And why do some cats knead or as they say, ‘make biscuits’ more than others. There are several reasons why they do this. One reason goes back to the origin of their wild ancestors who would have had to tread down grass or foliage to make a temporary nest in which to sleep. That is probably why we sometimes see cats kneading a blanket because they are getting ready to take a cat nap. (Supposed to be cute)

Also when a kitten is nursing their Mom, they knead the mom’s nipples to stimulate the milk so the little kitten can get some milk. They quickly learn that the more they knead the nipple, the more milk they get.

There is talk that kneading is a result of a cat being weaned too early, or an attempt to make a surface soft and warm to lie down on. And I think the second statement is very true and the first one false. I rescued four kittens that were four weeks old because the mother abandoned them under the hood of a car and they do not knead very much. I do see most of my cats kneading when getting ready to lie down. So I guess the cats learn to knead when a small kitten and then since that brought nice comfortable results, it holds over to adulthood.

CHAIR CAT

This is also probably where the purring came from. Many kittens will purr when kneading their mom, so that holds over and whenever they are happy or calm, then they start purring.

I have noticed that some cats purr a lot more than others. And also the younger ones purr a lot more. My older cats hardly purr at all unless I am patting them in some way. I myself think that cats purr when they are very happy. The four kittens that I have in the house at the moment, always purr when they walk up to me. It is really neat to have four purrs going on.