Cats have a reputation for being aloof, hard to read and impossible to win over on your terms. Anyone who lives with one knows the moments of affection come when the cat decides, not before. But researchers in the U.K. have tested a surprisingly simple way to communicate with cats directly, and it works with your own cat and even with cats who have never met you. It takes about two seconds and involves nothing but your eyes.
The technique is called the slow blink, and it was studied by psychologists at the Universities of Sussex and Portsmouth, led by Tasmin Humphrey and Professor Karen McComb. Their results were published in the journal Scientific Reports.
What the study found
The team ran two experiments. In the first, owners sat about a meter from their cats at home and slow-blinked at them. The cats were significantly more likely to narrow their own eyes and slow-blink back than when the owner sat there without interacting.
In the second, a researcher the cats had never met did the same. After a slow blink, the cats were not only more likely to blink back, but also more likely to approach the stranger’s outstretched hand than when the researcher kept a neutral face.
McComb described it as something like a cat smile, and suggested it is a way to build a bond with cats you know and those you’re meeting for the first time.
How to do it
- Sit or kneel calmly, a little distance from the cat, without looming over it.
- Look at the cat with a relaxed face, as if you’re smiling gently.
- Narrow your eyes, then close them slowly for a couple of seconds.
- Open them again and look slightly away, rather than staring.
Then wait. Many cats answer with a slow blink of their own, a softening of the face, or a few steps toward you.
The researchers also found the effect worked with cats of different ages and personalities, though some responded far more readily than others. Shy cats, or cats in a new environment, may need several sessions over days before they answer, so patience matters more than repetition in a single sitting.
Why it works
For a cat, a direct, unblinking stare is a challenge or a threat. Narrowing and closing the eyes does the opposite: it signals that you are relaxed and pose no danger, since nobody closes their eyes on a predator. Cats appear to use the same expression among themselves in calm, friendly moments, and the researchers believe they may have learned to use it with humans because people respond to it.
It’s not a magic switch. A frightened or unwell cat may not respond, and every cat has its own pace. But it costs nothing, and it gives you a way to start the conversation on the cat’s terms.
Cats read the house more closely than we think, which is also why they’re often the first to notice mice moving in as the weather cools.
Narrow your eyes, close them slowly, look away. Then let the cat answer. That’s the trick.
