I laughed when i read a headline about slow blinking and cat response. But a day later had a rare opportunity to try it on Miss Tish, a 2.5 yo barn baby i’ve had since she was five or six weeks. In that entire time, she’s been fearful and avoids contact as much as possible. She was fast asleep on my bed when I lay down next to her. She must have assumed i was her brother, because she was a bit startled when she opened her eyes. But I was already watching and did the slow blink thing.
SInce then, three weeks ago, she begs for petting at certain times of the day, allows me to hold her and pet her, and has even jumped onto my lap several times. It’s like all of a sudden she’s decided i’m ok. What a little silly she is.
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I’ve been doing the slow blink thing with a rescue, highly intelligent, terrified female we got several years ago. Now everyone has a stable relationship on varying levels, yet I am the one who ‘connects’ I’m also the only one who really tries on cat terms… I remember that the first few times I did that ‘slow blink, we are okay in the kitchen here together’ something clicked with her. I still use it, maybe I’m just saying ‘hey I’m really stupid here, but I think everything is okay’. It does seem to get through to them though!
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I have been using the slow blink thing on cats for awhile. It works on some, but this current pack of outside cats…not so much. I bliii…iii…nnnnkkk at them and think I love you and all I get is “bitch, what?” looks. back to the drawing board with them.
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Have been using this for many years to communicate with cats in their own language. Was taught this by a cat a long time ago. Yes, it works. I think it means “I trust you” because I don’t have to keep my eyes open watching you. Rather than just a blink, try a “squint”. That means, “I feel safe enough to sleep in your presence”. It is a universal cat language. I like to see the shocked look on their face when they realize that you are speaking their language!
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I have never done this but I find this interesting. Hansel the dumpee kitten who is now a cat blinks at me constantly. I don’t think any of my other cats have ever done this. He is also a turd to the other cats and tells me “he is the favorite cat”. So maybe he is trying to communicate his “favoriteness” to me.
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Snoooooort!
I learned “cat language” when I was quite young and have used it for so long and much that it’s just second nature to me now. You have to be careful with the squints and follow them up with a soothing voice, otherwise they may think the squint is a challenge. Sometimes when my cats squint at each other it’s a precursor to an attack or dive bomb. We don’t have ears or tails to show or back up the different meanings of certain eye movements.
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