How does your cat show her/his love for you?

[Anne]

New cat owners often ask about the signs that show that your cat loves you. Headbutting, rubbing against your ankles, meowing when they see you, purring when you pet them... and so on. I asked our team members this question and they came up with some really awesome answers so I thought I'd ask all of our members. What are the telltale secret signs by which a cat expresses affection, trust and love? How does your cat show you that he/she loves you?  

 

[lovefive]

Martha makes me happy by,
1,coming up to me for fuss.
2,purring on my bed.
3, eating all her food up.
4, playing with her toys ,
And above by putting trust in me by letting me have her in my life.

 

[Columbine]

Asha:- Runs towards me chirping like crazy when I get home :heart3: ; cries outside the bathroom door because she wants to be with me everywhere; falling into a deep sleep in your lap (trust); staying extra close to me when I'm sick/upset/freaking out etc.

Shadow - 'grooming' me; head butting me in the face when I pick him up for a cuddle (means so much more to me than just head butting my hand!); coming for lap-snuggles even though my lap isn't being enough for him :heart3:

 

[losna]

Sinbad makes a happy little series of sounds when he sees me looking at him, and comes running to me to rub around my ankles. If I walk by him when he's sprawling on the floor, he will reach out for me with his front paws, hug me and lick my hand if I reach down to him. One of his most heart warming things to do is if I pet him when he's asleep, he rolls over on his back for belly rubs, then grabs my hand with all 4 paws, hugs tight and shoves his face against my palm, all without waking up. And let me not forget his rocket engine super loud purrs when I pick him up and cuddle him. He also wants to be near me all the time, and follows me around the house to nap wherever I happen to be, and jumps up to sit with me and snuggle when I sit down. I could keep going. He does a million little things, so often and devotedly that the vet has commented on how unusually strong his bond with me is.

Tempest is much less demonstrative, and her favorite person is my husband. But she still lets me know she loves me by jumping up with an excited series of chirps when she realizes I'm coming to pet her, and flopping onto her back for belly rubs. Oh, and if I lie down near her, she will rub her head all over my head, and then start chewing and licking my hair before settling down to nap. 

 

[StefanZ]

 
Sinbad makes a happy little series of sounds when he sees me looking at him, and comes running to me to rub around my ankles. If I walk by him when he's sprawling on the floor, he will reach out for me with his front paws, hug me and lick my hand if I reach down to him. One of his most heart warming things to do is if I pet him when he's asleep, he rolls over on his back for belly rubs, then grabs my hand with all 4 paws, hugs tight and shoves his face against my palm, all without waking up. And let me not forget his rocket engine super loud purrs when I pick him up and cuddle him. He also wants to be near me all the time, and follows me around the house to nap wherever I happen to be, and jumps up to sit with me and snuggle when I sit down. I could keep going. He does a million little things, so often and devotedly that the vet has commented on how unusually strong his bond with me is.

Tempest is much less demonstrative, and her favorite person is my husband. But she still lets me know she loves me by jumping up with an excited series of chirps when she realizes I'm coming to pet her, and flopping onto her back for belly rubs. Oh, and if I lie down near her, she will rub her head all over my head, and then start chewing and licking my hair before settling down to nap. 

Yes, its interesting although they are supposed to have a favorite, but in practice they give love to all family members, and to everyone in partly different fashion and different small tricks.

 

[foxxycat]

They show me love by purring, licking my hand or nipping. Honeybee sleeps right ontop of me. Floey next to me and pumpkin face next to me. Floey follows me around the yard and house., she lays down near wherever I am. Honeybee comes and visits me often but takes off to do her own thing. Pumpkin face is independent and likes to do her own thing but she is the most slobbery of the 3. she drools on me when I pet her. rubs her face against my face. she licks too. She leaves lots of hair on my face. For a short hair cat she sheds more than the other 2. Honeybee always has a Q shape curly Q to her tail as she walks towards me. She almost always has her flag straight up unless someone or something spooks her.  And they all blink at me. I blink first and they follow. They also meow when I meow at them.

 

[stephanietx]

Hannah-grooms me, gives me big head butts, chirps when I come into the room, follows me to the bathroom, snuggles up on my chest, kneads on me, purrs when I talk to her, sleeps at my feet, cries in the middle of the hallway if she can't find me or my husband.

