If you’re one of the people who lives with a cat at home, you should have noticed the variety of behaviors your friend adopts every day without really knowing why. One of these behaviors is to pass between the legs, preventing your passage when you walk or even when you are still.
Many people offer different explanations about the behavior of their cats. For example, some interpret this as a pleasant greeting when we get home (just as we would understand this behavior in a dog), others, as a way of asking for attention and affection, but are these really the real intentions of dogs? The cat? Through what we have learned about these animals, we can discover why cats pass between the caregivers’ legs. If you are interested in getting to know your feline better and that’s why you want to know what this curious behavior means, here in Animal Expert we recommend you to read this article to the end.
- When cats rub their paws.
- We can believe that they “caress” us.
- Because this is one of the ways in which humans should express our affection.
- Therefore.
- Sometimes.
- From our human point of view.
- We may mistakenly believe that cats manifest themselves in the same way as we do.
Now, what our cat really does in these situations is rub against our legs. Specifically, the ritual that performs usually begins by rubbing our ankles with the side of the head, then with the side of the body and finally wrapping the leg with its tail. In addition, the action can be accompanied by a purr or sngging of the tail.
The importance of this action lies in the fact that you rub, do not walk, and it is true that on one of the many occasions when you have observed your cat, you may have noticed that it usually rubs against objects, such as its bed. , scratch posts, wall corners … So it won’t be a surprise to understand that the feline has the same behavior with you. But why exactly are you doing this?
As we’ve seen, when the cat rubs against something or someone, it tries to come into contact with the whole body. In fact, cats have what we call glands that secrete pheromones in the cheeks, chin, soles of the legs, back, base of tail, in addition to the genital glands. Thus, when these glands are rubbed, they secrete pheromones, molecules that, when joined to the object, add their individual odor.
Although we cannot perceive anything with our smell, cats use pheromones as a message to other individuals of the same species, because they have a much more developed meaning. In fact, for these animals, their sense of smell represents their first contact with the world from birth, because the young in the first days of life are blind and deaf.
In this process, Jacobson’s organ or vomerasal (because it is a small conduit between the palate vault and nasal passage), present in some animal species and that has specialized cells to capture pheromones and chemicals present in the environment, is a small conduit that will then be transmitted to the brain. Thus, when a cat rubs against you, walks between your legs or touches your head while holding it, in fact, it marks you with the intention of communicating to other cats that you belong to your social group or, in a way, that you are “theirs”.
If you want more information on why cats rub against objects, we invite you to read the following article: Why Cats Rub Against People and Things
Our feline companions are often very meticulous in protecting their territory or home. They need to control everything to feel comfortable and protected and, therefore, mark with their smell this territory – especially their favorite areas – and also to the members of the house, thus communicating to the strange cats that should not approach.
Likewise, when you go home and the first thing you do is rub against your legs, your feline envelops you with the smell that is so familiar to it. We also note that in cat social groups, pheromones are shared among all members through behaviors such as mutual cleansing, rubbing their heads, etc., to indicate participation in the group.
Marking is therefore an indication of well-being, as it shows that the animal feels safe in its environment and with whom it is present. If you feel hostile, if there has been a change of furniture, a change of house or if new people or animals have arrived home, your cat may stop checking and start showing behaviors that reflect this insecurity, trying to seek shelter, clean up as well. a lot to calm down and even stop eating. On the other hand, excessive labelling can also be a sign of stress in cats.
Finally, you should always be vigilant when you find that the marking behavior is out of the ordinary and, in addition, if the cat exhibits other behaviors such as excessive meows, urination out of the sand, irritable character … In this situation, you should go to a veterinarian to rule out any illnesses, and if not, consult an ethologist to help you find the cause of your discomfort.
Just because a cat walks around your legs doesn’t mean you just want to mark yourself as “your property,” according to our human understanding. On the contrary, it is a clear indication that he loves you, because, for your feline friend, it is you who meets his daily needs and offers him physical and emotional security. For this reason, it means telling all other unknown cats to stay away from you. Also, if you have ever visited a friend or family member’s house and he or she had a cat that demonstrated this behavior with you, it is a sign that he loves you and accepts you in his territory.
Finally, you may often have associated this behavior with the animal’s desire to “tell you something,” such as filling the plate with food or asking for affection. In this situation, it is not far-fetched to think that the feline has learned through an association of cause and effect that the friction of its legs actually causes the filling of its plate of food or caressing it. So it ended up becoming a habit and a form of communication between you two.
Then, in a nutshell, your cat walks between your legs and rubs against them to leave you with their smell, because it feels protected, loved and safe by your side. Similarly, as we have just said, you may learn that through this behavior you get something, such as food or water. If you want to know more signs that your cat loves you and trusts you, do not miss these other articles:
If you would like to read articles similar to, we recommend that you visit our Curiosities section of the animal world.