Anybody know why cats knead? I have had my kitty for about 3 years now and she never did this until recently... and now she does it all the time. I don't mind except sometimes she's less than gentle with it and she scratches me.


Thanks!

Our Max is dreadful! He's declawed but it's still sooo annoying! I don't need anyone to remind me that I'm soft and smooshy!
I always thought it had something to do with nursing kittens. Do they have to knead to get milk to come?
I just kinda figure that if I reprimand him often enough ... sooner or later he'll figure out that we don't like it.

Why does my cat "knead" me?

Answer
Kneading is a cute behavior to watchdcats flex and extend their paws against a bedspread, the carpet, or a person, usually while stretching and purring. It's a very common behavior for cats, but no one has determined exactly why they do it. All sorts of theories exist. Some say that "kneading" cats were weaned from their mothers too early; some say they were weaned too late.

Most likely it's just a habit some cats develop, like people that bite their nails or crack their knuckles. What theorists do know is that it's a sign that cats are comfortable, happy, and relaxed. So you can take it as a complement: it's your cat's way of saying that he's happy you're around!


My question is this: How the HECK does something that weighs 9-10 pounds knead me with (what feels like) 50 pounds of force!?!?!?

no kidding. if emma stands on me it feels like i'm being stabbed too.

i love my kitty, i just thought it was weird that she didn't do it before and now she's started. i'll just make sure we clip her nails a little more often so i don't get scratched too.

Lots of theories - often reported to be a comforting habit, as if the cat is remembering nursing (kittens knead like that when they nurse). Every single one of my cats does it, mostly when they are feeling very, very relaxed, happy and secure. It took one of our cats 3 years to do this. When we first got her, she was nervous, skittish, and very, very afraid of EVERYTHING. Now, her favorite thing to do in the morning while I am still in bed is to take a flying leap onto me, bury her head up against me, purr like crazy, and knead knead KNEAD!!! Keep the claws clipped!

Aw, I love it when cats knead. I hope my adopted feral will eventually do that around me and David.

Just give it time. Mrs. Maya (we call her MRS. because when we got her from the Humane Society, she had been knocked up and they didn't know it and she gave birth to one ONLY ONE kitten in our home, which we kept, of course) was absoluted terrified of everything for the first two years that she was here. It was to the point that after she popped out her kitten, she immediately fled and hid under the couch that was in her birthing room. I was worried that she would reject her kitten, but as she was in a safe, closed room by herself, things turned out just fine. It literally took her two years to be able to sit half on my lap to get petted -before, she would jump up, roll around, panic, and run away. Today, three years later, she is ALL OVER ME, and just started feeling comfy enough to knead away. Thanks for adopting a feral cat! I am currently in the process of trying to sort one out in our neighborhood (first the food, then the trust, then the humane trap, then the NEUTERING, then the taming into our home...), and hope that he fits into our family of four kitties one day.

Freia, that's a precious story!

I had a cat that obsessively kneaded and it got annoying.

I'll BET it got annoying. And painful, too. Mrs. Maya is getting a bit annoying, too, first thing in the morning. As in, I'm completely asleep, and at the first sign of outdoor light, she'll run and LEAP onto me (thus waking me from a dead sleep!) and start kneading. I am now slowing rolling over onto my tummy, and training her to keep on kneading my BACK so I can at least get a back rub out of the deal. It is actually working, too!!!!

I had two cats that would do that,but also suck on the blanket at the same time,lol.We had a blanket that pilled up in areas and they would suck on those while kneading....drove my husband nuts.

LOL my cats would knead the living daylights out of me whenever I had them placed on my lap. I had read somewhere that it could do with leaving some sort of scent, besides affection. Although, I'm not sure if that is the case...

Zoritsa, can my hubby relate to yours!!! When Mrs. Maya was nursing her kittens (we adopted Mrs. Maya and her FIRST kitten, and she had her second litter of ONE with us - the first was still nursing though...), the sound of BOTH kitties SLURPING away, usually on our bed while we were trying to sleep, drove my husband around the BEND!!!!! Even now, three years later, all I have to do is make the slurping sound, and he goes BANANAS. I call it my "secret weapon"...hehehe

heh. We don't let our cat in our room, she has to sleep alone. She just moves around to much and annoys the heck out of us.

I can't stand the sound of my cat licking herself. it just makes me sick. she likes to sit on the back of my chair when i'm sitting in it and when she is being a licker, i have to shoo her away.