Absolutely Kittens
Kitten Info: Cat & kitten bengal cat information
Abyssinian cat breeders of abyssinians pet breed show kittens for sale
HomeAdd Your CatteryShare This SiteContact UsMember Lounge

Kittens for sale > Kitten Articles > Bengal Cats & Kittens

Kitten Information


Cat & Kitten Articles


Back to Kitten Articles

Why Do Kittens Knead

Cat's often knead soft areas on your body such as your stomach or thigh. It replicates the action they do as a kitten to their mother when they are trying to stimulate the "let down" reflex when they are suckling milk. They carry over this instinctual behaviour in to adulthood and they use it to show affection. You'll find that this kneading action is often accompanied with purring and its a good indication that your cat is happy. Some cat's can't help but drool when they're kneading and purring, so be prepared to get slobbered on.
I have also read that this kneading happens because as kittens they are taken away from their mothers too early. I don't think this is necessarily true. If a kitten is taken away from their mother too early their could be development issues, but I don't think it's fair to look at an action such as kneading and decide that it's a reaction to early separation. I have a big extended family and nearly everyone of them has at least 2 cats, all from different litters, each of these cats show this type of behaviour and I don't think that explanation holds true.

Cats Knead or pummel as a sign of affection, it's your cats way of telling you that you are well loved and accepted as foster mum or dad. This kneading behaviour also also known as "making biscuits", "making Bread" and "marching". I think it's also referred to marching because a cat may knead the ground while you're in the process of dishing out their food.

Cats also do this kneading action when they are relaxed and you might find that your cat does this to you when you are stressed in order to relax you too.

The intensity of the kneading will differ from cat to cat, some are gentle, not really putting any weight onto their front paw as they knead you, using quick and light strokes, others will user longer strokes and possibly stretch out their claws, so if your cat is an intense kneader it's a good idea to get their claws trimmed regularly.

Cats may also knead other things apart from humans such as towels, beds, clothes, generally anything soft. If you find them doing this they they're not really showing affection to the object they're kneading. They're either trying to make it comfier as they're about to make it their bed (whether you like it or not) or they're comforting themselves.

NOTE: This article is for information only. See your veterinarian for medical advice

You can find more information about cats such as how to keep them healthy over at Cat Party [http://www.cat-party.co.uk]. Here you will also find quirky cat products [http://www.cat-party.co.uk/category/cat-products/] to enrich the lives of your cats

Kitten Photo: By Nicolas Suzor from Brisbane, Australia (Kittens! Uploaded by Kaldari) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons


Submit your quality cat breed or information cat article for free increased exposure and traffic back to your website
.









Absolutely Kittens accepts advertisements for the sale of pet products, supplies, services, cats and kittens for sale in good faith and assumes all distributors, breeders provide high quality products and healthy pets in a timely manner. Absolutely Kittens accepts no responsibility for distributors or breeders said commitments, guarantees, reputation or quality of service. You may wish to do research and become knowledgeable about the breed and cattery prior to acquiring a cat or kitten.