The blinking game!

Flowerbelle and Ming Loy don't blink back at us - they don't get it (or they don't want to say "I love you!" ) Tuxedo - when he's relaxed and really happy (he's so rarely relaxed!) will blink slowly once at us. Lazlo is the same. Sheldon is always relaxed and happy, so he's always good for at least two long slow blinks back and forth.

But Spooky? She LOVES to say "I love you" with blinks! We just blinked back and forth for almost 10 minutes. And any time I'd wink (blink slowly with just one eye) - she'd do the same thing! She'd do it in mirror image - and if I blinked with my left eye, she'd blink with her right. Then I'd switch - and blink with my right eye - and she'd blink with her left! It was way too cute.

Anybody else out there play the "blinking" game with their kitties?

Laurie

I've tried it but mine don't get it. They'd rather play the "bat at the zipper on her jacket until she gets out the kitty teaser toy" game.

I don't really do it back and forth with the kitties, but I was always told when they blink it means "I love you"

That's so cute about Spooky!!

Yeah, it took them a long time to get it. Tuxedo only started blinking at us this year. We blinked at him all the time anyway. Guess it finally "took." Spook and Shelly have been doing it since they were 1-something. (Spook, Tux, Shelly and Lazlo are 5 1/2 now. Flowerbelle's four, and Ming Loy is 3).

Laurie

Surprisingly, one of the really shy shelter kitties did that to me... once. After she had started trusting me a bit. I was quite flattered!

Awww! You should take her home

j/k... I know, shelter workers are usually at cat capacity. I know I am!!

Only one of my kitties does this - and that would be Kuce. She just such a sweetheart. No doubt being a pound rescue has something to do with it.

All my kitties will trade blinkies with me; sometimes I start it -- sometimes they start it. Only one will do winkies, however .... and that would be Twinkie, naturally.

Lucky and Pinky are the blinkers in my household. Lucky is still semi-feral and there is nothing that makes him relax more than a good eye blink from me. He was sitting on the sofa the other day and I wanted to sit down also. I sat down next to him and he froze, ready to retreat. I just blinked at him and he blinked back, then closed his eyes and fell asleep. That was a first for him.

My dog Sam, on the other hand, does "blinkies" on command. Say the word and he bats his eyes at you.

Ferris, my former feral, gives me lots of blinkies.

For the longest time I wasn't able to make ANY direct eye contact with him, as that is taken as a direct challenge and threat to a feral.

Now he gazes lovngly into my eyes, giving me blinkies, and I no longer have to worry that he'll think eye contact is threatening - he actually seeks out direct eye contact with me so he can blink up at me.

Max gives me blink kisses, too, but Penny and Ginger just stare back as if to say, "What!?!"

Originally Posted by Callista

Awww! You should take her home

j/k... I know, shelter workers are usually at cat capacity. I know I am!!

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I would LOVE to take her AND her sibs home with me! My goal with her, however, was to bring her out of her shell, making her more likely to be adopted. She still doesn't have a home yet.

Never played the blink game with Butzie. We play the "Thanks, Mom, for loving me and now I am going to give you a shower because my nose is running from all your love."

Originally Posted by butzie

Never played the blink game with Butzie. We play the "Thanks, Mom, for loving me and now I am going to give you a shower because my nose is running from all your love."

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We play that one too!

Laurie

Quill blinks at me all the time.

Tigger is almost always blinking at me, so I never start it with her. Nadette & Elsa will blink, and Smudge thinks I want him to run around like a devil when I blink at him, LOL. Clyde (deaf) is my real blinker, though. He just loves to blink and blink at me. He also looks at faces a lot more than the other cats.

Flowerbelle is deaf, too. It seems like all our cats watch us and stare at us - I've never noticed she looks at our faces more. However, she doesn't blink - just waves her paw around all the time! "Hey - I'm over here - play with me!" "Hey - I'm over here - give me treats!" "Hey - I'm shoving my paw in your face in case my walking on you didn't get your attention!"

Laurie