You can communicate with your cat by ‘blinking’ slowly; Study reveals!

It’s a common misconception that cats are more independent and aloof than other types of pets. You might not think you need to concentrate on fostering a better bond with your cat as a result. A recent study suggests that you may strengthen your relationship with your cat by just blinking gently and focusing on it.

According to a recent study published in the journal Scientific Reports titled The ‘role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat-human communication,’ you can give a cat the equivalent of a smile by narrowing your eyes, which, according to the study’s authors, makes the owner more appealing to their pet.

‘It’s clearly not simple to research real cat behaviour so our results give a unique view into the world of cat-human communication,’ Dr. Leanne Proops, Associate Head at the Department of Psychology at the University of Portsmouth, stated in a release. She was also a part of the study’s co-supervision.

To learn more about the slow blink’s function in cat-human communication, two experiments were conducted. 21 cats from 14 different households participated in the first experiment. The first had 14 different owners. There were 10 male and 11 female cats, ranging in age from 0.45 to 16 years. Each cat’s residence served as the testing location. The psychologist gave the cat’s owner advice on how to slow down his blinking. After the cat had chosen a spot, the psychologist asked the owner to sit one metre away from the cat.

Cameras were used to record the owner and the cat’s expressions, and the findings were compared to how cats blink in the absence of human contact. The results show that cats are more likely to slow-blink at their people after their humans have previously done so when they are in a no-interaction environment. 24 cats from eight different homes were used in the second trial. Instead of the owners blinking this time, the researchers who hadn’t previously interacted with the cat did. When people simply stared at the cats without batting an eye, the cats were observed reacting.

The study’s first author, Dr. Tasmin Humphrey, stated in a statement: ‘One’theory for the reason cats act in this way is that they picked up the slow blinking habits from humans who valued it. Cats may have discovered that people reward them when they react to slow blinking. It’s also likely that delayed blinking in cats developed as a mechanism to break up an uninterrupted look, which may be dangerous during social interactions.’