Tumbles-cries and howls when I leave or go to another room and he thinks I'm gone, brings me his mousies and toys as a "prize" or gift, follows me around, likes to be in the same room I am, supurrvises my chores, gives big head butts and quiet purrs when petted, howls for attention when he wants to be loved on, and waits to play with the mousie toys in the hallway.

Daisy--waits for me in the window at the end of the day (that might be because the food source has arrived! LOL), gives big head butts, rubs her body on my legs, and stands between my legs when I'm working in the kitchen, enjoys being in the same room with me (this hasn't always been the case), and loves to snuggle, purr, and knead up on my chest for snuggle time.

Emmie--Flops over and shows her belly, follows me around, snuggles up on my chest, purrs, purrs, purrs!, has to be all up in my business ALL.  THE. TIME!, sleeps with me at night, follows me to the bathroom and lays on the floor between my feet, chirps when spoken to, cries when she can't find me.

Mew (the neighbor's outside cat that lives in our yard)--greets us with talking, comes out of his sleeping spot when we're outside working, brings us gifts of mice, birds, and squirrels (he's our garden protector), gives head butts, purrs, flops over and asks for belly rubs, rubs on us.

 

[DreamerRose]

Mingo is a shy cat and isn't very demonstrative, but this morning he brought me a dead mouse and stayed patiently nearby until I found it. When I did, he was so proud of himself. I praised him and he rolled over, purring and chirping and giving the mouse a poke. Cats bring gifts like this, but I do encourage it as I once had a terrible mouse problem which Mingo has taken care of. He was so pleased this morning and happy that I was happy.

He will also flop down at the door when I get ready to leave - if I gather my purse, get out my keys and walk for the door, he's there in an instant to keep me from going out. That's as good as head butts.

 

[plan]

Buddy shows his love by:

1) Sleeping literally on top of me, or burrowing into my side. No matter what, he likes to be in physical contact while sleeping. There have been times when I've woken up to find his paws wrapped around my arm like I'm a stuffed animal lol.

2) Literally parking himself by the front door when I leave the house, and staying there until I come back. I've had people over and when I've run out quickly, like to grab something from the store, they've told me Bud stays by the door the whole time instead of just hearing me approaching and coming to the door.

3) Bringing his toys to me and meowing when he wants to play.

4) Sometimes I wake up and he's sitting there on the bed, a few inches from my face, staring at me. Or sometimes during the night he'll pad up to me and rub his head against my face.

5) When I came home from my most recent vacation, he spent about two hours rubbing against my legs and making sure I wasn't going anywhere. When I came home from my first long vacation since I got him, in 2014, he literally threw up from excitement when I got home.

6) He follows me everywhere. All the time.

7) He grooms me.

8) He can tell when I'm upset and he cuddles up with me.

9) Slow eye blinks. For real. What they say about that is true. Exchanging blinks is fun.

10) He panics when there's any barrier or closed door between us. He tries to run into the bathroom before I close the door. If I'm in the bathroom without him, he meows on the other side of the door, and I can see his little paws under the door.

 

[banana queen]

Greeting me by running up to me meowing when I come home.
Sleeping on me.
Meowing outside the bathroom door and putting their paws under the door.
Jumping onto me and nudging me with noses until I give them attention
Slow blinking
Rolling onto their back for a tummy rub when I approach.
Sitting on my lap and kneading with their claws
Rubbing their heads on me

 

[sirentist]

My cat Isabel is not the kind of kitty you can really snuggle or pick up, or even pet too much without her getting overwhelmed, so her love messages are on the more subtle side:

- flopping on the floor and flipping back and forth, showing her belly, stretching, all the while making sure that I'm seeing her/talking to her
- slow blinks, for sure! -- often after a few exchanges of blinks she'll come over to me and let me give her a few pets
- trotting towards me with her tail straight up like a car antenna
- sitting near me on the couch, purring if I talk to her (sometimes she'll allow a few strokes before getting fed up and relocating out of reach)
- sometimes, if I'm sitting on the couch and I let my hand hang down, she'll come by and give it a sniff and the very slightest of head butts (must hold hand still and NOT give in to the temptation to try and pet her)
- very occasionally, she'll give very soft head butts to my calf if I'm sitting down (however, if I reach down to pet her it's all over, lol)
- often, if I'm sitting down, she'll come park herself on the floor between my feet, behind them if there's enough room, or under the coffee table right near my feet
- if I'm working on a project at the table, she'll often come deposit herself in the middle of it, or just to one side -- not sure if this is a love thing or just a curiosity thing

Most of her love messages seem to be proximity-based. Like, I know she likes to be near me, even though she doesn't want me touching her. They're also somewhat location-based: she really seems to accept (or even initiate) the most contact when I'm sitting on the couch. Oh, and whenever I use the downstairs bathroom, she likes to follow me in and meander around while I'm peeing. She only does this in the downstairs bathroom, though. Weirdo.

