Have you ever wondered, “Why does my cat stare at me?” Maybe you’ve been sitting in your living room intently watching the latest episode of your favorite television show when you notice that your cute feline companion is staring up at you with laser-like focus?
Perhaps they’re blinking slowly at you, meowing, or even licking their lips. It makes you wonder and ask your little four-legged friend, “Why are you staring at me, Cat?”.
And if you have more than one cat, maybe you’ve noticed a staring competition between the two felines. Maybe sometimes the staring competition escalates into a high energy brawl between the two.
Cats stare for all sorts of reasons and it’s completely normal. They are genuinely curious creatures by nature and sometimes they are simply just trying to figure you out.
Other times, though, there is something they want or something they want you to do for them. And they usually won’t stop staring at you unless you give in to what they want or until they get distracted by something else.
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Genuine Curiosity and Love
Your cat may be staring at you out of general wonder or because they just love you. As you probably already know, cats are curious animals. In fact, their curiosity is one of the many reasons that we love our feline furbabies.
My cats stare at me while I’m exercising, dancing, cooking, and they’re even staring at me right now at this moment as I’m pounding away on my keyboard writing this article. Ahh. Cats are funny little beacons of joy, aren’t they?
I think it’s safe to assume that my cats stare at me mostly out of sheer curiosity and love. They probably want to know what I’m doing, why I’m doing it, and when I’ll stop doing what I’m doing.
I believe they also stare at me as a way to communicate their love to me. When a cat stares at you while giving the infamous slow-blink, then that’s exactly what that means.
Staring While You’re Cooking
Some cats may stare at you while you are cooking because they, too, want something to eat. Are they licking their lips while they are staring at you? That’s a sure sign that they are communicating to you that they’re hungry.
My cats stare at me while I am doing dishes, and I believe the reason is because they hear me clanking my dishes as I put them away. They associate the clanking noise with being fed wet food.
When this happens, I politely ignore them until I finish the dishes. They usually go off and find something else to do in the meantime. This is the same thing that happens when I open up canned goods too.
All five of my feline companions stare intently at me while doing this. Not only that, but they often communicate very loudly that they would like some wet food. And sometimes, I do end up giving in to their demands.
Staring At You While You’re Sitting
Another thing cats do is stare at you while you’re sitting in your favorite chair. Maybe you are engrossed in the latest Netflix movie or maybe you’re intently reading your favorite novel.
This is the exact scenario that happens to me on a daily basis. I’ll usually be sitting in my living room either reading or working on my laptop and out of the corner of my eye, I see a pair of eyes staring relentlessly up at me. It’s usually my cat Tiggy.
He loves to sit on my lap and give me what I call “momma kisses”, which are nothing more than little forceful head butts that he likes to do while he’s sitting on my lap. It’s one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.
So when I see him patiently staring up at me, it doesn’t matter what I’m doing because I usually give in to his “demands”.
When Cats Stare At Other Cats
If you live in a multi-cat household, then you’ve probably seen the stare off that occurs between two cats. This usually occurs when there is tension between them. Shortly after a stare off, there is usually a period of fighting.
When two cats are staring intently at one another, it also means that one of them is the dominant cat and he’s trying to show this by staring. Most often, this happens between two male cats.
However, I have also seen this happen between a female and a male cat, usually, after the female has given birth. Perhaps she is communicating to the male cat that he needs to stay away thereby protecting her litter of kittens.
Final Thoughts
Cats stare for so many reasons it’s unbelievable. The best thing you can do is to acknowledge them. They may be trying to communicate with you or they may simply be curious.
I’ve read many articles about how to stop your cats from staring at you, but why on earth would you want them to stop? It’s completely normal and it’s part of being a human companion to a beautiful cat.
When does your cat stare at you? And how long does it occur? I’d be interested in finding out what other people experience with their feline furbabies. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know.
