A cat’s eyes are big and enchanting, but did you know they’re equally expressive? If you’ve just adopted a cat, you might need time to understand what your pet is trying to say with its eyes. But seasoned cat owners know cats show hatred, aggression, sadness, and even love through their eyes. Most importantly, some cats don’t like eye contact at all!
While that’s mostly true when making eye contact with humans, cats avoid doing it with other cats. But why is that so? For cats, making eye contact isn’t simple.
Although cats don’t like looking into other cats’ eyes, they may often stare at other pets. Most felines use this tactic to send messages to other cats based on different situations. Some communicate through eye contact, while others show aggression. Let’s dig deeper into this behavior to learn more.
What Do Cats Think of Eye Contact?
It’s essential to understand how cats make eye contact before we go through the reasons they don’t make eye contact with other cats. For feline animals, looking directly into a human’s or another cat’s eyes means something entirely different. They assume a pair of locked eyes as a threat or warning.
Cats are territorial animals, and they rarely like being approached by a strange human or a cat. So, they aren’t quickly comfortable with prolonged eye contact and avert their gaze. However, some feisty and aggressive cats don’t divert their eyes but start staring at other cats more.
Cats send assertive messages through eye contact to show the other feline who the boss is. The cat that diverts its attention first loses the staring contest. But if the staring continues for a long time, it may result in physical violence. That’s how cats perceive eye contact with other cats.
The 4 Reasons Your Cat Prevents Eye Contact With Other Cats
While eye contact entails aggression in cats, avoiding it means the opposite. It primarily means your cat wants peace. Here are some compelling reasons why cats don’t like making eye contact with other cats:
1. Cats Are Self-Conscious Pets
Cats are self-conscious animals that don’t like being in the spotlight. They want to lay low, play with household items, relax, and spend time with their owners. It also includes not being watched all the time. That’s their ideal life.
Because of this reason, they may not like constant gazes from humans, cats, and simply any other living being. In fact, some cats prefer to not make eye contact with their owners, no matter how much they love them. That’s just how these feline animals are!
2. They’re Avoiding Physical Encounters
Cats are predatory animals that can be provoked easily. Since they don’t get along with every human or pet, they can become aggressive when approached by strangers.
But if your cat is friendly and non-aggressive, it will try avoiding eye contact with other kitties to indicate peace. This means your pet doesn’t want any sort of violence and expects the same in return. Thus, their “non-eye contact” behavior informs the other cat about their intentions.
As a responsible pet owner, you should try to distract your cat from making prolonged eye contact with another kitty. Observe both felines’ body language and gestures to determine if they will fight soon. If they have stressed bodies and raised hackles, you should know there will soon be a severe encounter.
3. They Don’t Want to Communicate
Making eye contact is a cat’s way of communicating with other cats. If you catch your cat staring at other cats and blinking, it is trying to tell other felines that it likes their attention. This behavior also shows that a cat is receptive to another feline’s approach.
However, if your cat looks away, it’s not interested in communicating with another pet. While some cats use eye contact instead of vocalization, others don’t like interacting with other felines in any way.
4. The Cat Is Feeling Threatened
As we discussed, cats make eye contact with other felines to show aggression or warn them. But if you find your cat looking away while licking its lips, this means it is feeling threatened or intimidated by another kitty.
You should also see if your cat pulls its ears or flattens them toward their head. All these are primary signs of cats feeling afraid of someone’s presence in their territory. If that’s the case, you must try to look for the threatening cat and shoo it away from your pet’s sight.
Do Cats Make Eye Contact With Specific Humans?
You might have realized that eye contact with humans differs from other cats. Because of their domestication, cats have become accustomed to humans’ presence. Most of them have also adapted a lot to human lifestyles and behaviors. So, a cat’s staring contest with humans doesn’t mean the same with other kitties.
Many cat breeds are friendly enough to make eye contact with their owners. While some show affection, others do it out of curiosity to learn more about their favorite human. If you ever catch your cat staring at you, give them a gentle wink or blink. Cats translate this gesture as “I love you.”
However, this behavior doesn’t apply to all cats. Many cats only make eye contact with one person, whoever they’re the closest to.
If you have guests who try to look directly into your pet’s eyes, your cat will likely get up, turn its tail, and run away. But that doesn’t mean they’re rude or mean. Instead, your feline friend prefers strangers to greet them with a glance from a distance.
Conclusion
Cats don’t make eye contact with other cats because they dislike being watched. If your cat prevents eye contact with another cat, that’s a good sign. It means your cat is friendly and peaceful and doesn’t want to engage in a physical encounter with any other pet.
Avoiding eye contact with other kitties also means that your pet doesn’t want to communicate with them or feels threatened by them. So, if you have two cats at home that rarely make eye contact, it shows they’re best friends. They enjoy each other’s companionship and don’t feel the need to dominate.
Featured Image Credit: Magui RF, Shutterstock
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