Updated: August 11, 2022 by Kristen Chapple
Cats are known to be independent and self-sufficient, but they’re not as unaffectionate as some people might think, asking for affection and not giving anything back. If you have a cat, you can surely say that cats show affection. You might even swear that they’re your best friend.
Besides their crazy ways of spending the sometimes too much energy they have, cats are very caring, showing their affection towards us in many ways, from fluffing their tail around and meows to grooming their human friends.
While they’re not going to run around you all day long, with their tongues hanging out like a dog would do and waiving their tail like you’re the best thing that ever happened to them, they do have their – more subtle – ways of showing care and affection.
Let’s find out which are some of these ways cats show affection to us:
Hanging out around you
This is one of the most common ways cats show affection to you, whether it’s purring on your lap or just sitting close to you on the couch while you’re working on your laptop.
Most cats feel a connection with some people and they follow them all around the house, moving from room to room and sitting next to them because they love being with them.
Grooming
When the connection between two cats is strong, they groom each other, further improving that sense of community. But that is not happening only between cats, but as well with their human friends. Licking their owners is another way of cats showing affection. What happens there is that by licking, they leave a scent which will help them recognize their family and friends. So, if your cat is licking you, that means you’re BFF’s.
Language (Their language)
Another way cats show affection is through their means of communicating. Purring, chirping and meowing are some of the ways they do that. What it means is that they trust you and they feel reassured and secure around you.
Body language
The body language in a cat reveals quite a lot about the affection she shares for her human friends. One way she does that is through hitting you lightly with her head. That way she’s blending her smell with yours, a thing which has two roles, one of showing trust and the other one of proclaiming ownership. Both mean she cares about you.
Rubbing their cheeks on people is another sign that the cats show affection to them and has the same role as bopping their heads into them.
The tail of a cat is considered her emotional barometer. While most people can recognize some emotions cats express through their tails, there are some that are overlooked. When a cat touches somebody with her tail or twines it around their arms or legs, the cat expresses her affection and connection with that person.
Through their Eyes
Called cat kisses, the slow eye blinking with eyes half closed means that a cat is showing love and affection to her human friend. That’s how they convey relaxation, contentment and trust through their eyes.