Kitten Information

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

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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


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