Did You Know? The Slow Blink Is Real, Tested, and You Can Try It Tonight
In 2020 two experiments at the University of Sussex showed that cats blink back at a person who slow-blinks at them, and walk over more often afterward. Here is the game, and the science behind it.
You have probably done it without knowing it had a name: catch your cat's eye, close your own eyes slowly, open them again. In 2020 a team at the University of Sussex tested the slow blink in two experiments and published the results in Scientific Reports.
In the first, owners slow-blinked at their cats or simply sat in the room. The cats half-blinked and narrowed their eyes more often after the slow blink. In the second, a researcher the cat had never met either slow-blinked or kept a neutral face, then offered a hand. Cats came over more often after the blink.
Cookie · Editor-in-chief
Yes, it works on me. No, I will not be discussing my feelings further.
Nora · Adoption desk
For the record, the study measured behavior, not emotion: more eye narrowing, more approaching. Whether that is a smile is a human word for it. We read the abstract; the number of cats per experiment is in the full paper.
The game, in three steps
- Sit a little way from your cat, relaxed, and catch its gaze without staring hard.
- Close your eyes slowly, hold a second, open them slowly. Repeat once or twice.
- Watch for the answer: a half-blink, narrowed eyes, or the cat getting up to come over. Then take the photo and post it on the thread.
If your cat stares back without blinking, that is information too: our guide to why cats stare covers what a hard stare means and when it is worth a closer look.
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