Dr. Sarah Wooten, a small animal veterinarian, shared a list of 7 signs that a cat loves you<\/a> with Cats.com<\/em>, and it might make cat owners feel better about their feline friendships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When a cat sits across from you and stares at you with sleepy-looking eyes, blinking slowly, it might seem like they\u2019re bored or tired. But those slow blinks are actually how they communicate peace and connection. \u201cIf you\u2019re seeing that with your cat, they love you,\u201d says Dr. Wooten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of our cats loves to sit in our laps, but only with her head facing away from us, which feels a bit impersonal. We\u2019ll take it, though, since sitting in our laps is apparently a sign of love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot all cats love a large amount of body contact, petting, and things like that with humans,\u201d says Dr. Wooten. \u201cRemember every cat is individual\u2026but if your cat is a touchy-feely cat and loves to be touched by humans, then sitting in your lap for an extended period of time is definitely a sign that your cat loves and trusts you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019ve never had a cat bring you a dead mouse or the head of a bird or some other disgusting offering, consider yourself lucky. However, if you have, you should also consider yourself lucky, as it means your cat loves you. \u201cEven though to us humans it seems pretty unsavory, to your cat it is a sign of love and dedication,\u201d says Wooten. Of course, it\u2019s not always dead animals\u2014sometimes cats might bring you inanimate objects they\u2019ve collected (which makes you doubly lucky).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rhythmic kneading cats do on blankets, pillows, or their humans is a behavior that mimics what they did while nursing as kittens. \u201cIt\u2019s just a leftover instinctual thing that they do when they feel super happy and super connected,\u201d says Wooten. \u201cSo if your cat makes biscuits when they\u2019re near you, that is a sign of love and connection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This one might seem like a no-brainer, but purring doesn\u2019t always mean affection. Cats purr for many reasons, including happiness or contentment, but also for pain or sickness<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut if your cat\u2019s just hanging out at home and they\u2019re near you, and suddenly you hear the motor go on, that\u2019s a pretty good sign that they love you,\u201d says Wooten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If a cat comes up and rubs its face or body on you, that\u2019s a sign of love and connection. It\u2019s called bunting, and essentially, it\u2019s how the cat marks you as \u201ctheirs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCats have scent markers in their paws, they have them on their face\u2026and they also have them on the base of their tail,\u201d says Wooten. \u201cSo what cats will often do is they will rub their paws or their face or their tail on the people that they love and consider to be their property.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Much like slow blinking, yawning, and stretching may easily be mistaken for sleepiness, but there\u2019s often more to it than that. It\u2019s a sign that they are comfy around you. \u201cEspecially if they\u2019re sleeping, if they see you [and] suddenly they get up, maybe they meow at you and then they yawn and they stretch, they get everything all good and feeling good, and then they come hang out with you, it\u2019s a sign of love,\u201d says Wooten. \u201cThat\u2019s a sign that they\u2019re very comfortable and that they\u2019re very happy to see you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n1. Slow Blinking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Lap Sitting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n3. Present Dropping<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Kneading Biscuits<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n5. Purring<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. Rubbing or \u201cBunting\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
7. Yawning and Stretching<\/h3>\n\n\n\n