Your cat may be friendlier than you think: Researchers uncover a subtle way to bond

Cats are often assumed to be one of the most independent pets you can have. Unlike dogs, who love to take up all your space, cats seem perfectly content doing their own thing—lounging in sunbeams, silently observing the world, or disappearing for hours at a time.Because of this trait of theirs, many people struggle to figure out how to bond with them.A fascinating study published in Scientific Reports in 2020 suggests there's a surprisingly simple way to talk to your cat: slow-blinking.This isn’t the kind of smile humans use—baring your teeth won’t help. Instead, researchers found that narrowing your eyes and blinking slowly, just like cats do when they’re calm and content, sends a message of friendliness. In the feline world, it’s the equivalent of a smile.“If you’ve ever noticed your cat sitting with partially closed eyes and blinking slowly, they’re actually smiling at you,” explained Karen McComb, a psychologist at the University of Sussex and lead author of the study. “It’s something many cat owners have suspected, and now we’ve got scientific evidence to support it.”To test this idea, researchers conducted two experiments.The interactions were recorded and compared to a control scenario where the cats were simply observed without any human blinking. The results? The cats were significantly more likely to blink back after their humans slow-blinked at them.The second experiment used 24 cats from eight households, but this time the blinking was done by researchers who had no prior relationship with the cats. The researchers either slow-blinked or stared without blinking, and in some cases extended a hand toward the cat. The cats not only blinked back more frequently after being slow-blinked but also were more likely to approach the extended hand—suggesting the technique helps foster trust even between unfamiliar cats and humans.“Try narrowing your eyes at them as you would in a relaxed smile, followed by closing your eyes for a couple of seconds,” McComb advised. “You’ll find they respond in the same way themselves, and you can start a sort of conversation.”While dogs are often hailed for their affectionate nature, cat lovers already know their pets are far more emotionally intelligent than they get credit for. Recent studies have shown cats can:Recognize their own names (even if they ignore them),Pick up on human emotions,Mirror their owners’ personality traits,And form deep bonds with the people they live with.In fact, if you think cats are standoffish, it might be because you’re giving off the wrong signals.