Question for kitten & cat owners: if they are cuddle bugs do they sense if you...

[electric_blue68]

are really stressed, and come over to comfort you?

I know a lot of dogs do that.
Never heard that about kittens, or cats. Any exceptions to a possible rule? Tia.

[Stargazer99]

1. Yes, some do! My grandson being disapointed threw himself on the bed and cried

and his kitty jumped up on the bed and put its head on my grandson's crying face and comforted him

[electric_blue68]

11. So sweet. Ty

[rampartd]

2. yes, an old cat who has decided that you belong to her is very thoughtful

young cats, not so much

by about 15 years (solar time, not "feline years&quot the brighter cats can understand most of what you are talking about and can communicate their own needs fairly well. much better than humans that age.

[electric_blue68]

12. Sounds lovely. Ty

[Easterncedar]

3. Yes yes yes

My cats were all very sensitive to my moods - and health, too. I had one sweet girl stand vigil when I was sick.

[electric_blue68]

13. Aw, guardian cat. Ty

[applegrove]

4. Mine tend to cuddle on their schedule. Though if i take a nap or are sick in bed

my current cat will get excited with bedtime in the middle of the day. Though I just as easily get ignored. He cuddles on me often when I sit up on the couch. He lies on me often when I am lying down.

[electric_blue68]

14. Cuddling on the couch sounds so Comfy. Ty

[Easterncedar]

21. It's hard to be really down with a cat in your lap!

My two male cats were humorous and gregarious to different degrees, while their sisters (I had sibling pairs) were more bonded to me especially and more shy with strangers, but all very communicative.

[SupportSanity]

35. Reading this right now with a cat in my lap.

Cats can be really empathetic and soothe the owner.

Sensing your need:

Sometimes they will cuddle up and purr into your neck.

Or they can start "kneading bread" on you which can be very comforting (as it is for them too).

Or lying down, they can curl up on your stomach and purr.

I have a picture somewhere of a cat that is used in a vet's office. After surgeries, the cat curls up next to each recovering animal.

But as I am right now, a cat in the lap is pretty good too!

[electric_blue68]

52. Sounds so comforting. Ty

[SupportSanity]

54. A cat on the lap is very comforting and so is

sleeping with a cat on your chest purring just about in my face.

This one loves both lap and chest. She's very small so not a bother.

She's extremely cute and extremely sweet.

Unfortunately, she's also extrememely sick with congestion and going to the vet today.

[electric_blue68]

55. A small fur bud purring on the chest sounds comfy, too. I hope she'll be better soon with treatment from the vet!

Last edited Thu Jan 23, 2025, 04:54 PM - Edit history (1)

[SupportSanity]

62. Thanks. I'll post with the news. nt

[electric_blue68]

63. Big Good Luck!

[hlthe2b]

5. There is a Youtube video that has been posted here a couple of times of an adult cat comforting a crying toddler...

I can't search for it, right now, but it makes a compelling case, that yes, they do this (or at least some do).

[electric_blue68]

15. I'll google that. Ty

[electric_blue68]

22. I just found a few. So sweet. 👍 Ty

[wnylib]

6. Yes. Definitely. Cats are very attuned to their humans' behavior and moods.

My current cat, Ember, loves ambush games. She used to hide in her tunnel and rush out to ambush my legs when I walked past, batting them a couple times with her paws before diving back into her tunnel.

One day I was wearing capris and loafers with no socks. Her claws caught on an ankle vein. It bled pretty heavily down into my shoe. Ember stopped in her tracks and stared at the blood.

I cleaned up in the bathroom. Ember stood in the doorway watching, eyes wide. It took a lot of paper towels and pressure to stop the bleeding. Then I cleaned it with antiseptic and bandaged it. Ember watched the whole process. She sniffed the bandage, rubbed against the other leg, and gave me eye blinks. Eye blinks in cat language are code for indicating friendship and affection. In settings like that one, the blinks are like an apology. "Still friends?" I blinked back at her.

I went to the living room to watch a movie. Ember went back inside her tunnel. An hour later, I passed by the tunnel on the way to the kitchen for a snack. Ember dashed out of the tunnel as usual. But then she stopord abruptly and gently tapped the leg that was not bandaged instead of doing her usual ambush routine.

She has never ambushed my legs again. That was 5 years ago. She still ambushes toys. She does mock ambushes of my legs, always stopping before actually touching them. She discovered that she could hurt me so she avoids doing it.

