The Stare

Today I was reading a novel when I glanced up and saw Beastly staring at me from across the room.  You know, that special kitty stare where it seems they don't blink and if you look for long enough you either get the creeps or are compelled to say something to them because it's so uncomfortable (or both).   Every time this happens from across the room I stop and wonder "what are they thinking??"  and then I never do.  But seriously, what could they be thinking??

Pooter giving mom eye contact...

I have to admit, that I don't flatter myself by thinking I'm that interesting to the cats all the time.
First I check the food categories:  Am I near food? Does my breath smell like food? Am I near the treats? (this, apparently, is a separate category.) Is it near feeding time (give or take 3 hours)?

Next check:

Have I just made a noise that can be translated into kitty language?  I'll tell an embarrassing story here, for humor's sake...certainly NOT because it was some sort of accomplishment:  I was once sitting watching tv with my cat Teatea and due to a bowl of vegetarian soup, I was...well...a little gassy.  Well, you guess it - I made a little pooty that sounded like a kitty question (you know that meow that asks "are you here?" from the other room...yeah, that one)  and Teatea, who was sitting across the sofa from me at the time, suddenly turned and stared at me and meowed "I'm right here, you blind idiot. " Yeah, that was humbling....once I stopped laughing.

TeaTea in her later years

I think as cat owners we are very tapped in to our felines.  They are so much more subtle with their cues than dogs.  Most of us know about the larger cues like the slow blink, tail language, body posture and some vocalizations....but the stare remains an enigma....perhaps because rather than species-specific, it's relationship specific...between an individual feline and his/her human.

Squeebert 

Squeebert sleeps on my arm at night.  Partly because of his heat-seeking behavior, partly because he can feel when I move to get out of bed, but also because it provides security.  He's done this since he was very young.  Now and again I wake up and find him staring right at me, head on the pillow next to me.  It's always startling to wake up to someone looking at you, but what the heck could he be thinking?  Was he watching my eyelashes in REM sleep and I perchance saved myself from being batted in the eye by a paw because I woke up? Was he willing me awake out of kitty boredom? Or was it something else? Could our feline counterparts actually ponder our differences....or perhaps just gaze at us with fondness and unconditional love?  I sure would like to think so ~ because I certainly find myself wondering and staring at them in fondness and unconditional love quite often.  In fact, it's one of my great pleasures in life.

Beastly in her younger years

What are your experiences with your kitty's stare?  I'd love to hear about them!

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