It can be hard to know if your pet cat really loves you so a clinical feline behaviourist has shared some insights for cat owners who don't know how to work out their pet's feelings towards them
A cat expert has revealed how to tell if your feline friend truly adores you. It's natural to question how your pet feels about you as they become an important part of your family and home.
Pet owners often express their love and care by cuddling, feeding, and spending quality playtime with their pets. However, some animals, like cats, don't show clear signs of affection. Those who have cats at home may not be aware of the signals that indicate their pet's love for them. Amanda Campion is an experienced clinical feline behaviorist with over 30 years of caring for cats. She gives information about kittens and cats on social media and provides useful tips for owners.
The expert recently uploaded a video on TikTok discussing how to determine if your cat loves you. She posed the question: “Do cats really love their owners?”
“Cat parents, how do you know if your cat loves you? Because they're not like dogs, they don't wag their tails, or if they do it means they're a bit cross.”
Campion explained that cats “express their love and affection in powerful ways” and owners need to “decode” this by understanding their “cat communication” and learning their ‘language'.
She noted that research has been done on secure attachment in cats and found that sometimes a cat and a human can be “co-dependent on each other.”
The cat behaviorist explained that there are different patterns of behavior, as some cats “may want to follow you everywhere and have real separation anxiety when you leave the room,” while other cats might not want to sit on your lap but just want to sit next to you instead or be in the same room as you as they have a different level of attachment that suits them.
She added: “There's different ways, physical ways that a cat can show you their affection and that would be slow blinking, purring, kneading on you, licking you, grooming you, nibbling you, we've talked about love bites before. These are all ways that cats will show affection.”
Campion gave another example of a cat sitting by the window, seeing its owner come home and jumping down to meet them at the front door because it's “so pleased” to see its carer and may also vocalise.
The expert elaborated: “That's another way your cat is saying ‘hey mom/hey dad, I'm really happy that you're home.'
“That's their way of showing affection and if the cat is getting closer to you and will lie on you, it will turn upside down, that just shows their level of trust for you but again, don't take it personal[ly] if you've got a cat that maybe isn't as confident and doesn't want to lie all over you. They're sitting next to you, they trust you.”
Campion revealed that each of her cats has a unique way of expressing love and affection. Hugo is known for giving head bumps, while Esker “constantly” chats with her and flops onto her.
Another one of her beloved cats, Rocco, enjoys bringing toys to her so they can play together. The cat behaviorist concluded by noting that this demonstrates there are “so many different ways” that cats can show their love and affection.
