We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about how cats actually really like it when their beloved owners use baby talk when speaking to them.
And we’ve also shared the noises and gestures your feline friends can make to show you they love you.
But what about speaking their love language?
Experts say that when cats slow-blink at you, it’s pretty much a surefire sign of adoration. So should you do it back? Will they even understand what you mean if you do?
Do it!
Speaking to National Geographic, John Bradshaw, a cat-behaviour expert at the University of Bristol and the author of Cat Sense, says that “cats behave toward us in a way that’s indistinguishable from [how] they would act toward other cats.”
This is different to how dogs, who change their behaviour when we’re around, seem to understand us, he says.
So perhaps it’s no surprise that returning their signs of affection in the same way it was delivered to us seems to soothe them.
A 2020 study published in Scientific Reports suggests that “cats had a higher propensity to approach the experimenter after a slow blink interaction than when they had adopted a neutral expression.”
“Collectively, our results suggest that slow blink sequences may function as a form of positive emotional communication between cats and humans,” they added.
Cats may slow-blink because of us to begin with
Just as our believed kitties only seem to meow at humans, experts think cats could have developed the slow-blink love note to please us.
Dr Tasmin Humphrey, the first author of the Scientific Reports study, says, “In terms of why cats behave in this way, it could be argued that cats developed the slow blink behaviours because humans perceived slow blinking as positive.”
“Cats may have learned that humans reward them for responding to slow blinking,” the researcher added.
“It is also possible that slow blinking in cats began as a way to interrupt an unbroken stare, which is potentially threatening in social interaction.”
