The 24 Signs a Cat Actually Likes Their Humans
Cats often get a bad rap for being aloof and indifferent to their humans’ needs. While they are indeed independent, cats are far from lacking affection. Although they won’t manifest their love outwardly like dogs do, they often show it subtly.
Here are signs you should be looking for if you wonder if your kitty loves you.
1. Slow Blinking
If you’ve ever caught your kitty looking in your direction and slowly closing and opening their eyes, you’ve received a kitty smile that says your feline trusts you and enjoys your company. Try slowly blinking back at them; you’ll see them look away after a while. That’s their polite acknowledgment of your smile in their language.
2. Headbutting
When a cat headbutts their owners, it’s a way of trying to scent them. Called bunting, the behavior serves to express your cat’s playful affection and scent you at the same time. Cats scent everything around them to subtly dominate their environment. However, when they want their humans coated in their pheromones, it’s a sure sign they have picked them as their persons.
3. Grooming
Cats are obsessive groomers. Some breeds groom themselves incessantly. Being both predators and prey means they try to mask their smell as much as possible, which their saliva does by neutralizing the smell. However, when cats lick humans, they do it out of affection and to express how comfortable they are with them. Grooming, especially on the face of hair, is a huge sign your kitty likes you.
4. Kneading
Kittens knead from the day they are born. They do it instinctively to stimulate their mom’s milk production. Because of its association with nursing, kneading makes cats feel comfortable and relaxed. If your cat kneads when they see you, it’s a sign that your presence helps them release tension.
5. Quiet Meows
Depending on how vocal your cat is, you may notice a different type of meow in response to your voice. If you speak to your kitty in a soft voice and they give you a short, soft meow in response, they’re effectively saying, “Hi, friend.”
6. Following You Around
Is your kitty following you everywhere, not letting you out of their sight? That means your cat has imprinted on you and sees you as a source of security and trust. We love those who make us feel safe; our cats are no different.
7. Offering You Their Tummy
You should be honored if you’ve ever had a cat that flipped over and showed you their tummy. Bellies are the most vulnerable parts of a cat because they contain their vital organs. So, if they trust you enough to offer you their tummy, they trust you with their lives.
8. Sitting on You
Similarly to grooming you, sitting on you shows your cat trusts and enjoys your company. Sitting on you usually prompts you to pet your friend, meaning you’ll also get scented. Sitting on you is an efficient way for your kitty to accomplish things without doing any work. That’s the kind of genius only a cat can be.
9. Greeting You When You Come Home
If your cat is always waiting for you at the door when you get home or sits in a window where they can see you park your car or walk to the front door, they have missed you and can’t wait to hang out with you. If they also shake their tail rapidly, they’re telling you they didn’t just miss you, but they love that you’re back home to spend time with them and give them some delicious food.
10. Purring
Cats don’t only purr when they’re happy. They also do it to calm themselves in stressful situations, like when they go to the vet or are in pain. Yet, if your cat starts purring when they see you or you pet them, they express their affection for you and how comfortable you make them feel.
11. Hanging Out With You
In the same way, you enjoy hanging out with your friends even when you’re not doing anything in particular, if your cat likes you, they enjoy spending time with you. Cats bonded with their owners spend as much of their awake or asleep time where their owners are because they feel safe and comfortable with them.
12. Rubbing Against You
Rubbing against you is another way cats can scent you. In cat language, rubbing is a sign of getting acceptance, greetings, and love. When your cat rubs against you, you smell like a member of their family, and they accept you as such.
13. Bringing Gifts
If you’ve ever befriended an outdoor cat, you may have gotten a few stomach-churning presents from them in the form of a dead mouse or squirrel. While the gift was off-putting, its intent couldn’t be more different. Cats bring presents to reward you for caring for them and to show their love.
14. Curling Their Tail Around Your Ankle
Your cat may walk around you in circles and figure eights, curling their tails around your ankles. While this may be annoying (or dangerous, especially on and around stairs), the cat does it to express their interest in your presence. It’s also a good way to scent your ankles with the pheromone glands around their tails and mark you as theirs.
15. Sleeping With You
When humans or animals are asleep, they are the most vulnerable. If your kitty chooses to sleep with you at night, they trust you deeply and feel safe around you. That’s the ultimate sign they love you.
16. Treating You Like a Fellow Cat
A lot of the behaviors we discuss here, from kneading to licking to presenting us with gifts, are behaviors cats engage in when they’re among themselves. If your cat treats you like a fellow kitty, they consider you their surrogate parent and family. How could they not like you?
17. Guarding You When You’re Vulnerable
Does your cat sneak into the bathroom when you shower or use the facilities? If so, they’re doing it partly out of curiosity and partly because you’re vulnerable, and they want to watch over you. They don’t want you to encounter a monster in the shower without their protection!
18. Making Biscuits on You
Making biscuits is a form of kneading. However, if your cat kneads on you and ensures their claws are firmly retracted as they do so, they’re once again treating you as a surrogate mom. Because the behavior is closely associated with kittenhood, it signifies love and playful affection.
19. Chatting With You
Not all cats are chatters. On the other hand, some breeds, like the Siamese, are extremely talkative. Either way, if your cat meows in response to your voice and you can have a back-and-forth with them, they’re expressing their personality in your presence, which means they feel safe and loved.
20. Giving You Love Bites
Love bites usually happen when you and your feline have a cuddle or lie together in bed. These are soft nips and nibbles, never strong enough to cause pain or break the skin. Much like purring and licking you, love bites show that your kitty can relax around you and be their playful self.
21. Keeping Their Tail Curled Up When They See You
If your kitty’s tail goes up like a flagpole and curls at the end when they see you, they’re waving to you to say hi. They’re happy to see their trusted friend and can’t wait for interaction. Sometimes, cats greet each other with their tails in the same position, expressing familiarity and affection.
22. Chirruping When They See You
Does your kitty chirp and chirrup at you when they’re trying to get your attention? That’s a sound learned from their mothers during kittenhood. Just like their mama used these sounds to make the kittens check out something important, your cat is trying to show you something that’s making them happy or excited.
23. Staring
A cat that stares at you may seem intimidating, especially if their pupils are dilated, and their bodies seem stiff. However, when your cat stares at you intently and then gives you slow blinks, they communicate their affection by giving you their version of a friendly smile.
24. Tolerating Human Displays of Affection
Finally, the best way to tell if your cat likes you is to show it affection. Any cat who tolerates human displays of affection like pets, kisses, and scratches, or worse, answering to a name like Medusa, definitely likes you. They may find you a bit over-the-top and annoying, yet they like you nevertheless.
