Your Cat Kneads You for a 10,000 Year Old Reason

Your Cat Kneads You for a 10,000 Year Old Reason Why does my cat knead me with his paws every evening, pressing into my lap like he's making biscuits? Here's the surprising part: it isn't simply a sign of affection, and the real reason goes back more than 10,000 years. In this video we trace cat kneading all the way from the first newborn reflex to the history of cat domestication. Why do grown cats still do a behavior they last needed as blind kittens? What were cats actually doing at the first grain stores, in ancient Egypt, and on sailing ships? What are your cat's paws secretly leaving on you? And why does she knead you, and not the cushion right next to her? CHAPTERS 0:00 Why cats knead you, and why "it's just love" is wrong 1:48 How cats first came to live with humans at the grain stores 3:12 Domestication, tameness, and why adult cats stay kitten-like (neoteny) 4:36 Cats in ancient Egypt: pest control, the goddess Bastet, and cat mummies 5:30 The scent glands in your cat's paws and territory marking 6:30 Medieval barn and monastery cats (and the poem Pangur Bán) 7:24 Ship cats, rats, and how cats spread across the world 8:24 Why your cat chooses YOU: the science of cat attachment SOURCES (verify and add your own links) Vigne, J.-D. et al. (2004), "Early Taming of the Cat in Cyprus," Science. The ~9,500-year-old Shillourokambos cat-human burial. Vitale, K. R. et al. (2019), "Attachment Bonds Between Domestic Cats and Humans," Current Biology. ~65.8% of adult cats showed secure attachment to their owner. "Pangur Bán," anonymous 9th-century Old Irish poem by a monk about his cat. Matthew Flinders and his ship's cat Trim, who sailed on the first circumnavigation of Australia; Flinders' written tribute to Trim. Background on Felis lybica (African wildcat) as the ancestor of the domestic cat and the self-domestication of cats near early agriculture. Feline behavior references on the kneading "milk-tread" reflex and scent glands in the paw pads. #cats #catbehavior #cathistory Tags (one line, comma-separated): why does my cat knead me, cat kneading, why do cats knead, cat making biscuits, why does my cat make biscuits, cat kneading meaning, cat behavior explained, why cats knead with paws