The One Action Cats Will Only Tolerate From Their Favorite Human
A cat's love can be hard to capture, but once you have it, it never fades.
Kari Shea / Unsplash Anyone who owns a cat knows just how particular their feline friend can be. Cats are meticulous and mysterious, and the way they act in your presence can tell you a lot about their true feelings toward you.
As your cat stalks from room to room, prowling the hallways of your home, perhaps even pouncing on your feet as you walk by, you may have asked yourself the following question: Does my cat even like me?
There’s one specific action a cat will only let their favorite humans do.
If your cat lets you touch its nose, this means that you’re their closest companion.
Cats are solitary creatures: They hunt alone. While a domesticated cat might not have much to hunt in the safety of your home, their predatory instincts stay with them.
Most cats don’t like having their noses touched, as it’s a sensitive part of their bodies, and having it touched leaves them feeling vulnerable.
Cats can be very protective of their personal space. Letting a person or another animal close to their bodies potentially puts them in harm's way.
Nose touching is an intimate action for cats, something they only do if they feel totally safe.
There are various meanings behind nose touching in cats. When a cat taps its nose against another cat’s nose, it’s a form of greeting and getting to know each other. From the time your cat was an itty bitty kitty, it learned that touching noses was a way to say hello, an action passed down from its cat mama.
Photo: Humberto Arellano / Unsplash
Because kittens are born both deaf and blind, their moms need a way to communicate their presence. They tap their noses together, which passes their scent to the kittens, letting them know who’s there.
While nose-touching is an action that’s usually saved for familiar figures, cats will also touch noses with cats they don’t know. If one cat enters another cat’s territory, it may cautiously extend its nose to say, "Hey, what’s up, I mean no harm."
Nose-touching is a cat’s way of saying hi. If they let you tap their nose, it means that they trust you.
In the feline world, nose-touching is one step above bunting, which is another sign of your cat’s love and affection for you.
Bunting, also known as headbutting, is a different example of non-vocal cat communication, an action, like nose-touching, is most often reserved for their favorite people.
When a cat headbutts you, they’re marking you with pheromones from the glands in front of their ears. While humans can’t smell the chemicals they’ve released, other cats can. Bunting is a way of marking, of saying loud and proud, “This is my human.”
Bunting can also be a sign that your cat is self-soothing, which means they feel close enough to you to let their guard down and nuzzle. Most of all, bunting is a show of affection. It’s your cat’s way of saying that they chose you to be their pet parent.
Photo: Zhang Kyaiv / Unsplash
If your cat headbutts you or lets you touch their nose, it means you’ve won their complete trust and they see you as one of their best friends.
A cat’s love can be hard to earn, but once they’ve decided that you’re their number one person, their love will never fade.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers social issues, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.