Why Do Cats Rub Against You?

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Cat owners often complain of being unable to understand their four-legged best friend’s mood and attitude towards them. These tiny little creatures are not so tiny after all and can become really complicated as their gestures are usually a result of fear or stress that can be difficult for the owner to decode. Fortunately, your cat rubbing against your leg or body or when it pushes its head in you is a positive sign. These activities indicate that your pet is trying to convey that it missed you while you were away or wants to spend some quality time with you. It is more of an action that gives birth to an amicable relationship between you and the cat as it is finally showing its acceptance and love for you. Unlike dogs that happen to be really expressive and show their liking and disliking out-right, cats often tend to keep their emotions to themselves. But there are some ways that distinctly allow the owners to understand what their cat really wants.

Among the various reasons why your cats rub against you, it is essential to understand their body dynamics, which can help you understand why they rub their heads against you or other objects specifically.

Scent glands in Cats
Located in numerous places on a cat’s body, scent glands play an important role in a cat’s behavior. Right below the chin, the ears, the temples, the area near the base of the tail and corners of the mouth all contain the scent glands. Therefore, cats usually rub their entire head with your legs or other body parts to adopt your scent and remember their place of belonging the next time. Cats use this methodology to feel relaxed and ease out their feelings of anxiety or stress as they get a warm welcome in return by their owners.

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Reasons why cats rub against you
Their way of greeting
Coming home after a long day or being out for a long period of time makes your pet miss you, much like how we miss them. Upon return, they may engage with you without really expressing their feelings. This is mostly because cats will not allow you to understand them inside out unless they are at complete ease with you. That’s what cats really do. Therefore, head-bunting or butting is a sign of affection from a cat who is trying to express how much it missed your presence while you were away. Some cats start circling you or come closer so that they can gradually come into contact with your body.

Marking their territory
According to experts, one of the main reasons why cat rub themselves against their owners is to mark their territory and combine the familiar scent of their groups or people they love. This provides them a sense of belonging and feelings of protection and safety around the person they rub their heads. Cats take a lot of time to accept someone as their ‘own’, but once they do, they will illustrate their love and compassion in their own ways.

Gaining Attention
Researchers in animal behavior state that cats often use this mechanism to gain attention of their owners during times where they want to be loved or taken care of. They will constantly rub themselves on your leg or an area where you will take immediate notice, only so that you can rub their head or stroke the area behind their ears in return.

Comfort zone
Placing itself in a vulnerable and weak position, the cat tries to come out of its comfort zone by creating a new one around you. This means, involving you in its group of individuals your cat trusts. This may take a long time as felines are known to be not very friendly pets, initially. They take their time to open up and express their likeness for you. This means building a new zone of comfort around the owner. Rubbing its head against your body is a major indication that this certain point has been reached.

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Depositing scent
One of the reasons behind this rubbing behavior is to deposit their scents on the object they feel attracted to. Often, cats are seen rubbing themselves against tables or sofas and other objects to adopt the scent and deposit theirs in order to mark their space.

Gathering Information
As strange as this sounds, cats will often rub themselves against new people coming into your house only to have an idea of where that person came from and whether he or she has pets or not. Through this method, they choose to adopt a certain manner of conduct with the new person and act that way. They immediately register the guest’s scent and if they are greeted amicably, they tend to develop a liking for that person. A cat’s judgment regarding another person should definitely be trusted.

Down memory lane
According to animal experts, head-bunting is a way of expressing affection towards the owner, a method learned by cats through their mothers. As kittens, these cats rub their heads with their mother and siblings to exchange a sense of love and belonging. As they grow up, they feel the same need to share their feelings with their human owners, whom they place their complete trust in. It acts as a form of greeting, welcoming, and accepting the other being. If your cat is rubbing its head against you a lot, lately, then consider at as a positive sign because it is giving you a signal that you have finally been embraced and accepted. Your cat has finally chosen you and we all know how big of an accomplishment that is!

About the Author:
Ivan is a content manager for Catify, an online store selling cat-themed gifts, apparel and more. If he’s not writing the next article on Catify he’s hanging out with his Maine Coon Jimmy.