Why do cats act as if they were born to be stroked?
Cats carry many of their kittenhood memories into adulthood. They respond to our stroking because they see us as a subsitute for their mothers. They interpret our stroking as if they were being groomed by their mother’s tongue as kittens. Why do cats knead? That loud purring followed by the sharpening of claws on some soft spot of your body is called “milk-treading.” When you relax and sit quietly, you’re giving your cat the same signal he got from his mother when he was a kitten – that his mother was ready to let him suckle. A nursing kitten instinctively uses his paws to draw out the milk, gently pushing on his mother’s stomach to increase the milk flow. When older cats behave this way, it’s a good sign that they’re happy, content, and probably recalling their kittenhood. Why do cats get stuck in trees? Their claws are constructed for climbing up. When they attempt to climb down headfirst (and normally this is what they will try to do first), it’s impossible for them because the claw
