Why Do Cats Knead Blankets Before They Lay Down

Her scent glands give off an odor for the benefit of male cats to realize her cycle.

Why do cats knead blankets before they lay down. You might find your cat kneading blankets stuffed animals or other soft objects around the house. While kittens knead to make nursing from their mother more productive adult cats do so for a variety of reasons on soft surfaces. As humans we cannot smell cat pad odors but other felines definitely can. This is also a form of nesting instinct for a female cat.

An unspayed female cat will knead a blanket when she is coming into heat. They may extend and retract their claws and the behaviour is usually accompanied by purring. But why do they continue to knead past nursing age. There are theories that cats do it because they were taken from their mothers too soon and are trying to duplicate that happy protected time in their lives.

Kneading is a cat behaviour in which your kitty will use their two front paws to knead or massage a soft surface. Cats may knead on a blanket before settling down to sleep to make themselves more comfortable and to unwind. Mother cats may knead on blankets to form them into a nest for their kittens. Cats start to knead as kittens while nursing from their mother.

Even though kneading a soft surface doesn t yield milk adult cats forever associate the motion of kneading with the rewarding comfort of. However even cats that stay in the same homes as their moms knead. Some cats may also relax their jaws or bite down on the edge of a blanket or pillow. Kneading is sometimes colloquially referred to as making biscuits because the motion resembles a baker kneading dough.

Before we answer why do cats knead let s look at how they knead.