Some of life’s rules everyone knows: you can’t divide by zero, you shouldn’t swim right after eating, and you should never stare into a cat’s eyes!
Are you ready for the full story?
Have you weighed up the pros and cons? We still have to ask you not to try it, because staring into a cat’s eyes can have the most unpredictable consequences!
Imagine you take the risk and look your cat straight in the eye, while it reads your past and future, then turns away in disdain. After all, who are you compared to a creature with nine lives?
So why shouldn’t you stare into a cat’s eyes? First, the legend.
The History of the Myth
In one of those nine lives, the cat was a goddess called Bastet. In ancient Egypt, Bastet was worshipped as a protector of the home, of women and children, and as a goddess of joy, music and fertility. She was often described as a daughter of the sun god Ra and was usually shown as a woman with the head of a cat, or as a cat.
The ancient Egyptians held cats in such high regard that killing one, even by accident, could be punished severely, and many cats were mummified after death. Cats were linked with the gods and with the mysteries of life and death, and this sense of mystery may be where the idea of the cat’s special, all-seeing gaze began.
Over time, though, feelings toward cats changed. In parts of medieval and early modern Europe, cats, especially black ones, came to be associated with witchcraft and the devil. Some people believed that witches kept “familiars,” small demons in the form of animals, and cats, with their mysterious gaze and nighttime habits, seemed perfect for the role. (In fairness, goats, toads and hares were often suspected too.) During the witch hunts, many cats were killed alongside the people accused of witchcraft. None of this made people any keener to look a cat in the eye!
A popular claim is that the cat is the only domestic animal not mentioned in the Bible, and some people find that suspicious. It’s true that cats don’t appear in most versions of the Bible, though they’re mentioned once in the Book of Baruch, which is included in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles. But there’s nothing sinister about it: cats simply weren’t common household animals in ancient Israel, where dogs, sheep, donkeys and other animals played a bigger role in everyday life.
The Real Answer
So what’s the real reason you shouldn’t stare at a cat? It’s all about cat body language. In the language of cats, a direct, unblinking stare is a threat. Cats stare at each other when they’re challenging a rival, just before a fight. When a cat meets the gaze of another cat it doesn’t trust, it usually looks away to avoid conflict.
So from your cat’s point of view, a long, hard stare can feel like aggression. A confident cat may stare back, flatten its ears or even swat; a shy cat may become anxious and hide. That’s also why cats often head straight for the one person in the room who’s ignoring them: that person isn’t staring at them!
How to “Talk” to Your Cat with Your Eyes
The good news is that you can use eye contact to tell your cat you love it. Instead of staring, try the slow blink: look at your cat with a soft, relaxed gaze, then slowly close your eyes for a second or two, open them and look slightly away. Cats do this to each other to show they’re relaxed and friendly. Some people call it a “cat kiss.”
A study by psychologists at the Universities of Sussex and Portsmouth in the UK found that cats were more likely to slow-blink back at people who slow-blinked at them, and more likely to approach a stranger who had slow-blinked at them. So if your cat looks at you, narrows its eyes and slowly blinks, it’s telling you it trusts you. Blink back!
So go ahead and look at your cat, just don’t stare. Give it a slow blink instead, and you might find it blinks right back, then turns away with dignity. After all, who are you compared to a creature with nine lives?
