around you. This isn’t just some random behavior they picked up along the way. It’s a deliberate communication that they’ve developed specifically for you.
The Science Behind the Blink
Now, let’s be real, people have suspected this for years, but science finally caught up. In a recent UK study published in the journal Scientific Reports, Tasmin Humphrey and colleagues looked at the ability of ‘slow blinking’ to provide communication signals between humans and cats. Researchers actually took the time to study whether cats genuinely respond to our attempts at slow blinking back at them.
The results showed that cats are more likely to slow-blink at their humans after their humans have slow-blinked at them, compared to the no-interaction condition. What’s even more interesting is that this wasn’t limited to just familiar faces. Scientists were able to confirm that this expression makes cats – both familiar and strange – approach and be receptive to humans. This means you can actually use this technique with cats you’ve never met before.
More Than Just a Reflex
You might be wondering whether this is just an automatic reflex, like when your leg jerks during a doctor’s visit. The answer is no. Slow blinking involves the partial or complete closure of the eyelids, performed slowly and lasting for longer than half a second. Regular blinking happens much faster and serves a completely different purpose.
This deliberate action shows intention rather than instinct. Slow blinking differs from regular blinking in both the speed and intention, making it a deliberate behavior rather than a reflex. Your cat is making a conscious choice to communicate with you in this specific way. It’s hard to say for sure, but this seems like one of the most genuine forms of feline expression.
An Evolutionary Adaptation
Here’s where things get really fascinating. Cats didn’t always live in our homes and cuddle on our laps. Cats began as solitary hunters who prowled for small rodents at dawn and again at dusk. About 10,000 years ago, farmers in the fertile crescent noticed that cats made terrific allies in the war on mice and birds. Cats became valuable; before long, they were sleeping by the hearth, and the family was sharing tidbits of food with them. As cats transitioned from wild creatures into valuable farm animals and finally to family pets, they developed new relational skills.
Your cat’s slow blinks are similar to why they meow. It’s a form of communication they’ve evolved specifically to better relate to and interact with us humans. The slow blink might have started as a way to interrupt threatening stares, but it evolved into something much more meaningful. Over thousands of years, cats who could communicate effectively with humans had better chances of survival and comfort.
Breaking the Stare
Let’s talk about something uncomfortable: staring. While communicating through slow blinking requires attention and eye contact between humans and cats, it is also recognized that direct eye contact in the form of a prolonged stare can be perceived negatively and as a threatening behavior by cats. In the animal kingdom, an unbroken stare is basically a challenge, a way of asserting dominance or signaling aggression.
It’s been interpreted as a means of signalling benign intentions, since cats are thought to interpret unbroken staring as threatening. By breaking that stare with a slow blink, your cat is diffusing any potential tension. They’re letting you know they don’t want a confrontation. Instead, they’re offering peace and companionship.
How to Return the Gesture
You don’t need to be a cat whisperer to participate in this silent conversation. The technique is surprisingly simple. Try narrowing your eyes at them as you would in a relaxed smile, followed by closing your eyes for a couple of seconds. You’ll find they respond in the same way themselves and you can start a sort of conversation. Honestly, it feels a bit awkward the first few times you try it, but your cat will probably appreciate the effort.
In controlled experiments, cats show unmistakable signs of emotional connection when their owners slowly blink back at them. The animals were also more likely to slow blink at the humans if the people slow blinked at them first. This reciprocal communication creates a feedback loop of trust and affection between you and your furry friend.
When Cats Blink at Each Other
It’s not just a human-cat thing, either. Unlike meowing, cats do slow blink at each other! You’re more likely to see this among two cats who aren’t threatened by each other’s presence. If you have multiple cats at home, you might catch them exchanging these gentle blinks when they’re feeling relaxed around each other.
When you see one cat slow blinking at another cat, it means they are communicating that they are friendly and not threatening to the other cat. On the flip side, if two cats are locked in an unwavering stare, that’s usually not a friendly interaction. That’s when tensions are high and someone might be about to start swatting.
Not All Squints Are Created Equal
Now here’s something important you need to know. A cat’s slow blinking doesn’t always communicate trust or affection, though. That’s because what looks like a slow blink is actually a squint, which generally means your pet is experiencing pain, discomfort, or injury. Context matters tremendously when interpreting your cat’s expressions.
If your cat is squinting constantly, especially from just one eye, or if there’s discharge, redness, or other concerning signs, that’s not a love message. That’s a veterinary issue that needs attention. Pay attention to the whole picture, including their body language, environment, and overall behavior. A relaxed, happy cat slow blinking looks very different from a cat in distress.
A Message That Helps Cats Find Homes
The impact of slow blinking extends beyond just strengthening bonds with existing pet parents. Cats that responded to human slow blinking, specifically by using eye closures, were rehomed quicker than cats that closed their eyes less. This discovery has real implications for shelter cats waiting to find their forever families.
This suggests that the use of slow blinking may have given cats a selective advantage during the domestication process. Cats who could connect with humans through this gentle communication were more likely to be chosen, cared for, and ultimately pass on their genes. In a way, the slow blink became a survival tool that’s now a gesture of love. What do you think about that? Pretty remarkable when you consider how such a simple behavior has shaped the relationship between humans and cats over millennia.
