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You are here: Home / Diary / Scientists Finally Figure Out Cats Respond to Slow Blinking (Plus Tips)

Scientists Finally Figure Out Cats Respond to Slow Blinking (Plus Tips)

October 9, 2020 By: Summer Samba28 Comments

Summer reveals that researchers have verified that slow blinking is a warm cat greeting - and offers some additional slow blink tips.

File this under “Things That Make You Go Duh!” — scientists have finally come to the conclusion that the “slow blink” is a form of cat communication. As if any of you reading this didn’t know before — and haven’t been doing it for years. In fact, my human has known about it for a couple of decades.

Of course, it didn’t occur to the scientific community to look into this until recently. It was a team of psychologists from the Universities of Portsmouth and Sussex that put together the study. They published the results in nature.com’s scientific reports.

The experiment was done in two parts — one with cats and their humans, and one with the cats and a stranger (one of the researchers). The first part involved 21 cats from 14 households, and the second part included 24 additional cats. The findings were as follows:

  • Cats slow blink at their humans most often when the humans slow blink at them first.
     
  • When the stranger slow blinked at the cat, the cat would likely slow blink back.
     
  • If the researcher held out a hand after slow blinking with a cat, the cat was more likely to accept the friendly solicitation than a stranger with a neutral expression.

While these results surprise no one, at least now there’s a paper about slow blinking! Just so you don’t feel like you’ve wasted your time reading this, here are some pro tips for slow blinking with your cat.

  1. Take a slow, relaxing breath before slow blinking. If you can put yourself into a sort of zen state before doing it, you will be in the optimum frame of mind.
     
  2. You don’t have to smile with your mouth, but it helps if you smile with your heart.
     
  3. The blink should be deliberate. The first time my human read about doing it was in the first edition of Anitra Frazier’s The Natural Cat (Amazon affiliate link). It was explained as a slow, three-part “I love you.” I: you look at the cat; love: you blink; you: you open your eyes.
     
  4. When you finish the blink, glance away. Continuing to stare is rude in cat language.
     
  5. If the cat blinks back, that’s ideal. But that doesn’t mean you should immediately go up to the cat and pick her up, pester her, or stick your hand in her face. Sometimes the greeting is nice enough. If you do want to see if you can have more interaction, hold out your hand passively. If the cat wants more, she will let you know.

I hope you enjoyed my tips! If you have any to add, or if you want to share some slow blink experiences, feel free to do so in the comments below.

Scientists Finally Figure Out Cats Respond to Slow Blinking (Plus Tips)Scientists Finally Figure Out Cats Respond to Slow Blinking (Plus Tips)
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Comments

  1. Linda Szymoniak says

    November 1, 2020 at 11:19 am

    My Kotoha often slow blinks at me. However, she responds differently when I slow blink at her. She actually can get a little aggressive. Maybe it’s just rough play, but she puts her ears back and sometimes bats at me with her claws. Yet then she’ll come back and slow blink at me again – purring and wanting to cuddle. It’s strange.

    Reply
  2. Catwoods says

    October 13, 2020 at 9:21 am

    We discovered that out our cats would slow blink back at us so many decades ago that I can’t recall the exact circumstances. We’ve had many such exchanges with many kitties over the years. I also saw it noted in many books about cats. I’m actually glad to see science catching up! Or should that be cat-ching up, LOL.

    Reply
  3. BellaDharma an LadyMew says

    October 12, 2020 at 2:51 pm

    Mee nevurr slo-blinked till mee met LadyMew an it tooked monthss fore mee to even try it.
    Butt this yeer mee has bin slo-blinkin alot!! Iss so nice to trust a Hu’man this much! 😉
    **purrss** BellaDharma

    Reply
  4. selina says

    October 11, 2020 at 5:47 pm

    MK does that with us. She says it’s kinda cool knowing she is directly communicating with us.

    Purrz!
    Selina

    Reply
  5. meowmeowmans says

    October 10, 2020 at 8:01 pm

    Great tips, Summer! We’re all about the slow blinks here, and also with the cats at PAWS. 🙂

    Reply
  6. CATHERINE lingg says

    October 10, 2020 at 5:33 pm

    I actually learned this from watching Jackson Galaxy on “My cat from hell”
    Luckily I’ve never experienced a cat from hell, although some of his “patients” were very difficult but most always there was a good reason for the behavior. It’s amazing how little some cat owners have no clue about cats

    Reply
  7. LESLEY CASTLE says

    October 10, 2020 at 4:24 pm

    So sweet <3

    Reply
  8. Teddy says

    October 10, 2020 at 2:19 am

    Well Angel Sammy and Mom did the slow blink communication all the time……..up until the very end in fact. I do that with my Mom once in a while – especially from WAY across the room. We are definitely “in tune” !!