Previous cat, a male ginger named Leo. A real snuggle bug. Always curled up close to my chest and abdomen when I sat on the couch or lay down to sleep. After I had abdominal surgery, he sniffed my abdomen before snuggling, so I lifted my shirt. He looked at the bandage and locked eyes with mine, in a soulful, sympathetic look. Then he snuggled near my face and carefully avoided the abdominal area whenever he was close to me.

They know. They care. And they show it.

[electric_blue68]

16. Ty. Such interesting stories in how Ember, and Leo reacted...

and your responses. Obviously not the events that made them act that way afterwards.

Fascinating how Ember stopped, then tapped your other leg that post accident time. And now mock ambush instead.

Smart, and caring furbuds.

Those blinks are the "slow blinks", right?

[wnylib]

34. Yes, they are slow blinks.

I got Ember from a coworker when she was 9 weeks old. The coworker's household was chaotic with unsupervised grandkids roughing up the pets, a lot of noise and arguing. Ember's older half brother had attacked her once. So she was hyper defensive and cautious when I got her. Took time for her to accept being petted. She perceived everyone as a potential threat.

I came across a video about using eye blinks to communicate friendliness and to calm down anxious cats. Ember caught on quickly. She started blinking back at me. It became our truce signal and then a sign of affection.

She's pretty clever, one of the smarter cats that I've had. Understands a lot of words and hand gestures. And she has a strong aversion to violence, maybe from her early life experience. When I was watching a video of the great cats of Africa, she was totally fascinated until it showed a hunt and kill scene. She ran behind the couch.

When I watched Forest Gump and it got to a scene where a boyfriend knocked his girlfriend down, Ember ran to the screen and gently patted the girl.

She's a pacifist, empathetic kitty. A bleeding heart liberal.

[electric_blue68]

36. Sounds like you did her Ember a good deed; and had the patience to help her become more at ease

I had read that the slow blocks from a cat were a way of feeling of comfortable Ness, and trust of a human.

Wow, seeing on TV the Big Cats do a kill, and Ember runing and hiding.
Oh, her petting the injured TV girl friend. Thst amazing.

Ty for sharing fascinating experiences.

[C0RI0LANUS]

7. Hi electric blue68-- super affirmative. And the purring is a calming sensation.

Exceptions might be maladjusted cats who didn't socialize with other kittens or humans when they were young.

[electric_blue68]

17. Ty.

[mgardener]

8. Oh, they do.

They really do.

[electric_blue68]

18. Ty.

[Think. Again.]

9. Sure they do, why wouldn't they?

Caring for loved ones is a natural instinct in phsycologically healthy animals.

[electric_blue68]

19. It's just something I hadn't heard much about compared to dogs. Ty

[TommyT139]

28. We fortunate feline friends keep it secret...

We don't want to make the dog people envious!

Mine (another oldster) is very attuned. And when my partner had surgery, after the first time (ouch!) he knew to wait a few weeks until lying on the previously bandaged body part.

Of course, if a cat has had any vet treatment, they probably can smell the alcohol or whatever when their hooman has been to the people vet. Thus the sympathy.

[coprolite]

10. We had cats when I was a child

When I cried the cats would lick the tears from my face.

Maybe it was just a salt deficiency?

[electric_blue68]

20. Interesting. As a kid you probably wouldn't know such things as whether they had a proper diet. Do you rem if it made...

you feel better? Ty

[coprolite]

38. It did make me feel better.

[Niagara]

23. Yes.

They also know when you're not feeling well.


They pick up on behavior, scent and body language.


They can smell hormonal fluctuations too. A felines sense of smell is highly developed.

😸

[electric_blue68]

24. Oh, interesting! Ty.

[Dorothy V]

25. Of course they do! When my husband passed away, my little cat Trudy the Wart started sticking to me like glue, and

still does. If I sit she is in my lap and when I am up she follows me like a puppy. She too grieves, so I comfort her as she comforts me. Trudy is two years old and earned the moniker "the Wart", but is also so sweet and loving!
Cats, like people, grieve each in their own ways. Our other cat Pesky, had little to do with me at first, she wanted to be alone, but lately she has been getting in my lap too.
Cats are pure love and the love of a cat (or Any pet), is a Gift!

[bamagal62]

26. Yes, definitely!

[snot]

27. I know it's happened to other owners.

Unfortunately, my cat – a stray who seemed rather traumatized – never really warmed up to cuddling at all. I'm still unsure whether I should have been more pushy about it – I felt hesitant about ignoring what seemed to be his wishes.

