This Is How Your Cat Understands You Best: Researchers Reveal the Secret

A simple gesture is enough for your cat to understand you. Do you know which one? Researchers have now proven that it works.

Who wouldn’t love to communicate more smoothly with their pets? Many of us often wonder how to make our cats understand that we mean well—especially when trying to give them medicine. The stress of travel in a carrier could also be reduced if our pets understood us better. And how much easier it would be to explain why the expensive scratching post is a better option than the side of the couch! But of course, they ignore it completely. Unfortunately, researchers didn’t find solutions to these specific problems, but they did discover a way to improve communication with our feline companions.

Breaking Communication Barriers Between Cats and Their Owners to Understand Each Other Well

Scientists recently published their findings in Nature magazine. Their research aimed to determine how cats best understand humans. Their conclusion?

We might just not be speaking their language.

The study revealed that a simple trick can significantly improve our communication with cats: smiling at them. But not in a human way—using our facial muscles—instead, by slowly narrowing our eyes and blinking at them.

“As someone who has both studied animal behavior and is a cat owner, it’s great to be able to show that cats and humans can communicate in this way. It’s something that many cat owners had already suspected, so it’s exciting to have found evidence for it,” said Karen McComb, a psychologist from the University of Sussex.

Two Experiments Confirmed the Findings

Psychologists conducted two separate experiments to prove their hypothesis.

First Experiment:

• They observed 21 cats from 14 different households.
• Owners sat about a meter away from their cats and slowly blinked when the cat looked at them.
• Cameras recorded both the owners’ and cats’ facial expressions.
• The results were compared to a control situation where the cats received no response.
• The study confirmed that cats were more likely to blink slowly back at their owners if the owners did so first.

Second Experiment:

• Researchers tested the same method with 24 cats and their eight owners.
• They attempted to establish a connection by slow blinking.
• In a control group, researchers maintained eye contact without blinking.
• Results showed that not only did the cats blink back more often, but they were also more likely to approach a human’s hand after the blinking interaction.