If Your Cat Does These 8 Things, They Have Imprinted on You

Does your kitty think that you're the cat's pajamas? When the two of you are together, do they look like the cat that got the cream? Cats and their humans have a special bond, but some cats have a deeper bond than others. These imprinted cats will have an intense trust in their humans and will consider them to be their true cat parents. In this video, we're going to look at 8 signs that your cat shares this unique connection with you. But before we dive in, why not subscribe and join our feline-loving community for more fun facts about your cat. From a cat's perspective, us tall, lanky humans are essentially shaped like giant cat trees. Giant cat trees that, unfortunately, most cats will never be confident enough to climb due to our unfortunate habit of moving on our own and occasionally objecting to getting clawed. But for a cat who has imprinted on their human, a world of opportunities to use this weird living playground suddenly open up. In particular, many cats enjoy making use of their human shoulders as a stepping stone when jumping from place to place. Others prefer to just drape themselves around our necks like an expensive fur scarf and wait for us to taxi them to wherever they want to go. Not only do our cats derive a sense of calm and safety from being so close to us, but a shoulder ride from a human is also much cheaper than getting an Uber. We've all been there. You're walking from the kitchen, holding a scalding hot cup of coffee like it's an unpinned grenade, very conscious of the fact that one slip could cover you in boiling water when your kitty starts head-butting your ankles and weaving in and out of your legs. What's going on? Are they trying to murder you? No. When a cat rubs their head against you, this is actually their way of claiming you as a part of their territory. Cats have special glands on their cheeks that release a pheromone scent when they press them against things. Don't worry, it's not a scent that human noses can pick up. But to other cats, it essentially serves as a private property sign. Paws off, other kitties! This human is mine and no one else's! While your kitty is rubbing against your ankles, you might also notice their tail starting to twist around your legs. This isn't exactly part of the scent marking thing because cats don't have scent glands on their tails. So why do they do it? The same reason that humans hold hands. Cats don't really have a way to grip with their paws and their preferred method of picking things up, with their mouths, isn't one that humans tend to react well to. As a result, winding their tail around you is the next best thing. Your kitty is showing you just how much they love you. Do you have a little feline shadow? Do you find that you can't go anywhere in the house without your cat trailing along behind? Or that you can't do any activity without them trying to join in? Whether that's by sitting in front of the TV when you're trying to watch, walking across your laptop keyboard, and somehow sending an email to your boss with just the letter H repeated 110 times. Or sitting on that clean pile of laundry that you just got out of the dryer. What's up with that? Well, when your cat follows you around and tries to mimic your activities, however unsuccessfully, they're engaging in a behavior called mirroring. Mirroring is a cat's way of trying to build in bonding time with the members of their social group by, essentially, doing the same thing that humans do when they want to bond with someone. Finding an activity you can spend time doing together. If you want to make your cat very happy, you can try engaging in some mirroring behavior yourself. Next time your kitty is sitting by the window, watching the birds, try joining them and see how they react. Chances are they'll be happy to see you taking an interest. Sign number five. Mirroring isn't the only reason why you might come home to catch your kitty sitting on your laundry, or curled up in your chair, or even sleeping on your pillow. Cats are very scent-oriented creatures, relying on smell more than sight in many ways to help them interpret the world around them. When it comes to identifying their friends, especially, your kitty is definitely more likely to go by your funk than your face. Not least because, from a cat's position on the ground, a human's face isn't always visible. So what's a kitty to do when their favorite human isn't around? No matter how much we wish it were otherwise, nobody can spend every second of the day with their cat. But scent is different from sight. The nose is the only sensory organ that can be used to see back in time, as smells have a tendency to linger after the things that cause them have gone. Your cat clings to the things that you wear, or sleep on, or handle regularly, because it allows them to feel close to you. Having your scent nearby isn't quite as having you actually in the room, but it's the next best thing. You might be surprised to learn that your kitty biting you could be anything other than an attack, but sometimes it can actually be an expression of love. Loving cats bite for two reasons. During play, if they get too excited, and while being petted. Petting, to cats, feels like grooming, the way that cats help each other keep clean. Cats groom each other by licking their fur, and sometimes by biting it, so as to get out burrs or particularly stubborn tangles. This is what your cat is trying to do when they gently bite you during a petting session. They feel you trying to groom them, and so they want to groom you back. It's important to remember that the average cat's skin is much less sensitive to scratches and bites than the average human's. Your cat's skin is protected by a thick shield of fur, meaning that they are much less vulnerable to injury. If your cat bites you a bit too hard, it's not because they want to hurt you, it's because they don't realize how delicate you are. Why does your cat always feel the need to shove their butt in your face? It's not like you haven't seen it before, or like you ever wanted to see it in the first place. Cats as a species have managed to land an enviable reputation for grace and sophistication, a reputation that is totally undermined by their apparent obsession with mooning people. Come on, cats, you're letting the side down! But your cat isn't just being silly, it's actually another expression of love. A cat showing you their butt is openly demonstrating that they trust you enough to turn their back on you. They're also allowing you exclusive access to special scent glands that have a significantly more concentrated version of the pheromone scent that cats use for scent marking. For another cat, smelling these glands would give them key information about the cat's health, mood, and even their relationship status. We're not suggesting that you actually try giving them a sniff, but at least you can take comfort in the fact that your kitty isn't just showing you their butt just for the fun of it. Sometimes the best way to say I love you is to simply say it, and our kitties have a number of ways to do just that. The most famous sound in the feline love language is the purr, a vibrating, rumbling sound that is caused by the vibration of special pads of fat in your cat's larynx. These vibrations are not only a cute sign of your kitty's contentment, the specific frequency that they vibrate at has also been proven to promote heart health and wound healing. Another, less well-known way that your kitty says they love you is the trill, and its lengthier cousin, the murmur. Trills are short little sounds that sound a bit like a cross between a meow and a purr. It might remind you of a rolled R. Mama cats trill to attract the attention of their kittens, and in adulthood, those kittens will trill when greeting people they really, really like. Murmurs are like very long trills, sounding a bit like a creaking door hinge or a breathy purr. If you hear your cat making this sound, then it's not only their way to say that they love you, it's also their way of saying that they want to play. To learn how to keep your imprinted cat in your life for as long as possible, check out this video to learn about a man who managed to keep his own kitty alive for over 30 years.