It's cute and all, but I was just wondering why cats do this.
2006-07-03 00:08:18 · 15 answers · asked by um_ericaann 2 in Pets ➔ Cats
I think it goes back to when they were kittens...they would do it to get more milk out of mom.
Unless you have my husband's theory...that they are fluffing the "pillow"! LOL
2006-07-03 00:11:48 · answer #1 · answered by Janelle M 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dear Friend of "The Little Ones," cats knead when they have been adopted or left to fend for themselves too soon, from their mother. Under the "Kingdom of Animals," I have resecued over l50 animals. People usually adopt their cats out at 5 weeks and this is too young to be separated from the bonding, nurturing, and loving of their mother. I always waited 3-5 months before adopting my kittens out and I must say they were more secure and felt safe. Those who were janked away from their mothers too soon started kneading, "trying to recapture what they missed most from their mothers." The same is also true for children.
Children who are separated too young or who are rejected by their mothers at birth (severe early childhood separation anxiety) are the children that are then most predisposed to addictions (seeking to recapture oral gratification that they missed) as well as later problems in intimacy. If you have a kitten or cat wanting to knead, allow it if possible, in order to help compensate for what they never received enough of. They are precious and are not aware that they have claws, so I lay a thick towel between me and the kneading. Let them knead...they are in need of love.
Bless you work in helping God's Little Ones. e-mail:kunndunn@Yahoo.com
2006-07-03 01:09:38 · answer #2 · answered by kunndunn 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
cats as kittens did this to the mama cats as a way to get the milk to come out. it is a comfort thing. They knead you cause you are technically their human mom and they find comfort in you.
2006-07-03 00:12:42 · answer #3 · answered by samkat1972 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's true..they knead mom to get more milk. It is a kitten reflex.
2006-07-03 00:50:02 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
they only knead the person they truly love as kneading only happends when kittens are drinking milk from their momies.
2006-07-03 00:57:54 · answer #5 · answered by Raven Hood® 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because they are comforted and relaxed, like when they were kittens. They feel content, its much like purring. Although the force thats used varies from cat to cat
2006-07-03 22:30:23 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its a kitten bahvior, which is carried on into adulthood in domestic cats beacuse of our relationship with them.
Kittens do it to stimulate their mother to give milk.
Adult cats seem to do it when they are happy and content.
2006-07-03 00:12:31 · answer #7 · answered by P. M 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is linked to their earliest memory of something pleasant: They did that when they were nursing on their mothers, to stimulate milk release. It has to be a hard-wired instinct, since they need it to survive even before their eyes are open.
2006-07-03 00:14:50 · answer #8 · answered by pondering_it_all 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cuz of when they were kittens they would knead mom to get milk.
either that or they think you are bread dough. lol
2006-07-03 00:46:58 · answer #9 · answered by koifishlady 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
to activate thier mothers milk glands when young in later life it is a comfort syndrome
2006-07-03 00:12:37 · answer #10 · answered by briskem1 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