Our biggest love thing recently was she actually weathered a thunderstorm under my knees as I perched precariously on the edge of the couch. Usually she would go hide deep in a closet or some other place that after eleven years I STILL don't know about, but this time she meatloafed under my knees. As long as no part of me was touching any part of her (hence the precarious perching), she stayed there. I got completely sappy over actually being her safe spot! So much so that of course once the storm had passed, I ruined it all by making a big deal of it and trying to turn her into a lap cat. Sigh.

I've had cats all my life and I'm used to kitties who lean in for head scrubs, relax (instead of tense) at being stroked, and like to drape along your chest as you sleep, so learning Isabel's language of love has been a long and ongoing process. Her affectionate moments are small and short-lived, but boy do I treasure them!

 

[pharber-murphy]

Cats have so many ways to express "love". My favorite is seeing their little tails go up in the air like a flag waving hello whenever I walk through the door. I know they're thrilled to see me, and I'm thrilled to see them.

 

[hpizzle]

I'm starting to feel like my cat doesn't love me =(! He doesn't do any of these things! He mayyyy slow blink, but I feel like that's just him being tired. He also sits outside the bathroom door when I'm in there, meows all morning to get into my room, and also sleeps on my bed next to me which is super adorbale.

 

[caitini]

Fuzzy sits on my lap. For him, this is a really big deal. He was one of the rescue's "problem cats" who couldn't get adopted because he was so shy. It took ages for him to even let me pet him. He still hides if anyone else comes over. But now he loves to sit on my lap, and I know it's because he loves and trusts me and knows he's safe with me.

Pierre smooshes his face all over me. I only have to stick my hand out and he's there spreading his face pheromones all over it!

 

[margd]

They both show their love by head butts and kneading me.  Chula also does something I've never had a cat do before.  When I'm petting her, she tips her head back and gazes into my eyes with such love it almost takes my breath away.    Of course, I have to smother her with kisses when she does it.  Then I have to do the same to Paul so he won't feel left out! 

 

[feralsrule]

Mith loves headbutting me, he's a massive tom so his bumps pack a punch (and feel like one).

Cheddar is more dog-like. He'll follow me around, start meowing loudly if he hears my voice and touch my nose with his. I think he's a dog trapped in a cat's body 

 

Neither of them kneads though

 

[sirentist]

Now that I'm paying more attention I just noticed another tiny love signal: when Isabel is half-snoozing (usually in prawn position), if I sweet-talk to her she'll sometimes make a little "mrrr" and curl and uncurl her front paws. Just once. Or sometimes she'll hug her front paws around her back legs and pull her shins in against her nose, with a bit of trembly toe-stretching and maybe a little sound.

 

[caitini]

He also kneads, which I love. Pierre doesn't though.

 

[StefanZ]

Now that I'm paying more attention I just noticed another tiny love signal: when Isabel is half-snoozing (usually in prawn position), if I sweet-talk to her she'll sometimes make a little "mrrr" and curl and uncurl her front paws. Just once. Or sometimes she'll hug her front paws around her back legs and pull her shins in against her nose, with a bit of trembly toe-stretching and maybe a little sound.

Yes, mine do too this curl uncurl, when laying comfortably half asleep.

 

[jellycatfish]

Happy comes running to me everytime I come home (even if he was in deep sleep - he looks a bit drunk when he comes to me, which makes me laugh so much!) And quite often starts to purr loudly just when he watch my boyfriend and me from his window spot and his scratching post.
Often when I wake up at night he is sleeping on my pillow, at the spot on top of my head.
He pets my face with his paws when I fall asleep next to him and he wants me to wake up.
In the morning, if he sleeps on his cat tree he comes down to see me as soon as he hears my alarm - a little wet nose on mine is such a great way to start my day!