Why Do Cats Knead Blankets Before Lying Down

Kneading may also go back to the days when wild cats patted down tall grass or shredded leaves to make a soft fluffy bed for sleeping or giving birth.

Why do cats knead blankets before lying down. As humans we cannot smell cat pad odors but other felines definitely can. An unspayed female cat will knead a blanket when she is coming into heat. Her scent glands give off an odor for the benefit of male cats to realize her cycle. They may purr stretch and knead the air while lying on their side to tell male cats that they can approach for possible mating.

This is also a form of nesting instinct for a female cat. Cats may knead on a blanket before settling down to sleep to make themselves more comfortable and to unwind. However if they are immediately ready to mate they will not knead their paws and will instead raise their pelvis with the tail to one side. Another hypothesis mentioned on petmd is that cats wild ancestors would knead grass to create a soft place to sleep.

Another hypothesis proposes that kneading harks back to a time before domestication when wild cats. Unspayed female cats often knead just before going into heat as a sign of their eagerness to mate. Adding further weight to the explanation. Because the pads of your cat s paws contain scent glands her kneading emits her own distinctive scent discernable by other cats or pets but not by the human nose.

Some cats even suckle on the surface they re kneading. It may be related to the same type of behavior that causes dogs to walk in circles before they lay down. Other theories on why cats knead similar to the theory about how dogs dig in their beds as a natural denning instinct it s believed that cats also might have used kneading in the wild to help soften dirt or pat down leaves for comfy sleeping quarters. Through the ages the behavior continues to a.

In the wild before cats were domesticated wild felines would knead or walk on the area they intended to sleep in. If you notice your cat doing kneading they may simply be doing this to create a comfortable sleeping spot. The most common cause of this is being taken away from the mother too soon. Kneading can also signal a form of territorial marking.

Female cats have an additional reason for kneading. Mother cats may knead on blankets to form them into a nest for their kittens. When cats are baby kittens they knead their mothers like that to get the milk flowing. Some but not all adult cats still do this behavior.