You probably couldn’t miss all of the stories in the news a few weeks ago explaining that a study assures us that your cat won’t hold a grudge if you put her on a diet. What struck me about this story is that it clearly starts with the assumption that your cat is going to hold a grudge for this to begin with. That’s when I realized that a lot of people really don’t notice the other signs that their cats love them.
Cats know love other ways than food! Photo credit: depositphotos/peus
Maybe it’s easier for me because I live in a house with a cat with Ashton, who loves me and doesn’t love my husband. Not through any fault of his own! He feeds her, and she is happy to eat meals and even takes treats from his hand. But that’s the extent of their relationship. If he wants to touch her, she eyes him suspiciously and leaves.
So Ashton is a good example of how feeding a cat won’t make her love you. But there are other signs that are not related to food that show your cat is fond of you.
Ways Your Cat Shows She Loves You
1. Hanging Out
Not every cat feels the need to be all up in your business all the time. Some cats just like to hang out in the same room while you’re in there. If you walk into another room and sit down, after a few minutes, you’ll notice your cat may follow you in there, too.
Sometimes cats hang out in more convenient locations than others. Photo courtesy flickr creative commons/julia_manzerova
Some cats take this to the next level and like to get between you and whatever you are doing. (How many times have you tried to look through a cat head when you were trying to read email?) Other cats will cuddle against you or nap in your lap as they hang out with you because you’re someone they like.
2. Expressive Tails
Cats feeling happy to see you will approach with an upright tail posture as a gesture of greeting. An upright tail whose tip curves into the shape of a question mark is an invitation to interact and play.
An upright tail signals a cat ready to interact with you. Photo courtesy flickr creative commons/Ervins Strauhmanis
When your cat walks by you and wraps her tail around your leg, it’s a gesture of friendship like you wrapping your arm around another human. Who wouldn’t feel their heart warm to that camaraderie?
3. Rubbing
Cats have scent glands in their cheeks and foreheads that allow your cat to deposit pheromones on things when she rubs against them. When your cat rubs your legs with her cheeks, she is leaving a little bit of those pheromones on you to tell every other cat that might come along that this human is hers.
Cats show affection by rubbing against you. Photo credit: depositphotos/vvvita
Head butting – called bunting – also deposits pheromones on you to scent mark you. It is a friendly behavior, especially when your kitty bunts you on the face the way she would another cat.
4. Social Grooming
Cats who are related or just like each other will often groom each other. This behavior is known as allogrooming. Some cats will also socially groom their humans. If that happens, you may find that your cat is not as good a stylist as the one at your salon, but it is a gesture that shows your cat cares about you.
5. Verbal Communication
Cats mostly communicate with each other using body language, but they use verbal communication with humans, probably to get our attention. Cats will use different meows for different situations. For instance, the insistent meow when you are preparing a meal in the kitchen is very different from the meow your cat uses during a ride in the car to the vet!
Cats meow to communicate with humans. Photo courtesy flickr creative commons/miss_pupik
Your cat may have special meows and chirps that she uses only with her favored humans, too. Or kitty may only meow in certain everyday circumstances to get the attention of the people she likes and wants to get more attention from.
Can you think of other ways that your kitty shows you she loves you when it isn’t mealtime?
I do most of these, although not so much the meowing. I’m fairly quiet.
Oh we get all of those! Phoebe has a really fluffy tail so she like a waving banner!! Harvey comes and sits on my knee 🙂 I like that!
Hannah and Lucy love to stand in front of the computer screen when they want attention whether it be food, treats or scritches.
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx
Those are so so true. Lots of my cats show all those signs. Especially my feral cat who has moved into the house. I really feel like she just wanted to be with me . When I sit in the room with her, she is such a happy cat. They love the attention along with their food.
Mudpie does every one of those things…especially the meowing. She’s such a chatterbox!
We are so loving with our humans so they easily can tell if we’re hiding or something.
My Em ALWAYS walked around with her tail in a question mark.. Always.. it was so endearing.
There are certainly many ways kitties show us their love. Carmine loves to talk to me and so did Jewel. 🙂 His meows are definitely different when he wants me to feed him or if he wants a treat or if he just wants to chat.
Milita hangs out on my bed while I sleep. She also gives me hugs! She’s one of the very few cats I know who give hugs – it’s very sweet.
I guess my cats do love me, not that I doubted it.
Our humans wish we didn’t love them as much as we do. We display all these behaviors. Fiona, who was always been a very quiet kitty, has started talking almost constantly since being diagnosed with CKD. She is getting so much extra attention that she believes it should be nonstop. We really enjoyed reading this. Thanks. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty may, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
We do these too…we sure love our humans. 🙂
Our kitties do many of these things, but my personal favorite is when they make biscuits and purr. Rosie also likes to walk, back and forth, across the keyboard when I’m trying to work. I guess this falls under hanging out with me. LOL
I’M NOT A LAP CAT BUT I DO LOVE SITTING BY MOM WHEN SHE IS IN THE CHAIR OR BY OR FEET AT THE ‘PUTER
HUGS MADI YOUR BFFF
guys….ewe nailed it with number five…. thatz for sure !!!!!!! 🙂 🙂 ♥♥♥
round heer we all like ta snooze on R peepulz…we call it protectionz frum all de bad stuff goin on at any give minit ! 🙂
Yep, we do all of those! We especially love to accompany our mom when she goes into the bathroom.
That was fun and I think we have everything covered here!
I’m sure you know I’m going to say this but I bite my humans to show I care. I don’t rub on their legs (unlesss my supper is VERY late), I bite their ankles to leave my scent.
Ivan always bunts my mom. He’ll also try to pet her if he’s on the refrigerator and she walks by. Elliott has a special tone he uses when they interact. Izzy is the tripper–I mean he likes to rub against her legs, even while she’s trying to walk. Caroline talk-talk-talks and I like to lie next to her on the couch.
Very interesting post. I think Raven likes us!
When Trouble is happy to see us, he runs toward us with his tail straight up and twitching.. then right when he gets to us, he spins around, lowers his front end and sticks his bum up in the air. I call it his “elevator butt”. 🙂
Cinco and Manna have a lot of ways that they express love for my husband and me! They love to hang around with us (sometimes on us). Both of them have their tails in the air most of the time. I love it when they give me happy paws! 🙂
Hanging out, happy tail and vocal communication = Pixie
Hanging out, happy tail, rubbing and social grooming = Zorro