Why Do Cats Knead Blankets Before Lying Down

A nursing kitten instinctually kneads to help stimulate the mother s milk production.

Why do cats knead blankets before lying down. Kneading is the correct answer. Kneading can also signal a form of territorial marking. Cats start to knead as kittens while nursing from their mother. It is also a way for them to apply their scent and mark it as their territory.

Wild felines knead on soft grasses and leaves outside to mold them into a comfortable sleeping surface. Some female cats will knead frequently just before going into heat as a signal to males of her willingness and ability to mate. You might find your cat kneading blankets stuffed animals or other soft objects around the house. Even though kneading a soft surface doesn t yield milk adult cats forever associate the motion of kneading with the rewarding comfort of nursing.

Cats that are in pain will circle excessively as they struggle to find a more comfortable position. When they are kneading the blanket in this way. As the estrus cycle continues the cat will make plaintive meows. As kittens they do this to get the mothers milk flowing.

This is often seen when there are multiple cats in one household. Another hypothesis mentioned on petmd is that cats wild ancestors would knead grass to create a soft place to sleep. Some cats even suckle on the surface they re kneading. Why cats knead their owners.

Kneading to create a soft place to sleep. Some female cats will knead frequently just before going into heat as a signal to males of her willingness and ability to mate. 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. Often each cat will have its own possessions.

While we may not know the exact reason cats find kneading pleasurable everyone seems to agree that it s something they enjoy and perhaps the reason cats knead is as simple as that. Unspayed female cats often knead just before going into heat as a sign of their eagerness to mate. Mother cats may knead on blankets to form them into a nest for their kittens. Cats may knead on a blanket before settling down to sleep to make themselves more comfortable and to unwind.

Are their other reasons for this kneading behavior. Cats do after all tend to knead before sleeping. While watching our cats turn around before bedding down is amusing it can also be a signal that something is wrong. As the estrus cycle continues the cat will make plaintive meows that quickly escalate into loud persistent yowls that are an effort to get the attention of a male.

Another hypothesis proposes that kneading harks back to a time before domestication when wild cats. But why do they continue to knead past nursing age.