[GreenWave]

29. I am Daddy Tiger.

I watched David Attenborough explain how Daddy Tiger treats the offspring. So now one awaits her tummy rubs from Daddy. Her sister climbs a cat tower to get in a lick or two on her "pa", But that's it. (It keeps them coming back!)

I do the 5 Tibetans so I shouldn't stress.

[Sequoia]

30. My smallest cat did that

When I was watching the fires in S California last week where I once lived near the PCH, and she looked at me and hopped on my lap.

[electric_blue68]

32. Awww, your little furbud. 🥰 How horrific in general, but to see a place you lived in so destroyed!...

Just magnifies the devastation of it! So sorry. {hug}

I worked 9/80 - 8/81 on the 73rd flr of South Tower 2 of the World Trade Center. The views were incredible!
I also spent time (still do but not since covid will go this later Spring finally) at World Financial Cntr/Brookfield Pl outdoor Plaza and the long esplanade going southward right by The Hudson River that meets up with southern tip and park area of Manhattan. Wonderful urban green space!
You could see the 2 towers along the way looking north east, as you can see the rebuilt one.

So eventually I went to see the destruction, and woah! Over time I visited, and watched the area restored.

Anyway, I hope if you had people you liked there, they will eventually recover, rebuild.

[electric_blue68]

33. Re your name....

I didn't realize till last year that The
Redwoods and The Sequoias were not the same species of tree! Duh! 😄
For a tree lover like me, that was kind of pathetic!

Anyway, just double checked because I thought I'd seen it, on one of my more recent visits...
Our Brooklyn Botanical Garden has a 🥰 Giant Sequioa! However the soil, and particularly the foggish, misty conditions they have that nourish them (maybe our winter cold, too) are not present here. So it will never grow that big!
Color me...disappointed.

[Sequoia]

42. If you're able to travel

Yosemite National Park and Sequoia National Park have the Sequoia trees. You are just a squirrel in comparison since they are beyond huge. (Also, Sequoia is the Cherokee man who wrote their alphabet after their distinctive language. This was before the terrible Trail of Tears brought on by Andrew Jackson.)

[electric_blue68]

43. Ty. I know of those parks. I doubt I'll have kind of money to get there....

I've seen the photos. 👍🩷
Glorious! Majestic!

Ahh, I know about the Cherokee getting their alphabet, not his name.

[electric_blue68]

44. dbl post

[Dale in Laurel MD]

31. Yes, most of mine have.

Only two now, but used to be if I was sick in bed I'd pretty much have a blanket of cats on and banked up around me. (We got up to 11 at one point.) Status was interesting: highest status cats would be on top of me, with highest ranking at the top end and lowest at my feet, then the others would push up next to me on either side, again highest status nearest my head.

[electric_blue68]

39. Awww. A loving, and living blankie. Status of cats' locations 😄 ty

[oberle]

37. Ouch

I had a pretty serious operation on my foot to amputate my big toe. I spent lots of time in bed, some of it feeling sorry for myself. One of my cats liked to lie on my foot. She knew which part needed the laying on of fur.

[electric_blue68]

40. Woah! Sorry to hear. Cats, though, are magicky!

[ailsagirl]

41. Mine definitely sense when I am sad. n/t

[ProfessorGAC]

45. Some Do

Over 45 years we've had many cats. Some were much more as you describe than others.
The 2 kittens we have now are really cuddles, so I think we might see that. Just hasn't come up yet.

[electric_blue68]

47. Well, its good that necessity hadn't come up. Ty.

[Clouds Passing]

46. My cat does.

[electric_blue68]

48. How sweet is that. Ty

[Clouds Passing]

49. He's on my lap under the blanket purring up a storm.

[electric_blue68]

50. Awwww. 🩷

[soldierant]

51. Depends on the cat and the bond - but , yes, some do. Definitely.

Some even do it for dogs.

[soldierant]

53. Depends on the cat and the bond, bu yes, absolutely.

Some will extend the courtesy to dogs.

[sakabatou]

56. Yes, some do

[electric_blue68]

57. Ty

[sakabatou]

58. *looks at my cat* Unfortunately, some are attention seekers.

[electric_blue68]

59. Heh, well, that's Not always a bad thing, is it?

[sakabatou]

60. I mean, she does have her own local fan club

[electric_blue68]

61. 👍😄