Source checked 12 November 2026. PawLine editorial team. Not professionally reviewed.
Educational information, not veterinary or individual behavior advice. A slow blink does not diagnose eye health or authorize touching. Do not hold, corner or provoke a cat for a response. Ask your veterinary team about health or behavior concerns.
Half-blink and eye narrowing
The study distinguishes an incomplete eyelid movement from holding the eyes partly narrowed. Those are movement descriptions. Neither term, used casually by an owner, establishes a diagnosis or a precise emotional state.
Humphrey and colleagues International Cat Care International Cat Care
Approach tendency
In the second experiment, researchers coded movement toward, away from or neutral to an offered hand. A higher approach score after slow blinking supports a comparison between conditions. It is not a universal instruction to reach out and touch.
Humphrey and colleagues International Cat Care International Cat Care
Invitation and choice
An invitation can be declined. International Cat Care's greeting advice keeps the cat able to walk away, rather than cornering or leaning over it. Choice continues after a first approach; it is not exhausted by one signal.
Humphrey and colleagues International Cat Care International Cat Care
Observation and interpretation
The eyes narrowed is an observation. The cat loves this is an interpretation. Keeping those separate lets you ask a better question and notice what you do not know. A blank or uncertain note is more useful than an invented certainty.
Humphrey and colleagues International Cat Care International Cat Care
Sources and limits
Humphrey and colleagues: The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat-human communication