Cats are significantly more aloof than dogs, which makes it much trickier to communicate with them. However, scientists have found a simple yet effective technique to engaging with kitties. A team of psychologists, led by Dr. Tasmin Humphrey and Professor Karen McComb, who specialize in animal behavior at the University of Sussex, published their findings in Scientific Reports.
If you have cats, you may have picked up on this a while ago, but both Humphrey and McComb were looking for scientific confirmation. The secret to communicating with your feline friends? Slow blinking. McComb says to narrow your eyes at them as you would in a relaxed smile, and then close your eyes for a couple of seconds. “You’ll find they respond in the same way themselves and you can start a sort of conversation,” she says.
To reach this conclusion, the team carried out two experiments. In the first, the owners slow blinked at their pets following McComb’s advice. The researchers found cats were more likely to slow blink at their owners if their owners had slow blinked at them, compared to when the owner was present in the room but not delivering a slow blink stimulus.
The second experiment found that this also worked with cats you’re not acquainted with. For this part, the researchers tried slow blinking at cats or keeping a neutral expression. The psychologists found that cats were more likely to slow blink when a stranger slow blinked at them, than when the person had maintained a neutral expression. It was also more likely the cats would approach them if they had slow blinked.
“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.” McComb told the University of Portsmouth. “This study is the first to experimentally investigate the role of slow blinking in cat–human communication. And it is something you can try yourself with your own cat at home, or with cats you meet in the street. It’s a great way of enhancing the bond you have with cats.”
As for Humphrey, she hopes their findings could potentially be used to assess the welfare of cats in a variety of settings, including veterinary practices and shelters. “Understanding positive ways in which cats and humans interact can enhance public understanding of cats, improve feline welfare, and tell us more about the socio-cognitive abilities of this under-studied species.”
As to why this happens, Humphrey believes cats may have developed these behaviors because humans perceived slow blinking as positive, or as a way to interrupt an unbroken stare, which could be perceived as challenging. Either way, now you know what to do if you ever want to greet a cat and improve your chances of them not simply walking past you.
A team of psychologists, led by Dr. Tasmin Humphrey and Professor Karen McComb found a simple yet effective technique to engage with cats.
The key is slow blinking. For best results, narrow your eyes at them as you would in a relaxed smile, and then close your eyes for a couple of seconds.
“It’s something that many cat owners had already suspected, so it’s exciting to have found evidence for it,” says McComb.
Sources: Scientists Reveal a Simple Technique to Communicate With Your Cat; How to build rap-paw with your cat
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