    Hugs, Teddy

    Reply
  9. Dma says

    October 9, 2020 at 6:49 pm

    This is really interesting…

    Reply
  10. Cathy Keisha says

    October 9, 2020 at 6:39 pm

    I’ll bet they got the idea for the research from your blog. TW thinks she has to slow blink over and over. Hear that, TW, you only blink ONCE!

    Reply
  11. Ellen Pilch says

    October 9, 2020 at 3:56 pm

    I think all us cat lovers already knew this, no experiments needed. 🙂

    Reply
  12. Raven says

    October 9, 2020 at 3:33 pm

    Brian’s comment is funny! I’ve tried slow blinking with Raven but she doesn’t care. Maybe she doesn’t feel the need to greet me. Maybe she’s wondering why I’m trying to be cat.

    Reply
  13. Melissa & Mudpie says

    October 9, 2020 at 3:29 pm

    So fascinating! Thanks for the info!

    Reply
  14. Memories of Eric and Flynn says

    October 9, 2020 at 1:28 pm

    It took the scientists long enough to work that out!

    Reply
  15. Meezer'sMews&TerrieristicalWoofs says

    October 9, 2020 at 11:23 am

    Confirmation is good, but really, it took them that long to even do a study?? Yup, Duh is right!! MOL!
    32 years of slow blinking to our kitties is now scientific…hah-hah!!

    Reply
  16. Lola The Rescued Cat says

    October 9, 2020 at 8:46 am

    We loved your tips. Especially “smile with your heart. “

    Reply
  17. Eastside Cats says

    October 9, 2020 at 7:27 am

    I have two versions of Anitra Frazier’s “The Natural Cat”, and use it as resource material all of the time!

    Reply
  18. Pat K says

    October 9, 2020 at 7:15 am

    I knew about the slow blink but I wasn’t sure what
    the blink was supposed to mean. I also knew about
    the rudeness of staring. It’s nice to have those
    things confirmed.

    Reply
  19. The Poupounette Gang says

    October 9, 2020 at 6:42 am

    We were also surprised to read this. Our #1 has also known about slow blinking for a long, long time. She says it is like blowing softly into a horse’s nostrils. Everyone knows about it except scientists!

    Purrs,
    Tama and Genji

    Reply
  20. Brian says

    October 9, 2020 at 6:32 am

    Someone needs to study the scientists to figure out why they are so slow to catch on!

    Reply
  21. The Florida Furkids says

    October 9, 2020 at 6:12 am

    It’s cool that it is now scientifically proven. Mom has that book!

    The Florida Furkids

    Reply
  22. Cleo says

    October 9, 2020 at 2:33 am

    Well, I guess there’s a study done for just about anything, isn’t there? My definition of slow blinking is what dad does as soon as he sits down at the end of a tiring workday. All it takes is either turning on the television or picking up his book to try to read and on comes the slow blink. Until his eyes close for the night. Or mom smacks him to wake up.

    Reply
  23. LESLEY CASTLE says

    October 9, 2020 at 2:14 am

    Great information as usual Summer! <3

    Reply
  24. Lone STar Cats says

    October 9, 2020 at 1:51 am

    I am ALWAYS slow blinking my momma. Like always. Sometimes when she’s trying to get an eyes open photo too. 😉

    Reply
  25. mommakatandherbearcat says

    October 9, 2020 at 1:30 am

    I’ve long wondered if our cats get the message when I slow blink at them – or if they just think I have something in my eye. Not looking away afterward seems aggressive! Talk about mixed messages!

    Reply
  26. Mickey's Musings says

    October 9, 2020 at 1:13 am

    I am not surprised that scientists are looking at this.
    We cats have so many types of body language and communication 😉
    Purrs, Julie

    Reply
  27. Dash Kitten Crew says

    October 9, 2020 at 12:50 am

    The things scientist do! well, at least it’s now official!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Scientists “Prove” Slow Blinking Works (Plus Tips) | tajharasummersamba says:
    October 9, 2020 at 10:07 am

    […] You guys already communicate with cats using the slow blink. Now science has caught up with you! You can read about the study, and get some slow blink tips at this blog post. […]

    Reply

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